Provider

Big Time Gaming

Founded
2011
Games in catalogue
~105
Signature style
Megaways, high volatility

Big Time Gaming is an Australian studio founded in Sydney in 2011 by industry veterans including Nik Robinson. Evolution acquired the company in 2021. Its catalogue is small – roughly 105 titles – but its importance is out of all proportion to that number, because it invented Megaways, the single most licensed slot mechanic in the industry.

Game Style

Every BTG game is built for the high end of volatility. Heavy feature rounds, unlimited win multipliers, reel extensions and bonus-round upgrades are standard, and the studio rarely bothers with a low-variance alternative. The presentation is deliberately unfussy – these are maths-first games with artwork attached, not the other way round.

Signature Mechanics

Two proprietary engines account for most of the catalogue, and one of them changed the whole market:

  • Megaways – first used in Dragon Born in 2016. The number of symbols on each reel changes every spin, producing up to 117,649 ways to win. BTG licensed it to more than a hundred other suppliers, which is why the word now appears on games from studios that otherwise have nothing in common.
  • Megaclusters – the follow-up: winning symbols split into four smaller ones, expanding the grid as the cascade continues. Used in Spicy Meatballs and Star Clusters.
  • Feature Drop – a paid entry that guarantees the bonus round, and on White Rabbit an option to buy directly into the extended reel state.
  • Enhance – a side bet that improves the odds of triggering free spins, an older BTG idea that much of the market later copied as the Ante Bet.

Licensing and Fair Play

Big Time Gaming holds licences from the Alderney Gambling Control Commission, the UK Gambling Commission, the Malta Gaming Authority and the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority – a strong list, and the reason its games are found in the strictest European markets rather than only offshore lobbies.

On returns the studio is at the better end. The catalogue averages around 96.5%, with individual titles running roughly 96% to 97.7% – White Rabbit’s 97.72% is among the highest published returns anywhere. As always, the operator chooses the build, so the information screen decides; but the baseline here is set higher than most.

Games Worth Knowing

Beyond the five titles below, the ones that matter historically are Bonanza, the 2016 game that made Megaways a genre rather than a curiosity, and White Rabbit, which paired Megaways with a Feature Drop and one of the highest RTPs in the market. Holy Diver and Lil Devil are the studio at its most aggressive, The Final Countdown and Opal Fruits its most approachable, and Spicy Meatballs the best demonstration of what Megaclusters does that Megaways cannot.

Mobile Play and Demos

All games are HTML5 and optimised for phones, which matters more here than elsewhere: a six-reel Megaways grid with variable symbol counts is a hard thing to render legibly on a small screen, and BTG’s layouts handle it better than most of its licensees do. Free demo play is available across the catalogue.

What the Numbers Say

The selection here runs from 2017 to 2023, with RTP between 95.67% and 96.51%. Volatility is high on every title. Maximum wins are large but uneven – 15,746x on Danger High Voltage against 116,030x on Apollo Pays – which reflects how differently the Megaways engine behaves depending on the reel set behind it.

Big Time Gaming is worth knowing for players who like Megaways specifically, since the originals tend to be tuned more carefully than the licensed imitations.

Popular Big Time Gaming Games

Bonanza Falls slot by Big Time Gaming

Bonanza Falls

RTP
96.51%
Volatility
High
Max win
93540x
Reels
6
Lines
117649
Released
2023-12-11
Theme
Gold
Bonanza Falls gameplay screenshot
Extra Chilli slot by Big Time Gaming

Extra Chilli

RTP
96.50%
Volatility
High
Max win
20,000x
Reels
6
Lines
117,649
Released
2018-01-01
Theme
Food
Extra Chilli gameplay screenshot
Danger High Voltage slot by Big Time Gaming

Danger High Voltage

RTP
95.67% – 96.22%
Volatility
High
Max win
15,746x
Reels
6
Lines
4096
Released
2017-05-01
Theme
Music
Danger High Voltage gameplay screenshot
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire slot by Big Time Gaming

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire

RTP
96.24%
Volatility
High
Max win
50,000x stake
Reels
6
Lines
117649
Released
2018-11-14
Theme
Gold
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire gameplay screenshot
Apollo Pays slot by Big Time Gaming

