Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, LLC (EKG) has announced slot design legend Joe Kaminkow as the first inductee to the EKG Slot Awards Hall of Fame. Kaminkow will be honored at the first annual EKG Slot Awards show held at the Bellagio in Las Vegas on Thursday, February 28.
“When we thought of who should be the first inductee into the EKG Slot Awards Hall of Fame, it was a clear choice, Joe Kaminkow,” said Todd Eilers, principal at Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, LLC. “Joe has consistently been one of the top game developers in the land-based gaming industry, and most recently has created some of the industry’s top social casino games. We are very excited to have him be our first inductee into the EKG Slot Awards Hall of Fame.”
Kaminkow began his career in gaming in the early 1980s creating video games and pinball machines for Williams Electronics. Seeing a growth opportunity in pinball games, he co-founded Data East Pinball in 1986. Kaminkow was able to leverage his natural talent at securing licenses to create some of the most successful pinball games including RoboCop, Back to the Future and The Simpsons, among many others. That company was eventually acquired by SEGA.
After his time at SEGA, Kaminkow moved to Reno and joined International Game Technology, where he began developing slot machines. While at IGT, Kaminkow revolutionized the slot industry with his use of licensed titles and exceptional game design skills. Many of the games he created are still on casinos floors today, including mega-hits Wheel of Fortune, Sex and the City and The Price is Right. During his time at IGT, Kaminkow was named one of the “Top 10 Most Influential People in the History of Slots”.
Kaminkow left IGT in 2012 to found Spooky Cool Labs, which created social casino games for the emerging social casino market. Once again he utilized a key brand, the Wizard of Oz, to create a hit social casino game. Spooky Cool was eventually sold to Zynga, and Kaminkow currently remains employed by Zynga and continues to develop social games based on beloved brands like Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Harry Potter.
In addition to his work at Zynga in the social casino sector, Kaminkow is a senior advisor designing games for Aristocrat Technologies in Las Vegas. At Aristocrat, he has continued to develop highly successful branded games like Britney Spears, Game of Thrones and Big Bang Theory.
In the coming days, the official Media Sponsor for the EKG Slot Awards, Fantini Research, will publish an in-depth profile of Kaminkow and his career in the gaming industry.
