ELA Games review: Licences, games and partner casinos
ELA Games: the key points to remember
A summary of the verifiable data on this online casino provider, compiled in July 2026.
Company identity
- Legal name: Fankong Global Limited
- Registration number: ΗΕ 407284, Cyprus Registrar of Companies
- Incorporation: 20 February 2020
- Studio launch: 2021, with a trio of slots
- Head office: 12 Dimostheni Severi, 6th Floor, Office 601, 1080 Nicosia, Cyprus
- Contact: [email protected] for GDPR requests
- Slogan: "For players, by players"
- Management: Michael Cini as business owner, Ewa Kaźmierska as Managing Director, Yaroslav Soloshenko heading business development
Licences and compliance
- Malta: Malta Gaming Authority, November 2023
- Romania: ONJN
- Sweden: Spelinspektionen
- Denmark: Spillemyndigheden, May 2025
- Greece: Hellenic Gaming Commission, December 2025
- Technical certification: random number generators tested by GLI
- Data security: ISO 27001 compliance claimed
- Per game certification: nine titles approved across five markets in April 2026
Portfolio and mechanics
- Volume: 24 titles in early 2024, more than forty by late 2025
- Release rate: roughly one game per month
- Signature mechanic: Winpot, giving players control over their cash out strategy
- Common features: Hold and Spin, random wilds, multipliers, free spins
- Unusual product: CashCrab, a real claw machine streamed live
- Notable gaps: no progressive jackpots, no Megaways titles
- Bonus buy: marginal, limited to free spins access
Game data
- Verified RTP: 96.2% on Tail of Crime
- Market average: between 95% and 96%
- Documented ceiling: €150,000 on Tail of Crime, on a maximum stake of €50
- Positioning: moderate ceilings, with no six figure multipliers in the portfolio
- Verification: check the paytable inside the game itself, since third party directories often carry errors
Technical specifications
- Technology: HTML5, running directly in the browser
- Approach: mobile first, no download and no app
- Compatibility: smartphone, tablet and desktop, across all operating systems
- Languages: 28
- Currencies: more than 130
Distribution and partners
- Hub88: April 2023
- EveryMatrix: June 2023, CasinoEngine platform
- BlueOcean Gaming: April 2024, GameHub portfolio
- Slotegrator: September 2024, APIgrator solution
- BetConstruct: September 2025
- Spinomenal: white label deal, technical foundation for ten titles
- Reach: around fifty gaming sites listed
Markets and operators
- Denmark: strongest market, Stake.dk, Tivoli Casino, RoyalCasino, Casino House
- Sweden: Betinia, Swiper, CampoBet, QuickCasino
- Romania: Don.ro, TopBet, Swiper
- Greece: ElaBet and Fonbet.gr since June 2026
- Partner groups: Betsson and Rootz Ltd
- International markets: several brands under Curaçao licence
What works in its favour
- Art direction: polished worlds and memorable characters, rare at this scale
- Real innovation: CashCrab has no direct equivalent on the market
- Regulatory footing: five regulated European jurisdictions
- Technical pedigree: team drawn from Skywind Group, Playtika and Playrix
- International coverage: native localisation in 28 languages
- Industry recognition: awards at SIGMA, the SBC Awards, the EGR Awards and CasinoBeats
What should give you pause
- Portfolio size: small next to the major suppliers
- Return to player: several titles below the market average
- Win ceilings: very uneven from one game to the next
- CashCrab availability: no public list of operators offering it for real money
- Growth figures: released by the studio itself, with no independent audit
ELA Games: full review of the provider, its licences and current partner casinos
A metal claw drops towards a pile of soft toys. Twenty-five seconds on the clock. The player taps left, hesitates, corrects, then hits the grab button. Except this machine is not sitting in a shopping centre arcade. It is filmed live and piloted from a living room three hundred kilometres away, and the toy you catch carries a multiplier.
That is CashCrab. More importantly, that is what sets this Cyprus based provider apart from the hundred slot studios that all look alike. The rest of the ELA Games portfolio is more conventional, and we will get to that without flattery.
