„This is a major step for expanded gaming in Pennsylvania,“ board chairman Tad Decker said in a written statement. The licenses are subject to 40 conditions set by the board to comply with state gambling law. Companies receiving the licenses are Aristocrat Technologies, Aristocrat Technologies Australia, IGT, NRT Technology, Western Money Systems and WMS Gaming.

The board has yet to act on seven other companies that sought manufacturer’s licenses in the control board’s first round of applications. The remaining applicants are Atronic Americas LLC, Bally Gaming, Gtech, Spielo Manufacturing ULC, Konami Gaming, Konami and Shuffle Master.

Most of the public attention on gambling has focused on the board process for awarding operators‘ licenses to groups seeking to run the state’s 14 casinos. The control board expects to issue the first casino licenses to racetrack operators in late summer and the remaining licenses by late this year or early 2007.