Megaways Complete Analysis – Who Made It, and How Did It Become an Industry Standard?
The Megaways name added to slot titles is a patented technology of Australia’s Big Time Gaming. This guide covers the birth and spread of Megaways with data: from Dragon Born in 2016, to Bonanza making it a star, to licenses spreading to Blueprint, Red Tiger, and Pragmatic Play.
Key takeaways
- Megaways changes the number of symbols on each reel every spin, and creates winning ways equal to the product of those numbers. The maximum for the base version is 117,649 ways.
- It was made by Australia’s Big Time Gaming, founded in 2011. Dragon Born was its first game in January 2016, and Bonanza became its signature title that December.
- Starting with Blueprint in 2018, licenses spread to Storm Gaming, Red Tiger, and then Pragmatic Play in 2020, among others.
- In 2021, Evolution acquired Big Time Gaming for up to 450 million euros.
There are countless games with “Megaways” after the slot name. Great Rhino Megaways, Gonzo’s Quest Megaways, and Buffalo King Megaways all come from different providers. But few people know that Megaways was originally one company’s patented technology. Other providers pay to borrow the name and the mechanic.
This article is an in-depth guide covering Megaways from its birth to today. It covers who made it, what the first game was, how the number 117,649 comes about, which providers received licenses and when, and what Megaways actually looks like in the data registered on AI Slot. If you just want the basic meaning of Megaways quickly, you can start with the Megaways entry in the wiki.
Megaways in one sentence
In Megaways, the number of symbols shown on each reel changes with every spin, and the number of winning ways equals the product of all those counts. There are no fixed paylines, and if the same symbol appears on consecutive reels starting from the first reel on the left, it wins regardless of position. Because the screen layout changes on every spin, the number of ways can swing from a few dozen to over a hundred thousand even within the same game.
Who made it – Australia’s Big Time Gaming
The company behind Megaways is Big Time Gaming (BTG) of Australia. It was founded in 2011 by Nik Robinson, Huw McIntosh, and Ian Schmidt. The three are veterans who have worked in the gaming industry since the late 1990s, and they ran a game company together even before Big Time Gaming.
Big Time Gaming was not a big company at the start. It was a small studio based in Sydney, but with a single mechanic, Megaways, where the height of each reel changes, it ended up changing the course of the entire online slot industry.
2016: the first Megaways, ‘Dragon Born’
The world’s first Megaways slot is Dragon Born, released in January 2016. It was also the first game on Big Time Gaming’s HTML5 platform, OMNI. It was released first to NYX platform operators and was also offered at the major online casino LeoVegas. In April of the same year, supply expanded to operators on the Microgaming and OpenBet side.
The press release at the time stressed one number. Until then, the most winning ways in any online or offline slot was 4,096 ways. Dragon Born came out with 117,649 ways, nearly 30 times that. The number of symbols on each of the 6 reels changes every spin, and in the bonus round all reels lock at 7 rows, opening the ways to their maximum.
However, Dragon Born itself didn’t go far in making the name ‘Megaways’ known. What stamped Megaways into the industry’s mind was the next game, released later that same year.
Bonanza, the game that made Megaways a star
Bonanza, released in December 2016, is the signature Megaways game and a classic still talked about today. Set in a gold mine, it combines Megaways with a chain in which winning symbols burst and disappear and new symbols drop into their place (Big Time Gaming calls this ‘Reactions’). In free spins, the multiplier rises by 1 with each chain, and that multiplier has no cap.
The formula Bonanza created, “Megaways + cascades + an ever-rising multiplier,” became the basic template for countless Megaways games afterward. Some gaming communities even call Bonanza the “de facto first Megaways.” Big Time Gaming then followed up with a string of Megaways hits such as Queen Of Riches, White Rabbit, Extra Chilli, and Millionaire.