Depending on your jurisdiction of residence, the CASINO filter at the top of this Kynox page shows the regulated venues that carry ELA Games. The GAMES filter opens the demo versions, playable with no stake.
Who is behind ELA Games?
The brand presents itself through cheerful artwork and a three letter name. Behind it sits a Cypriot company, and the public registers allow us to piece it together precisely.
Legal name and company registration number
The ELA Games brand is operated by Fankong Global Limited, a private limited company under Cypriot law. Its registration number with the Cyprus Department of the Registrar of Companies is ΗΕ 407284, written as HE 407284 in Latin databases. Incorporation dates back to 20 February 2020 and the company is listed as active.
The word and figurative mark "ela GAMES" was filed with the EUIPO on 28 September 2021, under file number 018567261, in the classes covering electronic gaming services and online casino gaming software.
Postal addresses
The reference address, the one the studio publishes in its own legal notices, is 12 Dimostheni Severi, 6th Floor, Office 601, 1080 Nicosia, Cyprus.
A second address circulates in some extracts from the Cypriot register, at 4 Promitheos, 3rd Floor, 1065 Nicosia. Everything points to a former registered office. For formal correspondence, use the Dimostheni Severi address.
Email address
The only named contact published is that of the data protection officer: [email protected]. It handles access, rectification and erasure requests under the GDPR. Commercial enquiries go through the site form. For a B2B company that lives off its technical integrations, the absence of a generic address remains an oddity.
When was ELA Games founded?
The short answer is 2021. The precise answer needs three more lines.
The holding company has existed since February 2020, but it stayed dormant with no visible gaming activity. The trademark filing lands in September 2021, and that is the year the studio made its name, with a grouped launch of three slots rather than a single title: Malina, Wazamba and Jungle Tangle. Industry directories unanimously treat 2021 as the starting point.
The studio also claims more than ten years of gambling expertise on its home page, while the EGR B2B 2025 shortlisted it in two categories reserved for suppliers under five years old. Both statements coexist without contradicting each other. The seniority applies to individual careers rather than to the company. The wording still trades on the ambiguity, and it is better read for what it is.
Who runs ELA Games?
The public leadership chart has filled out as the studio grew, with a notable rotation at the top.
Michael Cini appears as business owner and spokesperson during the early years, notably at ICE London 2024. The managing director role went to Marharyta Yerina during 2025, before passing to Ewa Kaźmierska, presented as the person driving strategic expansion. Yaroslav Soloshenko leads the business development team and signs most public statements since 2025. Oleksii Shulgin serves as product studio manager. On the Cypriot register, Anastasiia Droga is listed as a director.
The technical team's pedigree is worth a mention, since several staff came from Skywind Group, Playtika and Playrix. That partly explains the graphical quality of the portfolio, well above what studios of this size usually produce.
What is the ELA Games slogan?
The studio operates under the motto "For players, by players". The stated idea is to build what the team would want to play themselves, drawing on analysis of the titles performing well elsewhere.
The ELA Games home page also runs an animated strapline cycling through three verbs, around the idea of making, providing and loving games. A studio slogan, appealing and unverifiable, with little informational value once the first second has passed.
What licences does ELA Games hold?
This is the point that actually matters to you. A provider without a licence in your jurisdiction simply cannot appear in the lobby of a regulated casino where you live.
ELA Games built its regulatory base step by step, market by market, rather than through a single licence later extended.
The regulated jurisdictions
- Malta: recognition obtained from the Malta Gaming Authority in November 2023
- Romania: supplier licence issued by the ONJN
- Sweden: supplier licence from Spelinspektionen
- Denmark: licence granted by Spillemyndigheden, announced in May 2025 and described at the time as the studio's fourth
- Greece: approval from the Hellenic Gaming Commission, obtained in December 2025
The studio also lists Gibraltar among its jurisdictions, without any detailed public announcement documenting that authorisation. A presence in Serbia was mentioned alongside the Greek announcement.
In April 2026, ELA Games certified nine of its flagship titles simultaneously across five markets: Sweden, Denmark, Greece, Romania and Malta. This per game certification, separate from the company licence, determines whether a title actually appears in a regulated lobby. A studio can hold a licence without its entire portfolio being available there, and that is exactly the situation here.
