If you speak to highly experienced online casino players, they will tell you that your choice of platform to play on should be wholly dependent on the game studios that provide the games. Each online casino doesn’t make its own games of course, so they rely on iGaming developer companies to provide the games. And, just as you probably wouldn’t play at a video gaming site that lacked titles from Ubisoft, Rockstar, CD Projekt Red, et al., a casino that lacks games from the top iGaming studios cannot call itself the best.
But who are those best iGaming studios? It is a matter of opinion, for sure, yet we can point to certain trends. In the 1990s and early 2000s, for instance, just as the online casino sector was gaining a foothold, it was brands like Playtech, IGT, and Microgaming that became dominant. NetEnt rose to prominence around the time that casinos became popular on smartphones in the late 2000s. Others, like Pragmatic Play and Big Time Gaming, hit the right notes in the 2010s and into the 2020s. This is backed by the data, as well as the popularity of games among casino streamers on platforms like Twitch and YouTube.
Hacksaw Gaming has become the king of slots
Yet, we can argue that the mid-2020s thus far belong to Hacksaw Gaming. It’s become the go-to developer at top casinos, with top Hacksaw slots found at DraftKings casino, for instance. Hacksaw has also been recognized with several awards, including the Rising Star accolade at the EGR Awards in 2023. Revenues have been soaring, too, as more and more casinos strive to list games from the studio.
What is it, though, that causes an iGaming studio to become popular? For those not experienced in casino trends, it can be difficult to explain, especially when the popularity of certain casino slots is not always based on awarding the biggest payouts. That counts, of course, but first and foremost, it is about innovation and entertainment, and Hacksaw seems to have understood that fact.
New concept games offer something different
Games like Chaos Crew, Le Bandit, and Six Six Six look and play so differently from the traditional idea of “bells and fruits” slot machines that they would be unrecognizable to some players. The rules, as such, are broken, offering players a different type of experience. Entertainment should be a key consideration when understanding the popularity of slot games, and Hacksaw has really strived to put something different up on screen. Games like Rotten, which is a horror-themed slot, can be genuinely scary in terms of their imagery, whereas a title like Chaos Crew leans into punk subcultures that no other developer has tackled before.
Of course, there are ‘economic’ elements that are important, and we’d argue that Hacksaw games lean into the area of casino gaming that has become highly important – volatility. Volatility, which is sometimes known as variance, is a concept that measures slots’ behaviors. Basically, more volatile games are more explosive, and that ties in with entertainment. It’s for that reason that Hacksaw games are so often used on casino streams, and that creates a feedback loop for their popularity.
We should stress that Hacksaw is not alone in pushing the boundaries. Others, like Slotmill, Nolimit City, and Peter & Sons, are among those gaining a lot more traction by offering players new experiences. Yet, Hacksaw is carving its way through the market, seeing a 72% rise in game rounds (plays) across the first half of 2025, something that has also seen its stock price rocket. It is close to conquering the online casino space.