Bonus buy also came from Big Time Gaming
The “bonus buy (buy feature)” that almost every provider uses now is also counted as a feature Big Time Gaming introduced first. Instead of waiting for free spins, you pay a set amount and enter the bonus right away. With Megaways and bonus buy alone, Big Time Gaming can be called the company that created the grammar of today’s online slots.
How is 117,649 calculated?
The Megaways number is simple multiplication. The base format has 6 reels, and each reel shows 2 to 7 symbols.
- When every reel has 2 rows: 2×2×2×2×2×2 = 64 ways
- When every reel has 7 rows: 7×7×7×7×7×7 = 117,649 ways
- For example, if you get 3, 5, 4, 7, 2, and 6 rows: 3×5×4×7×2×6 = 10,080 ways
Even in the same game, a spin can range anywhere from 64 ways to 117,649 ways. That’s why the number of ways for the current spin is always shown above or below the screen in Megaways games.
Horizontal reels and variations
Many Megaways games add one more horizontally spinning reel above or below the middle reels. This horizontal reel adds one extra symbol to the corresponding vertical reels, pushing the number of ways up. Providers vary this structure to build their own take on Megaways. Pragmatic Play’s first Megaways game, Great Rhino Megaways, advertised up to 200,704 ways. With variations that increase the number of reels or rows, ‘117,649’ is now a symbolic number for Megaways rather than an upper limit.
Are more ways always better?
Not necessarily. As the number of ways goes up, individual symbol payouts are often designed to be lower. Spins with few ways pass quickly, and big wins come when chains and multipliers overlap on a spin with a full board. Because of this ‘quiet most of the time, then a sudden burst’ rhythm, Megaways games generally lean toward high volatility.
Patents and licenses – why does it appear on other providers’ games?
Big Time Gaming protected Megaways with patents and a trademark. So if another provider wants to use the same mechanic and call it “Megaways,” it has to sign a license agreement with Big Time Gaming. That is why you see the “Megaways™” mark at the end of game names.
Licensing opened up in earnest from 2018.
- April 2018, Blueprint Gaming: the first licensee. A member of Germany’s Gauselmann Group, it found success with titles such as Diamond Mine Megaways.
- September 2018, Storm Gaming: the second. It combined TV show branded games with Megaways and planned releases both online and offline.
- October 2018, Red Tiger: the third. It went on to make flagship games like Gonzo’s Quest Megaways.
- May 2020, Pragmatic Play: it released Great Rhino Megaways as its first Megaways game and has steadily added more Megaways games since.
Many other providers, including NetEnt and iSoftBet, also received licenses. As of 2021, Megaways games across several developers numbered over 200. When signing with Blueprint, then-CEO Nik Robinson predicted that Megaways would one day go beyond the traditional 5×3 slot format, and within a few years that prediction largely came true.
Evolution’s acquisition – who owns Megaways now?
In April 2021, live casino powerhouse Evolution announced its acquisition of Big Time Gaming for up to 450 million euros. 220 million euros was paid in cash and shares at signing, and the remaining amount of up to 230 million euros was to be paid in installments in 2023 and 2024 depending on performance over the following two years. Right before the acquisition, in 2020, Big Time Gaming had revenue of 33 million euros and EBITDA (a measure close to operating profit) of 29 million euros. The numbers show the power of the licensing business, where most of the revenue is left as profit.
Interestingly, Evolution acquired NetEnt even earlier, in late 2020. NetEnt had already acquired Red Tiger in 2019. As a result, Big Time Gaming, which created Megaways, and Red Tiger and NetEnt, which received Megaways licenses, all ended up under the single roof of Evolution. Big Time Gaming still makes independent games from its Sydney studio within the Evolution group.
