Hacksaw Gaming

The studio that shows its workings

Hacksaw Gaming’s best quality is not a feature. It is disclosure. On its own game pages the studio sets out more of its maths than most suppliers, down to every RTP version it ships. Add a background in scratch cards and you get slots that are quick to grasp, distinctive in art style and designed for big swings. If you care about numbers, that transparency is the main reason to pay attention.

No Hacksaw titles are listed on SlotSpecs yet. Our demo network partner carries 281 of them.

Every RTP version on the record

Take Wanted Dead or a Wild. Its official page names four RTP builds: 96.38%, 94.55%, 92.33% and 88.42%. Top to bottom, that is a spread of close to eight percentage points. Gameplay is identical across all four; the long-run return is not. Across an extremely large sample of spins, the 88.42% version is built to pay back roughly 8 units less per 100 staked than the 96.38% version.

Because Hacksaw lists these builds in public, we will state the version we run on each SlotSpecs game page once its titles are added.

Wanted Dead or a Wild as a case study

No single game sums up the Hacksaw method better. The studio’s game page lists the following:

• a 5×5 grid paying on 15 lines;
• DuelReels: whenever VS symbols form part of a win, they grow into wild reels, and the duelling outlaws’ multipliers are applied to that win;
• a trio of bonus games, namely Great Train Robbery (sticky wilds), Duel at Dawn (raised odds of VS symbols) and Dead Man’s Hand (wilds and multipliers gathered ahead of a final stage);
• the option to buy a bonus;
• a 12,500x the bet ceiling and a volatility score of 4 on a 5-point scale.

Notice that every bonus changes exactly one variable. That is classic Hacksaw: the feature’s name tells you its job, and the buy menu lets you choose which job you want.

From a gaming server to the stock market

The investor site dates Hacksaw to 2018. Before any games, the team built a remote gaming server, the platform that hosts its titles and delivers them to operators. Online scratch cards and instant win games launched first; slots came later. In 2023 the server was opened up to outside studios, letting third-party developers build and distribute their own games through it.

Hacksaw AB runs the business, with HGMT Ltd in Malta as a wholly owned subsidiary. Following an oversubscribed share offering, Hacksaw AB listed on Nasdaq Stockholm on 25 June 2025, ticker HACK.

Licensing is extensive: a Malta Gaming Authority critical supply licence (MGA/CRP/501/2018), UK Gambling Commission licence 54059, a software permit in Sweden, and approvals across Denmark, Greece, Romania, the Isle of Man, Ontario, Alberta and a number of US states.

Instant-game habits in slot form

A scratch card has to be understood the moment it appears, and Hacksaw carries that discipline into its slots. Grids tend to be compact, features are limited in number, and each one has a clear name and a single purpose. Visually the games are loud and cartoon-like, holding one recognisable style across very different themes.

The maths pulls the opposite way. A large share of the slots are tuned for infrequent big results over regular small ones, and bonuses are frequently divided into several named modes that can be bought outright.

Side by side with other studios

Nolimit City is the nearest match. Both build high-volatility slots around named mechanics and bonuses with multiple modes. Where they part is presentation: Nolimit City leans into dark, provocative themes, whereas Hacksaw’s art is cleaner and more cartoon-led. Set against Pragmatic Play’s tumbling grids, Hacksaw games are tighter, with fewer moving parts on any one spin.

Should you try Hacksaw?

Yes, if you enjoy working through a rules page until you understand how the whole game fits together, and if long flat spells are an acceptable price for a high ceiling. No, if you mainly want steady small results; most of the slot range is not designed for that, though the scratch cards and instant games are more straightforward.

The good and the not so good

The good

• All RTP builds appear on the official game pages.
• Feature names that explain what each bonus actually does.
• Scratch cards and instant games sit alongside the slots.

The not so good

• The bottom published RTP builds fall a long way short of the top one.
• High volatility dominates the slots, so dry runs can be lengthy.

Hacksaw Gaming: quick answers