The Big Bass Franchise and the Studio that Landed the Catch of a Lifetime

A couple of years ago, if you asked people what the biggest slot games in the world are, they’d probably tell you Rainbow Riches or Age of the Gods.

Today’s landscape, however, is very different. A cheerful, bearded fisherman has managed to reel in millions of players and transformed an unknown developer into one of the biggest success stories of the industry. 

The Big Bass franchise by Reel Kingdom has 18 games and counting. Many of them rank as the most-played slot games in the country.

Image credit: © Reel Kingdom / Pragmatic Play. All rights, trademarks, and intellectual property belong to their respective owners. 

The Catch of a Lifetime for Reel Kingdom

The company behind the Big Bass franchise aren’t a huge household name. They’re a Welsh development studio that partnered with Pragmatic Play to release Hot to Burn in 2020. 

Even though Reel Kingdom wasn’t one of the top companies in the iGaming market, a lot of the team had experience with Astra Games and had spent two decades creating gaming content. Many even worked on the Barcrest fruit machines.

The first six slot releases from Reel Kingdom didn’t generate too much attention. In December 2020, however, the studio created a title that would change everything: Big Bass Bonanza.

The Gamble of Creating a Slot Game

Creating a Top 10 slot game is almost impossible. Thousands of slots are competing for players’ attention, and new releases drop almost every week. Even established studios regularly produce games that disappear without ever finding their footing.

For companies like Reel Kingdom, each release is a huge investment. Smaller studios only develop 10 games a year, and each project consists of months of design work, animation, programming, testing, and regulatory approval.

Slot developers are continually gambling on ideas that may break through the market or get lost in the crowd. If a game doesn’t attract players, thousands in development costs are lost, and months of work are for nothing.

Chasing the Developer Dream

Creating one good slot is an achievement. Creating two is exceptional, but creating a franchise is the holy grail of game development.

Franchises do a great job at generating confidence. When a sequel launches, thousands of fans want to play it purely because they enjoyed the games that came before it. Developers don’t need to introduce themselves every time either, as the brand is trusted.

That’s what gave Big Bass such a platform. Reel Kingdom expanded the series with new mechanics, seasonal editions, and fresh settings without losing the charismatic fisherman and the style of gameplay that everyone loved.

The franchise grew stronger with every release. 90% of Reel Kingdom’s most popular games belong to the Big Bass franchise, and it’s estimated that these games bring in 95% of revenue for the company.

What Made Big Bass Stand Out So Much?

Behind every franchise is a memorable face. For Big Bass, it was their bearded fisherman. Fishing might also seem a bit of an odd choice for a slot game, but Big Bass arrived at a time when people were finding a new appreciation for the sport. In 2020, the year of Big Bass Bonanza’s release, the UK Environment Agency reported a 17% increase in rod fishing, with 1.09 million rod licences sold.

Big Bass also modernised the slot formula. Developers embraced bright artwork, polished animations, and lovely bonus sequences that gave the title a contemporary feel that doesn’t sacrifice the things that make the sport of fishing enjoyable.

Perhaps the biggest thing to take note of with the Big Bass franchise is that bigger is not better. Big Bass games have one exceptional feature. This is why games like Starburst have been popular for years: when it comes down to it, people just want an engaging game that feels rewarding, even when wins don’t happen.

Bigger Bass Bonanza increased the maximum win to 4,000x, and Big Bass Bonanza Megaways combined the Megaways mechanic with the classic theme of the game, creating thousands of ways to win without compromising what made the title special.

The smartest innovation came with Big Bass Splash. A modifier selector that triggered before free spins helped to enhance the bonus round, with a levelling system that unlocked more valuable rewards over time.

Today, the Big Bass franchise is one of the biggest collections of slot games on the market. Not many people would have thought that an unknown studio from Wales would dethrone Rainbow Riches or even Age of the Gods, but here we are.

Big Bass is a testament to how memorable characters, polished presentation, and perfectly executed simplicity can outperform the biggest names in the sector.