Hot Studios: The Slots Developers Everyone’s Talking About Right Now
As with many other entertainment industries, iGaming tends to have trends that rise and fall over time. In the late 2010s, for instance, Megaways slots were all the rage. By the 2020s, casino game shows had become hugely popular. Those trends haven’t gone away, of course, but the ebb and flow of what is hot changes over time.
The same goes for the developers behind casino games. You might argue, for example, that the 2000s belonged to brands like Playtech and Microgaming, whereas the 2010s were dominated by NetEnt and Yggdrasil. There is overlap, of course, but if you consider your checklist before joining an online casino – brand reputation, payment methods, the availability of an online casino bonus code to unlock promotions – the listed game developers should be right near the top.
But which are the studios drawing the eye right now in 2026? Everyone will have a favorite, but we can make a firm argument that this quintet is among the most fashionable:
Hacksaw Gaming
It’s not the case that Hacksaw is the most popular studio in the world if we were to calculate on a per-play basis, but it is certainly enjoying its moment in the sun. The developer has basically gone down the route of creating hugely innovative games with gameplay and features unlike any of its rivals. The games are unrecognizable from the ‘7s, Bars and Fruits’ games that defined typical slots for decades.
Popular Hacksaw slots include: Le Bandit, Rotten, Wanted Dead of a Wild
Nolimit City
In the 2020s, there was a marked shift toward more volatile slots, i.e., games that could suddenly explode into life with big pays rather than paying small wins frequently. When it came to extreme volatility, Nolimit City basically changed the face of the iGaming sector. Like Hacksaw, it thought outside of the box when it came to game design, often eschewing the traditional concepts of reels and paylines. Its themes, too, were more risqué than anything we have come across before.
Top Nolimit slots include: Fire in the Hole (1, 2, and 3), Punk Rocker, Mental,
Pragmatic Play
The most popular studio in the world? Certainly, Pragmatic’s Big Bass fishing slots series can be considered the most dominant online slots ‘franchise’ in history, as the games are ubiquitous and tend to dominate most-played games data from various sources. Pragmatic is much more than the Big Bass series, though, and it has had huge success with other games like Gates of Olympus and Sweet Bonanza. It’s also making waves offline globally. A huge influence on the sector.
Top Pragmatic slots include: Big Bass Bonanza, Big Bass Splash, Sugar Rush
Evolution
- We are cheating a little here because Evolution Gaming is actually Nolimit City’s parent company. It made its name in the live dealer sphere before going on an acquisition spree, taking in brands like Nolimit, Big Time Gaming, Red Tiger and NetEnt. So, by dint of having those huge brands under its umbrella, we are going to slide Evolution Gaming in here as one of the most important slot developers right now.
Popular Evolution games include: Piggy Riches series (Red Tiger), Starburst (NetEnt) and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Megaways (BTG).
Play N’ Go
Let’s finish with Play N’ Go, which remains a must-have developer at every online casino due to its evergreen Book of Dead slot. It’s difficult to describe how popular this game is, or why it has been so influential – ask any slots expert what a “book game” means and they will explain it – but suffice to say that it’s still a game that players look for years after its release. That does not mean Play N’ Go is a one-game wonder – far from it – it has a huge and impressive catalog of popular games that players love.
Popular Play N’ Go games include: Book of Dead, Legacy of Dead, Hugo
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