Cats was built by IGT, a slot developer whose roots trace to the original International Game Technology founded in the United States in 1980. That company merged with GTECH in 2015 and adopted the IGT name going forward, and in mid-2025 IGT's Gaming and Digital business was sold to Apollo Funds, with legacy IGT material now filed under Brightstar.
- Cats itself dates to 2013, well before the most recent ownership change.
- IGT remains a supplier to operators — it does not run its own Cats casino site.
- The current corporate structure sits behind the brand players see on casino lobbies today.
What medium volatility means here
medium
Cats sits in the medium band, so swings are moderate rather than extreme in either direction. Sessions tend to produce a mix of smaller line hits and occasional free-spins runs rather than long dry stretches followed by a single outsized payout. That profile fits a studio built around older, broadly accessible reel-slot design rather than the higher-variance math IGT and other suppliers use in some newer releases.
Inside IGT, the company behind Cats
IGT's slot business traces back to an American company founded in 1980, long before Cats existed. That original International Game Technology built its reputation on land-based reel and video slot cabinets before online casino gaming became common, and Cats itself carries that lineage: it launched in 2013 as one of many titles designed around that established cabinet-first design language, though a few catalog entries list 2014 instead.
The corporate picture changed substantially in 2015, when GTECH acquired the original IGT and the combined business kept the IGT name. That merger reshaped the company into the international supplier that today operates out of London, with major operations still centred in Providence, Rhode Island and Rome. Cats predates that merger by two years, so the slot survived a full corporate restructuring while staying largely unchanged as a product.
IGT's portfolio is dominated by long-running branded slots such as Cleopatra, Wolf Run, Kitty Glitter, White Orchid and Black Widow, and Cats sits alongside them as a recognizable but secondary title rather than a flagship release. The company's own language around its slot design points to systematic development and extensive player testing, and Cats reflects that older, five-reel, thirty-line house style rather than the wider mechanic experimentation found in some competitors' current lineups.
In July 2025, IGT's Gaming and Digital division was sold to Apollo Funds, and historical IGT gaming records now sit under Brightstar investor materials rather than under the IGT brand alone. For a player in Canada, that ownership change sits mostly behind the scenes: Cats is still distributed to operators the same way, through provincially regulated platforms and licensed casino sites, and the game itself has not been reworked because of the sale.
There is no documented pattern of payout disputes or reliability complaints tied specifically to Cats or to IGT in the material reviewed for this profile, and no independently verified awards list exists for the title. What is verifiable is that IGT remains active in regulated Canadian gaming through lottery and casino partnerships, which is a more useful signal of ongoing legitimacy than any single slot's individual reputation.
How to confirm you're playing an authentic IGT title
- Check the casino's game information panel or provider filter for an explicit IGT or International Game Technology credit next to Cats.
- Compare the reel layout and paytable against the known five-reel, thirty-line structure with split cat symbols, since similarly named titles sometimes use different grids.
- Look for the paw-print scatter trigger on reels two through four, a mechanic specific to this IGT release rather than other cat-themed slots.
- If a demo is offered, run it first to confirm the free-spins trigger and split-symbol behaviour match this profile before committing real money at a licensed Canadian operator.
Questions about IGT and Cats
Is Cats still an IGT game after the 2025 Apollo Funds sale?
Yes. The sale moved IGT's Gaming and Digital business to Apollo Funds and shifted historical records to Brightstar, but Cats continues to be distributed to operators as an IGT-branded slot, and its gameplay has not changed because of the ownership shift.
Did IGT or the older GTECH company actually build Cats?
The original International Game Technology, founded in 1980, built the design lineage Cats belongs to. The GTECH merger happened in 2015, two years after Cats launched, so the game predates that particular corporate change.
Why do some sources give 2013 and others 2014 for the release date?
Catalog entries differ on the exact online launch year, with 2013 cited most often. This is a minor cataloguing discrepancy rather than evidence of two separate versions of the game.
Is Cats one of IGT's newer slots or an older catalog title?
It's an older catalog title. IGT's current business messaging focuses heavily on digital and omnichannel products, and Cats sits among long-running titles like Cleopatra and Wolf Run rather than among the studio's newest releases.
Does IGT run its own casino where I can play Cats directly?
No. IGT supplies the game to operators — provincial lottery platforms and licensed casino sites in Canada — rather than hosting a consumer-facing casino of its own.
Does IGT's size affect how Cats is regulated in Canada?
IGT's content reaches Canadian players through provincially regulated channels such as PlayNow, PlayAlberta, ALC and Espacejeux, and each province applies its own licensing rules to the operator rather than to IGT as a manufacturer directly.
See Cats in action
Provider background aside, the clearest way to judge Cats is to watch the reels move. Free demo play is available with no account needed, and licensed real-money play in Canada is restricted to players 19+ (18+ in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec).
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