Apollo Pays

RTP
96.51% – 96.56%
Volatility
High
Max win
116,030x
Reels
6
Lines
117649
Released
2022-02-23
Theme
Mythology
Apollo Pays gameplay screenshot

{
“@context”:”https://schema.org”,
“@type”:”ItemList”,
“name”:”Big Time Gaming slots”,
“itemListElement”:[
{“@type”:”ListItem”,”position”:1,”name”:”Bonanza Falls”},
{“@type”:”ListItem”,”position”:2,”name”:”Extra Chilli”},
{“@type”:”ListItem”,”position”:3,”name”:”Danger High Voltage”},
{“@type”:”ListItem”,”position”:4,”name”:”Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”},
{“@type”:”ListItem”,”position”:5,”name”:”Apollo Pays”}
]
}

Common Questions

What is Big Time Gaming known for?

Inventing the Megaways engine, and for high-volatility slots built around it such as Bonanza, Extra Chilli and Danger High Voltage. It also created Megaclusters, its follow-up grid mechanic.

Is Big Time Gaming a licensed provider?

Yes. The studio is licensed by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission, the UK Gambling Commission, the Malta Gaming Authority and the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority, and its games are certified for the regulated markets its operators serve.

Is Big Time Gaming the same as BGaming?

No. They are separate studios that are sometimes confused because of similar abbreviations. Big Time Gaming (BTG) is Australian and created Megaways; BGaming is a separate developer with its own catalogue and a page of its own on this site.

How does Megaways actually work?

Each reel shows a variable number of symbols on every spin – typically two to seven – so the number of ways to win changes constantly, up to 117,649 at maximum. Wins pay left to right on adjacent reels regardless of position. The variance comes from the fact that a large ways-count is worthless without matching symbols, and small counts still occasionally pay big.

Are Megaways games from other studios the same?

Only the engine is. More than a hundred suppliers license Megaways, but each sets its own symbol distribution, feature structure and RTP, so two Megaways games can behave completely differently. The BTG originals tend to be tuned more carefully than the licensed versions, which is the main argument for playing them.

What is the Feature Drop?

A paid entry that guarantees the bonus round instead of waiting for scatters. On White Rabbit it also allows buying directly into the extended reel state. Like every bonus buy, it changes the cost and variance of a session without meaningfully improving the long-run return.

{
“@context”:”https://schema.org”,
“@type”:”FAQPage”,
“mainEntity”:[
{“@type”:”Question”,”name”:”What is Big Time Gaming known for?”,”acceptedAnswer”:{“@type”:”Answer”,”text”:”Inventing the Megaways engine and high-volatility slots built around it such as Bonanza, Extra Chilli and Danger High Voltage.”}},
{“@type”:”Question”,”name”:”Is Big Time Gaming a licensed provider?”,”acceptedAnswer”:{“@type”:”Answer”,”text”:”Yes. Licensed by Alderney, the UK Gambling Commission, the Malta Gaming Authority and the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority.”}},
{“@type”:”Question”,”name”:”Is Big Time Gaming the same as BGaming?”,”acceptedAnswer”:{“@type”:”Answer”,”text”:”No. Separate studios sometimes confused because of similar abbreviations. BTG is Australian and created Megaways.”}},
{“@type”:”Question”,”name”:”How does Megaways actually work?”,”acceptedAnswer”:{“@type”:”Answer”,”text”:”Each reel shows a variable number of symbols every spin, so the ways to win change constantly, up to 117,649 at maximum.”}},
{“@type”:”Question”,”name”:”Are Megaways games from other studios the same?”,”acceptedAnswer”:{“@type”:”Answer”,”text”:”Only the engine is. Each licensee sets its own symbol distribution, feature structure and RTP, so behaviour differs widely.”}},
{“@type”:”Question”,”name”:”What is the Feature Drop?”,”acceptedAnswer”:{“@type”:”Answer”,”text”:”A paid entry that guarantees the bonus round. It changes cost and variance without meaningfully improving the long-run return.”}}
]
}