NetGaming Slots: The NetGame Studio Behind BetMGM’s US Debut

NetGaming Versus NetGame Entertainment: Two Different Studios

Start here, because nearly every other page online gets this wrong. There are two slot companies with nearly identical names, and they are not the same business.

NetGaming is the studio this page covers. Its legal entity is NG Entertainment Ltd, registered in Malta, and its US-facing brand is simply NetGaming. This is the developer that partnered with BetMGM and launched slots in Michigan and New Jersey. Its games include 3 Wild Jokers, Skulls Gone Wild, Zeus’s Thunderbolt, The Price is Right Fortune Pick and James Harden’s Thunder Slam.

NetGame Entertainment is a different company, historically tied to Kyiv, Ukraine, and generally dated to 2012. It is known for its Hold N Link and Bonus Combo engines and titles such as Wild Buffalo, Volcano Fruits and Genie’s Chest. NetGame Entertainment content shows up mainly across European and sweepstakes-style sites rather than in the regulated US real-money market.

The names are so close that review sites, casino lobbies and even some news write-ups blend the two studios together, crediting one company’s games and founding date to the other. When you see “NetGame slots” attached to a BetMGM story, the studio in question is NetGaming, the Malta business. When you see references to a 2012 Ukrainian founding and Hold N Link mechanics, that is NetGame Entertainment. This guide stays strictly with NetGaming, the BetMGM partner, and flags any point where the public record is thin or contested.

Who Is NetGaming?

NetGaming is a younger studio than its BetMGM billing might suggest. According to its own account and industry coverage, the company was set up around 2018 when an investor recruited Pallavi Deshmukh to build a slot supplier from scratch. Deshmukh had spent more than a decade in the industry before that, with roles at PartyGaming and PartyPoker and a stint as an account manager at NetEnt, where she handled major operator relationships. That background shows in how NetGaming approaches the business: it built its game platform and remote gaming server in-house rather than licensing someone else’s technology, and it chose to grow a curated catalog slowly instead of flooding the market with clones.

The studio launched its first games publicly around 2021 with a modest lineup of roughly 15 titles. By the time it was giving interviews about its US expansion, NetGaming described a team of around three dozen staff and a catalog in the neighborhood of four dozen games, with offices and development functions spread across Malta, the United Kingdom and India. Those figures move over time, so treat any single headcount or game total as a snapshot rather than a fixed number.

Ownership sits with NG Entertainment Ltd in Malta. The company holds a Malta Gaming Authority business-to-business license, MGA/B2B/750/2019, and it is also registered with the Great Britain Gambling Commission. That regulated footing in Europe is what made the jump to United States licensing feasible, since US regulators expect suppliers to already meet strict standards elsewhere.

How Many NetGaming Slots Are There?

Fewer than most studios you will read about, and that is by design. NetGaming grew from about 15 games at launch to roughly 50 titles in the years since, releasing a steady trickle of new slots rather than dozens per month. The studio does not publish a live, official count on a single page, and independent trackers disagree because some of them mix in NetGame Entertainment titles. Treat any specific number as approximate. The practical takeaway is that NetGaming is a boutique catalog: you can realistically sample most of its important games in a single session, which is unusual in an industry where the biggest suppliers push out hundreds of titles. For a look at how larger libraries compare, browse the full slot software providers hub.

Most Popular and Signature NetGaming Titles

NetGaming leans on a mix of self-branded slots and licensed tie-ins. A handful of games do the heavy lifting for the studio’s reputation.

• 3 Wild Jokers. The studio’s most recognizable game and one of its US launch titles. A compact fruit-and-joker slot whose whole personality lives in its wild mechanics.
• Skulls Gone Wild. A Day of the Dead themed slot and another Michigan launch title, known for a higher published RTP than much of the catalog.
• Zeus’s Thunderbolt and Zeus’s Thunderbolt 5000. A mythology series built around re-spins, a lightning free-spins mechanic and fixed jackpots, later extended with a Plinko-style spin-off.
• The Price is Right Fortune Pick. A branded game show tie-in launched with BetMGM, part of NetGaming’s Fortune Pick line.
• James Harden’s Thunder Slam. A sports-branded slot carrying the name of the NBA guard, aimed squarely at the US audience.
• The Shelby Online Video Slot. An automotive-branded launch title tied to the Shelby name.
• Zeus’s Thunderbolt Plinko. A BetMGM-exclusive spin-off that reworks the Thunderbolt mythology into a Plinko-style drop mechanic, a good example of the studio remixing a proven brand into a new format.
• American Wonder Reels. A patriotic release built around oversized symbols in the free-spins round and fixed jackpots, sitting at the medium-volatility end of the catalog.
• Super Stars USA, Chillies Trio Hold and Win, and 3 Wild Gorillas. Additional catalog entries that show the studio’s range across classic-style, hold-and-win and expanding-wild formats.

