Big Time Gaming: Megaways, Megaclusters and Megapots
BTG is a Sydney studio founded in 2011 that invented Megaways and then licensed it to half the industry. It has been part of Evolution since July 2021, and its current roadmap is built on Megapots rather than new Megaways.
The studio
Who Big Time Gaming are
BTG was founded in 2011 by Nik Robinson, with Huw McIntosh on technology and Ian Schmidt on creative. It operates from Surry Hills, Sydney. Robinson had previously founded New Tech Media in 1996, later sold to News Corp and merged into what became OpenBet — so this is not a first-time team.
Evolution agreed to acquire BTG in April 2021 and completed the deal on 1 July 2021. Reported value was around €450m.
Output is video slots only, plus something most studios do not have: a licensing business. Megaways is licensed to numerous other developers, which means BTG earns from games it did not build. That licensing programme is arguably its single most valuable asset.
Worth noticing on the current catalogue: the roadmap is now dominated by Monopoly-licensed titles and Megapots, not by new Megaways releases. The mechanic that made the studio famous has become infrastructure other people build on.
- Founded: 2011 by Nik Robinson, with Huw McIntosh and Ian Schmidt
- Headquarters: Surry Hills, Sydney, Australia
- Parent: Evolution — acquisition completed 1 July 2021
- Produces: video slots, plus mechanic licensing
- Trademarked mechanics: Megaways, Megaclusters, Megapots, Megadozer
- Catalogue: not published
- Licences: none published on its own site
The games
Big Time Gaming slots
BTG publishes a year for Bonanza and a launch date for its newest title; the rest of the catalogue carries none.
| Title | Released | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Bonanza | 2016 | The game that launched Megaways. A mining-themed slot with variable reel height giving up to 117,649 ways to win, and the title BTG itself calls a pivotal moment |
| Extra Chilli More Chilli | 23 Sep 2026 | Sequel in the Extra Chilli line, announced for global launch |
| White Rabbit 2 | — | Sequel to the Megaways title known for a symbol-eating reel-expansion bonus |
| Star Clusters II | — | Sequel in the cluster-pays line; the original was a deliberate cluster and Megaways hybrid |
| Max Megaways III | — | Third instalment of the self-referential Megaways showcase slot |
| Danger High Voltage 2 | — | Sequel to the Electric Six-licensed original |
| Monopoly Megapots | — | Licensed Monopoly IP built on the Megapots jackpot mechanic |
| Millionaire Megapots | — | Megapots entry in the Millionaire line |
| Fruit Merge Megapots | — | Fruit-themed Megapots slot using a merge mechanic |
| Cyberslot Megaclusters | — | The title that launched the Megaclusters engine |
No RTP figures are quoted. BTG publishes no catalogue total and no release years beyond Bonanza, so nothing else here is dated.
What makes it different
Four trademarked mechanics, one of them an industry standard
BTG does not compete on volume. It competes on formats other studios then pay to use.
Megaways
Reels vary in symbol height on every spin, so the number of ways to win changes spin to spin — up to 117,649 in the original six-reel implementation. Launched with Bonanza in 2016. BTG licenses it to numerous other developers, which is why you see Megaways titles from studios that have nothing else in common.
Megaclusters
BTG’s cluster-pays engine, launched in 2020 and first shown in Cyberslot Megaclusters. Instead of varying reel height, winning symbol clusters split into smaller symbols, progressively expanding the grid. It is the cluster analogue of what Megaways does to reels.
Megapots
The jackpot mechanic now carrying a large slice of the current catalogue — Monopoly Megapots, Millionaire Megapots, Fruit Merge Megapots, Christmas Megapots. Tier structure and whether pools are networked across operators are not published, so ask before you market it.
Megadozer
Trademarked on BTG’s own site and entirely unexplained there. The name evokes a coin-pusher format. We are listing it because it exists, not because we can tell you how it works.
The licensing model
Worth stating separately: BTG is a licensor as well as a studio. If your lobby carries Megaways titles from other suppliers, BTG is already in your revenue chain.
Where it runs
Where Big Time Gaming content runs
BTG publishes no territory list and no market count — only that it has a track record with the world’s largest operators. For a studio of this profile that is unusually little.
Distribution runs through Evolution’s regulatory footprint in practice. LeoVegas is named in trade press as the launch operator for Cyberslot Megaclusters.
Post-acquisition, BTG’s own press activity has been notably quiet — announcements now flow through Evolution rather than the studio.
- No licence jurisdictions or numbers are published on BTG’s own site
- It carries no licence footer of the kind Blueprint and Kalamba publish
- Availability in practice follows Evolution group licences
- We are not importing Evolution’s numbers here — BTG’s own position is simply not stated
- Request written confirmation for your market
FAQ
Big Time Gaming — common questions
A BTG mechanic where reels vary in symbol height on every spin, so the number of ways to win changes from spin to spin — up to 117,649 in the original six-reel format. It launched with Bonanza in 2016 and is now licensed to numerous other developers, which is why Megaways titles appear across the industry.
No. BTG invented and owns the mechanic, and licenses it out. Megaways titles from Pragmatic Play, Red Tiger, Playson and many others are built under licence from BTG. That licensing programme is a large part of the studio’s value.
Megaways varies reel height to change the number of ways to win. Megaclusters is a cluster-pays engine where winning clusters split into smaller symbols and progressively expand the grid. Same underlying idea — a playing field that changes size — applied to two different win models.
Evolution. The acquisition was agreed in April 2021 at a reported value around €450m and completed on 1 July 2021.
Its current roadmap is dominated by Monopoly-licensed titles and Megapots rather than new Megaways. Megaways has effectively become infrastructure the rest of the industry builds on, while BTG has moved on to jackpots.
Surry Hills, Sydney, Australia. Founding years of 2010 and 2012 circulate on directory sites; the company’s own site says 2011.
BTG publishes no licence jurisdictions and no numbers on its own site — it carries no licence footer at all. In practice its content reaches markets under Evolution group licences. Ask for written confirmation for your jurisdiction.
Through an aggregator. BTG sits in the IGP catalogue with 150+ other providers on one API and one wallet.
Get Big Time Gaming through one integration
Bonanza, the Megaways catalogue and the Megapots titles are available through IGP on one integration with 150+ other providers.
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