Megaways by the numbers from AI Slot data
Games per provider
Top 5 games by max win
- Fireworks Megaways - Big Time Gaming, Max 150,335x, RTP 96.44%
- Max Megaways 2 - Big Time Gaming, Max 147,620x, RTP 96.64%
- Max Megaways - Big Time Gaming, Max 139,200x, RTP 96.37%
- White Rabbit 2 - Big Time Gaming, Max 133,100x, RTP 96.36%
- Spicy Meatballs - Big Time Gaming, Max 124,880x, RTP 96.6%
Features that often appear together
The data shows a few characteristics. First, Megaways games tend to have a slightly higher RTP than the AI Slot overall average, because most Megaways games are designed with an RTP in the 96% range. The share that supports bonus buy is also high. Since Megaways and bonus buy came from the same company, many games pair the two.
The features that come with it show the Megaways “formula” as it is. Free spins are in almost every game, followed by tumbles (cascades) and multipliers. The combination Bonanza created in 2016 has continued to this day.
By provider, the original Big Time Gaming, Pragmatic Play, and Red Tiger are at the center. Most of the max win rankings are taken by Big Time Gaming games. True to its status as the originator, Big Time Gaming also posts the boldest numbers.
Megaways styles by provider
Big Time Gaming – the original’s extreme numbers
Big Time Gaming’s Megaways games tend to have large max win multipliers. Several games go beyond 100,000x, such as the Max Megaways series, White Rabbit 2, and Fireworks Megaways. It is also known for continuing older hits like Bonanza and Extra Chilli with sequels. Recently, new releases tied to big brands have appeared, such as Extra Chilli More Chilli and MONOPOLY Money.
Pragmatic Play – adding Megaways to a familiar framework
Pragmatic Play used a strategy of remaking its own popular games as Megaways. Great Rhino Megaways was the start, followed by Madame Destiny Megaways, Buffalo King Megaways, and Curse of the Werewolf Megaways. By adding Megaways to Pragmatic’s signature tumble and free spins multiplier structure, they feel familiar quickly to anyone who has played Pragmatic games. Many of the games are tuned to a max win of around 5,000x.
Red Tiger – Classics reborn as Megaways
Red Tiger’s flagship is Gonzo’s Quest Megaways, released in 2020. It remakes NetEnt’s classic Gonzo’s Quest as a Megaways game, symbolizing the collaboration between NetEnt and Red Tiger, now part of the same group. Red Tiger has also kept releasing several other Megaways games.
NetEnt – Combining with jackpots
In 2020, NetEnt released Divine Fortune Megaways. It adds Megaways to the progressive jackpot structure of the original Divine Fortune. Besides Megaways, NetEnt also walks its own path with its in-house ‘XXXtreme’ series and others.
After Megaways – Big Time Gaming’s other ‘Mega’ mechanics
After the success of Megaways, Big Time Gaming kept releasing more “Mega” series. Megaclusters, where a symbol splits into four when it pops, Megapays, and Megaquads are the best known. Games like Star Clusters Megaclusters belong to this line. They never became an industry standard the way Megaways did, but Big Time Gaming’s direction of “changing the screen structure itself to create fun” continues.
Who Megaways suits
Megaways suits people who enjoy a screen that differs from spin to spin. The thrill is big when the number of ways suddenly jumps or when a chain continues and multipliers stack up. On the other hand, if you prefer a steady stream of small wins, it can feel frustrating, since long stretches of quiet spins are common.
If you try Megaways in a free slot demo, check these three things.
- Ways count display: how often spins with fully filled rows appear
- Cascade flow: how many times cascades continue after a win
- Free spins multiplier: how the multiplier rises and whether there is a cap
Even among Megaways games, these three things differ quite a bit by provider. Try the original Bonanza and Pragmatic Play’s Great Rhino Megaways back to back and you’ll notice the difference right away.
Related reads
For a chart comparing Megaways games by RTP and max win, see the guide ‘Megaways Slots Complete Chart TOP 10’. If you want to try the original games yourself, you can open demos of Bonanza, Extra Chilli, and White Rabbit right away from the Big Time Gaming free slots list.
Sources: Big Time Gaming official news, CalvinAyre, iGaming industry reports (Yogonet, Bigwinboard, SiGMA, SBC News), AI Slot registered data