Other titles that surface in BetMGM’s own NetGaming recommendations and the studio’s release calendar include Infinity Battle, Han Xin’s Quest, Mansa Musa’s Golden Journey, Age of Da Vinci, Viking’s Chess The Conqueror’s Game, Kitty’s City Cafe, Don Quixote’s Wild Adventures, Mystic Ocean and Santa’s Wild Reels. Those give a sense of how broadly the studio spreads its themes, from Chinese history to feline diners to festive reels. To see how these stack up against the wider market’s hits, check our most popular slots and new slots roundups.

NetGaming Slot Specifications at a Glance

The table below collects verified specifications for NetGaming’s best-documented titles. Figures come from the studio’s own game pages and public game databases. Where a number is version-dependent, such as an RTP that changes when a buy-bonus feature is active, that is noted in the text that follows.

A few clarifications on the numbers above. The original Zeus’s Thunderbolt runs on a 5×3 grid with 20 fixed paylines and a stake range from about $0.20 to $100, and its published RTP of 93.96 percent rises toward 94 percent if you use the buy-bonus route. The later Zeus’s Thunderbolt 5000 reworks the same mythology into a dual-reel presentation with a higher headline ceiling. American Wonder Reels is a patriotic-themed release that pairs a medium-volatility profile with oversized 3×3 symbols during free spins and fixed jackpots reported up to 500x stake. Beyond these, many catalog titles list RTP and volatility on the studio’s own game pages, but figures for the smaller releases vary from source to source, so this page reports only what can be verified rather than guessing at the gaps.

Volatility Range With Examples

Where RTP tells you how much a game pays back over the long run, volatility tells you the rhythm of those payouts: whether wins drip in steadily or arrive rarely in big bursts. NetGaming leans hard toward the bursty end. Its marquee games, including 3 Wild Jokers, Skulls Gone Wild and Zeus’s Thunderbolt 5000, are all rated high volatility, so expect long quiet stretches punctuated by occasional heavy hits. The studio’s habit of offering buy-bonus features amplifies that swingy character, because paying a lump sum to force the feature is one of the sharpest-variance moves in slots.

A boutique catalog still leaves room for gentler options. American Wonder Reels carries a medium rating, and the studio has shipped simpler classic-style and branded games that ride calmer than its flagships. If you would rather grind out longer, less jolting sessions, steer toward those medium-rated titles and leave the buy-bonus button alone. Our volatility guide digs into how these swings translate into the size of bankroll you should bring.

Special Features and Signature Mechanics

For a small studio, NetGaming packs a lot of distinct feature ideas into its games. A few recurring mechanics define the catalog.

• Position-based wilds. 3 Wild Jokers is the poster child, and it color-codes the mechanic so you can read it at a glance. A blue joker on the first reel unlocks a mystery cash reward, an orange joker on the second reel expands to fill the whole reel, and a red joker on the third reel applies a 3x multiplier. Land more than one and the effects combine, which is where the game’s biggest hits come from.
• Super Spins. Several titles award short bursts of extra spins when wilds appear. In 3 Wild Jokers the round grants three spins with a wild joker guaranteed to land on each one, keeping a hot sequence alive without a full free-spins trigger.
• Buy Bonus. Many NetGaming slots let you pay a multiple of your stake, often around 50x, to jump straight into the feature. This is a deliberate high-variance option and it usually carries its own RTP.
• Re-spins and hold-and-win. The Thunderbolt series uses double re-spins, and titles like Chillies Trio use hold-and-win style collection rounds where symbols lock in place while you chase a fuller board.
• Cluster and grid variants. Not everything is a standard payline slot. Viking’s Chess The Conqueror’s Game uses cluster-pay mechanics on a chessboard grid, and Don Quixote’s Wild Adventures features walking wilds that move across the reels to create fresh wins.

The common thread is that NetGaming tends to build one strong, legible feature per game rather than stacking half a dozen mechanics you cannot track. That clarity is a large part of the studio’s appeal. Under the hood, every spin is decided by a certified random number generator, the same core technology explained in our RNG guide.

Safety, Security and Independent Audits

NetGaming’s regulatory paper trail is one of the strongest arguments for playing its games with confidence, and it is worth understanding what sits behind that.

At the studio level, NetGaming operates under a Malta Gaming Authority business-to-business license, MGA/B2B/750/2019, and it is registered with the Great Britain Gambling Commission. Its games are tested by independent laboratories, with the random number generator subject to review by Gaming Laboratories International, one of the most widely recognized testing houses in the industry, and the studio has also carried eCOGRA certification. These labs verify that game outcomes are genuinely random and that the quoted return rate matches how the software actually behaves.

