SciPlay's players could spin Las Vegas slot machines all day and never win a cent. That was the business. Its games, such as Jackpot Party Casino and Quick Hit Slots, were free to download, and players bought virtual coins to keep playing. The slot designs came from its parent, Scientific Games, which built real machines for casino floors. In 2019 the parent spun SciPlay out as a public company.

Casino Floor to Phone Screen

SciPlay began as the social games arm of Scientific Games, and it was called SG Social Games until March 2019. The bet was that famous slot titles would draw players on phones and Facebook the same way they drew gamblers in casinos. SciPlay could use a library of more than 1,500 real slot and table games from its parent. No one could cash out, so the games did not count as gambling.

A Spin-Off, Then a Buyback

SciPlay priced its IPO at $16 a share on May 2, 2019, at the top of its range, and raised about $352 million. It began trading on Nasdaq the next day as SCPL and opened at $18. Scientific Games kept control and later renamed itself Light & Wonder. On October 23, 2023, Light & Wonder bought the roughly 17 percent of SciPlay it did not own, for $22.95 a share.

Cover: Gambler, José Guadalupe Posada. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a gambler (free-to-play slots).