If you have not spent the last two years under a rock and maybe played slots at some online casino, chances are high that you tried your luck on a Megaways slot. Such has been their popularity, that most titles feature permanently in the TOP50 of most played games. The studio signing responsible for the frenzy is Big Time Gaming, a rather new provider based in Sydney, Australia. Founded by industry veterans, they set out from the start to bring a fresh breeze into online gaming, and bring they did. Not just a breeze, it feels more like a super tornado.
We at GBMLRS have embraced the Megaways games leading us to give them not just a separate page where we list all current and upcoming Megaways slots, but also a monthly news bulletin to bring you the latest updates and gossip coming from the providers, casinos and players.
From the humble beginnings when the creative team and math geniuses at BTG developed the Megaways engine it was pretty clear that they had something special on their hands, so special that their first step was the patent application. You might think what can be so dramatic about a slot? The key difference to standard formats are the dynamic reels which change the number of symbol positions on every spin. Based on the slot layout over five or six reels, this can lead to upwards of 500,000 ways to win.
Now, logic has it that more ways means more chances to score not just a simple win but a multi-way win. The variability in every spin means there is a highly complex math model working in the background as it has to bring a vast number of factors such as RTP, features, random modifiers and more together in a split of a second and that maybe millions of times every minute.
It surely revolutionized the way we play slots and while the first Megaways titles like Dragon Born or Queen of Riches went rather unnoticed and are today seen as practice games for the BTG design team, the impact came with a big bang when they released Bonanza. The hunt for the at times elusive G-O-L-D combination to trigger the free spins round began trending immediately on social media and is to this day ever present in forums and chat rooms. The world wide web is literally plastered with Bonanza screenshots and stories of big wins and merciless defeats. Games such as Extra Chilli, Holy Diver and Who Wants to be a Millionaire followed, all becoming instant hits with players.
Megaways Goes Global
At the end of 2017, BTG started to license the Megaways engine to other game providers which catapulted the forthcoming slots to players’ favourites. Among the first to benefit from a licensing deal was Blueprint Gaming, who have been releasing some truly entertaining Megaways slots on a regular basis – Diamond Mine Megaways, Vikings Unleashed Megaways, Genie Jackpots Megaways, Temple of Treasures Megaways, Buffalo Rising Megaways, Valletta Megaways and Wolf Legend Megaways are just a few examples of their ingenuity.
The next game studio to get a licence was the rather unknown Relax Gaming who sublicensed the engine to smaller studios. But not before releasing their own creation Temple Tumble Megaways. Kalamba Games and Fantasma Games are two of the smaller studios who took on the challenge to create an exciting slot with the engine. The first released with Machina Megaways a futuristic steampunk-themed slot while the second will launch Flower Fortunes Megaways in June 2019.
Red Tiger Gaming and Scientific Games (Bally, Barcrest, NextGen, Red7, WMS) were the latest to jump on to the Megaways bullet train. Since then we have seen a flurry of new games being released on a weekly basis.
New Megaways Games in June 2019
For June 2019 alone, we have some superb Megaways slots to look forward to as all studios are working hard to make the best of the BTG licence. They are either complete new creations or upgrades to some of the most popular video slots.
- 15th June 2019 | Barcrest – Rainbow Riches Megaways: 6×7 format with up to 117,649 ways, mystery feature, buy pass and free spins.
- 17th June 2019 | Blueprint Gaming – Tiki Treasures Megaways: 6×7 format with up to 117,649 ways, a choice of free spins rounds and progressive jackpots
- 20th June 2019 | Blueprint Gaming – Luck O’ The Irish Megaways: 5×7 format with up to 16,807 ways, playable on up to four reel sets
- 22nd June 2019 | Fantasma Games – Fortune Flowers Megaways: 6×9 format with up to 531,441 ways, expanding game window and level-up bonus features
- 25th June 2019 | WMS – Raging Rhino Megaways: 6×7 format with up to 117,649 ways, a free spins round and bonus guarantee.
With these latest titles, we are fast approaching 40 Megaways slots on our list. No doubt, more awesome Megaways will be released in 2019 and in the years to come as the engine has proven to be immensely popular with the slot playing community. So popular that we have seen the first casinos setting up a separate Megaways tabs on their sites. Check back regularly as we will post updates with new Megaways games on a monthly basis.
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