It’s well-known that the iGaming sector is hugely competitive, and it takes a lot for a casino game studio to stand out from the crowd. Still, now and again, a new studio or a new type of game comes to the fore, rattling the established trends in online casino and carving out a niche for itself in the eyes of players.
A pertinent example is the rise of Megaways slot games. For those not aware, a Megaways game follows a unique format, with a series of shifting positions on each reel creating a massive number of ways to win. Old school slot machines might have 3-10 paylines, whereas modern games could have dozens or maybe several hundred: A typical Megaways game can have over 100,000 ways to win.
Top casinos always carry Megaways games
But who makes these games, and why have they become so popular? Today, all major online casinos in the US like Golden Nugget Casino Online and beyond will host a large number of Megaways games, but the story actually started with a relatively niche developer based in Australia.
Back in 2011, Big Time Gaming (BTG) was founded by Nik Robinson. Back then, the studio quickly became known for creating games that ripped up the rulebook when releasing games, focusing on interesting aesthetics and gameplay. Its output was slow compared to other studios, but each game felt unique. In 2016, Dragonborn was released, becoming the first Megaways game. Moderately successful, it was followed by Bonanza Megaways, which became a worldwide smash hit.
Bonanza was a huge hit for BTG
The success of Bonanza can be viewed as something of a sliding-doors moment in the history of online casino gaming. Why? Because BTG’s next move was to license Megaways as intellectual property to rival gaming studios. Thus, brands like Inspired Gaming, Blueprint, Red Tiger, Pragmatic Play, and many others released their own Megaways games.
Today, there are 100s, if not 1000s, of different Megaways-branded games at online casinos across the globe. It has effectively become its own genre of casino games. Indeed, many casinos will have dedicated Megaways tabs, and there are even some casino brands completely dedicated to Megaways games.
Megaways was like a breath of fresh air
Why, then, did this catch on? It is speculative, as we can’t always define specifically what makes a game popular, but we can say that the game initially felt like a breath of fresh air, offering a different experience to the slightly monotonous and repetitive payline structure of slot games. In addition, we could argue that the volatility of Megaways games appeals to low-stakes players, making big wins possible from small stakes.
We should qualify all of this, however, by saying that Megaways games are probably not just as hyped up as they once were, especially going by social media traffic, i.e., casino streaming on platforms like Twitch and YouTube. However, we can also argue that the Megaways format inspired many of the new-style games of the 2020s, especially from studios like Hacksaw Gaming and Nolimit City.
As for BTG, the studio got bought over by Evolution Gaming in 2021 in a deal worth somewhere in the region of $530 million. It still creates games today, including Megaways games, but that decision in the late 2010s to allow other studios to use the Megaways format changed the complexion of the online casino landscape.
