A highly experienced trio of iGaming veterans have joined forces to launch Big Daddy Gaming®, a new slots studio founded to bring creativity back to the slots market – offering unparalleled operator value, consistency and engaging content at its core.
Big Daddy Gaming’s founding vision – Reel Fun and Real Value – is a direct response to a market oversaturated with content that lacks long-term engagement. The studio’s founding mission and launch comes with a promise to operators that Big Daddy Gaming® will inject fresh thinking on all levels back to the industry.
The studio’s disruptive model is delivered through its distinctive Game DNA, blending proven mechanics with Big Daddy Gaming’s signature humour and edge, combined with a market balancing commercial approach designed to offer a winning proposition to operators. Already in hot demand with major brands during its pre-launch phase, the studio is primed for its market entry and commercial rollout in Q4 2025.
Big Daddy Gaming® is co-founded by Simon Hammon, former CEO of Relax Gaming. Hammon’s expertise is in building high-performance studios and scaling them into tier-one suppliers. Having started his career at NetEnt in 2010, he played a pivotal role in the launch of some of the studio’s most globally successful titles, including Starburst, before leading Relax Gaming onto the global stage.
He is joined by Daniel Eskola, one of the industry’s most respected product leaders. His combined tenure at Relax and Kindred provides him with a unique operator-to-supplier insight, which proved critical in spearheading the record-breaking Dream Drop jackpot and delivering tier-one’s a completely refreshed approach to content.
Completing the founding trio is Erland Hellstrom, a commercial force shaped during Evolution’s hypergrowth. Having managed tier-one operator relationships at scale, his leadership ensures Big Daddy Gaming® is built from day one to serve the needs of global operators.
The company’s launch is further underpinned by capital from gaming investment fund Castech, known for its extensive industry expertise, and supported by Toni Kolehmainen as a member of the board.
Erland Hellstrom, CEO at Big Daddy Gaming® said:
Our collective experience across game development and tier-one operator relations ensures that every title we build is engineered for peak performance and designed with real operator challenges in mind. With Big Daddy Gaming®, we are excited to deliver on the promise that our focus and experience translate directly into unmatched value creation for our partners.
Simon Hammon, Co-Founder at Big Daddy Gaming®, said:
Being at the heart of some of the industry’s greatest success stories has allowed us to launch Big Daddy Gaming® with genuine humility and a clear purpose to be a reliable, highly profitable asset for our operator partners. We know the ingredients for lasting engagement, and we have the technical maturity to execute – creating content that is robust, reliable, and genuinely fun.
Daniel Eskola, Co-Founder at Big Daddy Gaming®, added:
Big Daddy Gaming® has been founded on the belief that a successful partnership starts with a humble approach and ends with measurable returns. As a studio, we’re committed to addressing the fundamental challenges facing operators today by providing consistent, high-quality, and high-performing content that secures long-term player loyalty.