For US players, the more important layer is state regulation. NetGaming had to register with and satisfy each state’s regulator before its games could go live. In practice that means clearing bodies such as the Michigan Gaming Control Board, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement and the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, depending on the market. When you play a NetGaming slot at BetMGM in a regulated state, the game has been submitted to and approved by that state’s authority, and the operator itself holds a state license. That combination of studio-level lab testing and state-level regulatory approval is exactly what you want to see, and it is the same standard applied to major suppliers like Pragmatic Play and NetEnt.

Regulated Casinos That Carry NetGaming Slots

Because NetGaming built its US presence around an exclusive partnership, the list of regulated casinos carrying its slots is short and centered on one brand.

BetMGM Casino

BetMGM is the home of NetGaming slots in the regulated US market, and the relationship is the reason the studio is here at all. BetMGM Casino in Michigan was the first US online casino to launch NetGaming’s portfolio in August 2023, opening with 3 Wild Jokers, Skulls Gone Wild and the Shelby-branded slot, and the partnership has since expanded into New Jersey with titles like Zeus’s Thunderbolt 5000 and Wicked Wins Fortune Pick. Because the content is exclusive, BetMGM is generally the only regulated operator where you will find these games, and it is also where new NetGaming releases such as The Price is Right Fortune Pick debut first. If NetGaming is the studio you are chasing, the BetMGM Casino lobby is the place to start, and its search and provider filters make the small catalog easy to find. Availability tracks BetMGM’s live states, so expect Michigan and New Jersey coverage with additional states following as the partnership grows.

A quick note on related brands. In New Jersey and Pennsylvania, BetMGM and Borgata Online run on the same underlying MGM platform, so it is possible some NetGaming titles surface at Borgata as well. We have not independently confirmed a NetGaming rollout there, so treat Borgata as a maybe rather than a certainty, and rely on BetMGM as the verified home. As of this review the studio’s content has not been reported at DraftKings or FanDuel, which is consistent with the exclusive nature of the BetMGM deal.

Compare NetGaming With Other Vetted Suppliers

NetGaming sits at the boutique end of the regulated market. If you want to see how its curated, feature-first catalog compares with the bigger, blue-chip libraries that clear the same state approvals, these provider profiles are a useful next stop.

Mobile Play

Every NetGaming slot is coded in HTML5, so one build of each game reshapes itself for whatever screen loads it, no separate app-store download required for the game itself. The studio openly tunes its titles for a wide spread of phones and tablets, which is why a spin on a handset carries the same reels, features and payback percentage you would meet on a laptop. In the regulated states you reach these games inside the BetMGM Casino app on iPhone or Android, or through a phone browser, and the operator’s geolocation check confirms you are sitting within a licensed border before a wager clears. Our roundup of the best mobile slots covers what separates a polished handheld build from a clunky one.

Real-Money and Free Play

Two doors open into a NetGaming game. The cash door runs through BetMGM in a live state: you fund your account with the operator’s usual deposit methods, spin for stakes, and cash out any balance under BetMGM’s withdrawal rules. Only this route arms the fixed jackpots and pays out a buy-bonus round for real. Our real-money slots guide lays out how funding, cashouts and wagering requirements work across licensed US operators.

The practice door costs nothing. NetGaming demo builds float around various game libraries, and BetMGM frequently lets you audition a title in a no-stakes mode before you commit a cent. Spinning for free is the low-risk way to memorize a feature set and gauge how streaky a game runs, with the obvious catch that a demo balance can never become a withdrawal. Our free slots hub maps out where demo play helps and where it stops short. Either way, the same instinct serves you well here: these high-variance flagships reward a steady head and a fixed staking limit far more than they reward pressing after a loss.

Play Responsibly

Keep the risk in view. NetGaming’s headline titles swing hard, and the buy-bonus shortcut can drain a balance in a hurry, so decide in advance what you are willing to spend and let that cap hold even when a game runs cold. Wins here are a bonus, not a paycheck to chase, and walking away with money still in your pocket is a perfectly good result. Anyone who feels their play tipping past enjoyment into something heavier can reach trained, confidential counselors any hour of the day by calling or texting 1-800-GAMBLER. Most licensed casinos also build in deposit caps, session timers and self-exclusion switches worth turning on early.

Real-money play is limited to those who satisfy their state’s gambling-age requirement, typically 21 at these operators, and who are physically inside a state that has licensed online casino play. Geolocation and identity checks enforce both. This page is informational and does not guarantee that any specific title is live at a given casino on a given day, since lineups shift as licensing and partnerships change.

Last reviewed: August 2026

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