Who developed Megaways: the history of Big Time Gaming

Introduction

Megaways mechanics are one of the most exciting innovations in the online slot industry in recent years. Its creator was Big Time Gaming (BTG), founded in Australia in 2011. This studio revolutionized slot perception by offering players millions of ways to win, a dynamic grid, and a unique combination of volatility and opportunity.

Founding Big Time Gaming

Big Time Gaming hit the market in 2011, when online gambling was already saturated with many providers. The founders of the company, led by Nick Robinson (CEO), decided not to compete in classic solutions, but to introduce innovative mechanics that could distinguish BTG from other studios.

Headquarters: Sydney, Australia.
The founders had experience in the gaming business and software development.
Early projects included collaborations with Quickfire (Microgaming) platforms.

Creating Megaways mechanics

The turning point for the company was the invention of Megaways mechanics, first introduced in 2016 in the Dragon Born slot. But she gained real popularity after the release of the game Bonanza Megaways, which became a real hit.

Features of the innovation:

Dynamic reels: The number of characters varies on each back.
Up to 117,649 ways to win in one round.
Cascading wins: Winning symbols disappear and new ones appear in their place.
High volatility and large payout potential, which attracted players looking for "big wins."

Impact on industry

Megaways became so popular that Big Time Gaming began licensing mechanics to other providers. Today it is used in dozens of studios, including:

Pragmatic Play (Sweet Bonanza Megaways, Great Rhino Megaways),
NetEnt / Red Tiger (Gonzo’s Quest Megaways, Piggy Riches Megaways),
Blueprint Gaming (Buffalo Rising Megaways and others).

Thus, BTG not only created new mechanics, but also turned it into a global industry standard.

Big Time Gaming takeover

In 2021, Big Time Gaming was acquired by the Swedish company Evolution Gaming, the world leader in the live gaming segment. This deal strengthened Evolution's position in the slot market and allowed BTG to expand access to new markets and platforms.

Evolution retained the BTG brand by continuing to release games with Megaways.
The studio received more resources to develop new innovations.
Mechanics licensing continued, cementing BTG's status as the "inventor" of the key trend.

Legacy and future

Big Time Gaming is firmly in the history of online gambling as the creator of Megaways, the mechanics that changed the approach to slots. Today, Megaways is not just a technology, but a genre within the industry. Players are purposefully looking for slots with this particular mechanics, and studios are trying to adapt their hits to it.

In the future, we can expect hybrid solutions where Megaways will be combined with new features (Hold & Win, Buy Feature, Infinity Reels), but BTG's contribution is already fixed in the industry forever.

Result

Big Time Gaming has proven that even a small studio can turn the market around. The creation of Megaways was a watershed moment for the online slot industry, and BTG is a symbol of innovation, courage and desire for uniqueness.