About ELK Studios and this guide

A Swedish slot studio founded in 2013, described here by an independent site that is not part of it.

This site is not ELK Studios. It is an independent guide to the studio's games. For anything about your casino account or a real-money game, contact your casino. For the studio itself, see our contact page.

A slot studio from Stockholm

ELK Studios opened its first office on Engelbrektsgatan in Stockholm in September 2013. Its first slot, The Lab, went live in October 2014, with Electric Sam following that December. The company has moved since then, and its address is now Vasagatan 16.

Its games reach players through hundreds of licensed operators rather than through a casino of its own. ELK describes its focus as quality over quantity, combining new mechanics with detailed artwork. In recent years it has also released far more often: its own timeline lists roughly two launches a month through 2025 and 2026.

In December 2021 Scientific Games, the company now called Light & Wonder, acquired the studio.

How ELK builds a slot

ELK splits game development into three stages, and its games show where the effort goes.

Concept

ELK says its best concepts pair a strong game model with a theme that fits it. You can see that in Pirots, where birds eating gems explains a mechanic that would be hard to read as abstract rules.

Artwork

Art, animation and sound are made by the in-house studio in Sweden. Recurring characters such as Toro, Elmo the sloth and the four Pirots birds carry from game to game, and series get real continuity as a result.

Maths model

ELK treats the maths as the place where a game is defined, using statistical modelling and cloud computing to develop and verify it. Games are then certified by test labs such as Trisigma and Gaming Laboratories International.

ELK Studios licences

These licences belong to ELK's companies, not to this site. Each link goes to the regulator so you can check it yourself.

Regulators listed by ELK Studios
Regulator	Holder	Detail
UK Gambling Commission	ELKAB Studios AB	Account number 40844
Malta Gaming Authority	ELK Studios Malta Ltd	B2B Critical Gaming Supply licence MGA/B2B/605/2018, issued 27 February 2019
ONJN, Romania	ELKAB Studios AB	Class II licences 820/15.05.2020 and 821/15.05.2020
AGCO, Ontario	ELK Studios	Registered gaming-related supplier listing
Hellenic Gaming Commission, Greece	ELK Studios	Listed by ELK as a regulator

ELK's timeline

The milestones and series launches that shaped the games on this site.

Sep 2013ELK Studios starts upFirst office on Engelbrektsgatan, Stockholm.
Oct 2014First slot goes liveThe Lab launches, followed by Electric Sam in December.
Sep 2015Taco BrothersThree brothers rob a captain's vault in Mexico
Nov 2016Taco Brothers Saving ChristmasSnow falls on Santa Maria
Nov 2016Wild ToroA bull against a sneaky matador
Oct 2017Wild Toro wins at EGRGame of the Year at the EGR Operators Awards 2017.
Dec 2019CygnusStars, pyramids and sliding marble symbols
Nov 2020NitropolisAnimal gangs fight over a neon city
Mar 2021X-iter arrivesBompers is the first launch ELK's timeline lists with X-iter.
May 2021Nitropolis 2The gangs battle Sergeant Nitro Wolf
May 2021TropicoolA frozen paradise with a Feature Reel above the grid
Oct 2021Wild Toro IIToro returns with growing multipliers
Oct 2021X-iter honouredGame innovation of the year at the 5 Star Starlet awards.
Dec 2021New ownerScientific Games, now Light & Wonder, acquires ELK.
Apr 2022Nitropolis 3The gangs flee south and rows start to expand
Aug 2022Cygnus 2A global multiplier on every win
Feb 2023PirotsPirate birds and the first CollectR grid
Feb 2023Nitropolis 4Nitro Booster screens and stacking multipliers
Feb 2023Tropicool 2Elmo the sloth and a three-row Cool Reel
Jul 2023Cygnus 3A secret society, a wheel and three jackpots
Nov 2023Pirots 2A dinosaur island and an angry mother
Apr 2024Tropicool 3Frozen pyramids and Elmo's Revenge
May 2024Pirots 2 awardELK lists it as Game of the Year 2024.
Jun 2024Pirots 3The birds go to the Wild West
Jul 2024Nitropolis 5The final battle for the city
Apr 2025Live in OntarioELK's games reach the regulated Ontario market.
Jul 2025Pirots 4Space station, black hole and alien duels
Jul 2026Pirots 5Cursed temple, three worlds, Captain Blackfeather

Who runs this guide

elkstudios.games is an independent guide written for people who want to understand ELK's games before they stake anything. We are not owned by, operated by or acting for ELKAB Studios AB, and we do not run a casino or take bets.

The site earns money through links labelled “Play” and “Play for real”, which go to a casino partner. That does not change the figures on any page, because they come straight from the studio.

Where our numbers come from

Every RTP, volatility score, hit rate, max win and bet range comes from ELK's published data and product sheets. Feature descriptions are based on the in-game rules that ship with each demo. Release dates come from the timeline on ELK's own site.

We have not logged test sessions, so you won't find claims about what a certain number of spins paid. Short sessions say little about a high-volatility slot anyway. Operators can run different RTP settings and the studio can update its games, so treat the info screen in the game you are playing as the final word.

Spotted a mistake?

If a figure here doesn't match the game, tell us and we'll check it against the source.