In all aspects of entertainment, you can find examples of creators who tend to punch above their weight. By that, we mean having an outsized impact on the industry despite its small size. In the world of gaming, for example, we might point to CD Projekt Red. The Polish game developer is a relatively small studio, but with smash hits like The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077 under its belt, it has a huge influence over the world of gaming.
We might say something similar about Big Time Gaming (BTG), an Australian developer of online slots that, despite its name, has only a small selection of games on offer around the world. Big Time Gaming, however, has massive influence over the online casino industry, as its games are hugely popular, often influencing other developers to change their own tactics to catch up.
Megaways Slots Transformed Online Casinos
Perhaps the most important example of BTG’s influence comes with Megaways online slots, which is a new genre of game that has taken the casino industry by storm. There are now 100s of variants of Megaways slots online, and they have become a must-have title at any popular online casino. But how did we get here? How did a small Australian games developer change the face of an online casino?
The first Megaways game, Dragon Born, was released by BTG in 2016. And to be honest, it didn’t really make much of a splash. Some players did take notice of its unique pay line system, where any spin could yield up to 117,649 ways to win – the fabled Megaways. While Dragon Born was not the hit BTG wanted, the company persevered with the Megaways format, releasing Bonanza shortly after. That’s when things began to take off.
In the casino industry, you can have smash hit games. They aren’t as mainstream as games like Fortnite or Minecraft, but they can be smash hit games all the same. And Bonanza fit that bill. Slots players all over the world would be hunting for it, and big online casino operators queued up to have it on their platforms. Rival developers, too, could not fail to notice the success of this game from a little-known Australian company.
BTG Struck a Deal With its Rivals
What happened next was almost unprecedented in the online casino industry. BTG decided to strike deals with its rivals, allowing them to produce Megaways games under their license. In short, BTG allowed its rivals to use its patented technology. So those developers, most of which have much vaster resources than BTG, began to create all sorts of new Megaways games – 100s of them. NetEnt, Pragmatic Play, Red Tiger, Iron Dog, and Blueprint Gaming are among the studios that took BTG up on its offer.
Apart from the pay line structure, we cannot say there is a typical Megaways game. Each developer provides its own take on the game. For example, Blueprint Gaming, which is known for creating fun games based on movie and tv characters, released games like Ted Megaways and Rick and Morty Megaways, the last of which has proved hugely popular given its source material.
Another aspect that soon became apparent was that slots developers could recreate classic games by revamping them with the Megaways format. NetEnt, for instance, released Gonzo’s Quest Megaways and Twin Spin Megaways, whereas SG Digital released a Megaways game based on its Rainbow Riches series.
So, the next time you visit an online casino, have a look at the Megaways section. You’ll see a mix of classic games rebooted and new design concepts, all created by a host of different developers. It’s a genre of casino games that has completely taken the industry by storm, and it all stemmed from a single idea from a small Australian games developer.