Technical certifications
Beyond the regulators, the studio has its random number generators tested by GLI and claims ISO 27001 compliance for the security of its information systems. The first covers fairness of outcomes, the second covers data protection. Two different things, still routinely confused in commercial brochures.
How many games are in the ELA Games portfolio?
Public figures diverge, and they need a date attached to mean anything. In early 2024, the studio and its distributors announced 24 titles, with a claimed production rate of roughly one game per month. By late 2025, the broadest counts listed more than forty slots.
It remains a small library. Against the thousands of titles from a Pragmatic Play or a Play'n GO, ELA Games plays in a different volume bracket. The studio compensates with a steady release rate and a recognisable art direction, but if you want depth of choice you will feel the walls.
The most frequently cited titles include Buffalo Force, Piñatas Festival, Riches Express, Cash of Gods, It's Shark Time, Joker Winpot, Flame Fruits Frenzy, Detective Fortune, Noble Crown, Juicy Crystal, Wealth of Legends, Thunder Ball, Witches' Book and Lucky Dwarfs.
The signature mechanics
The studio builds its identity around an in house feature called Winpot, which hands players control over their cash out strategy. It powers Zeus Winpot, Joker Winpot and Rabbit Winpot Deluxe among others. Joker Winpot pushes the idea as far as a 1x1 grid, a setup almost unheard of in the industry.
The rest of the portfolio leans on proven mechanics such as Hold and Spin, random wilds, multipliers and free spins. Triggers stay mostly random, and where a bonus buy exists, it opens a standard free spins round rather than a proprietary high variance mode.
What the ELA Games portfolio does not offer
No progressive jackpots, no Megaways titles. Those two gaps weigh heavily if you chase big multipliers or extreme variance. They come down to the size of the studio. A progressive jackpot needs a critical mass of simultaneous players to feed the pot, and a Megaways licence is expensive.
Return to player and win ceilings
Published data varies sharply from title to title, and the studio does not centralise this information. Tail of Crime, one of the better documented releases, posts an RTP of 96.2%, in line with the market average, with a maximum win capped at €150,000 on a maximum stake of €50.
Several industry listings report that other titles drop below the 95% mark, without those figures being corroborated by independent sources. Get into the habit of checking the RTP shown in the game's own paytable, reachable from the information menu before you start a session. That is the only figure the operator stands behind.
Win ceilings stay moderate by current market standards. No title in the portfolio comes close to the six figure multipliers offered by studios specialising in high variance.
How many languages are ELA Games titles translated into?
The studio's games are localised into 28 languages and support more than 130 currencies. That coverage applies at interface level: rules, paytables, feature labels and system messages.
The figure places ELA Games in the upper middle of independent studios. It mostly reflects an architecture designed for international distribution from the outset, with a localisation layer kept separate from the game engine rather than bolted on market by market. A Romanian, Swedish or Greek operator can therefore integrate the portfolio without commissioning any translation work.
The underlying technology is HTML5, with a mobile first approach. ELA Games titles run in the browser on smartphone, tablet or desktop, with no download and no dedicated app.
Who are the ELA Games software partners?
A studio this size does not negotiate directly with every casino. It goes through aggregators. These are the platforms that bundle hundreds of suppliers behind a single technical integration. Understanding that chain explains why you come across ELA Games at one casino and not another.
- Hub88: deal signed in April 2023, with strong exposure across Asian markets
- EveryMatrix: distribution contract from June 2023, integration into the CasinoEngine platform
- BlueOcean Gaming: added to the GameHub portfolio in April 2024, alongside NetEnt, Playson and Pragmatic Play/Pragmatic Play Live
- Slotegrator: partnership concluded in September 2024 through the APIgrator solution
- BetConstruct: cooperation announced in September 2025
- Spinomenal: white label deal that provided the technical foundation for an initial run of titles
The Spinomenal case deserves a closer look, because this goes beyond simple distribution. ELA Games built a series of ten slots on that provider's technical infrastructure, among them Gentleman's Club, Golden Rhino, Juicy Winter and Night of the Scarabs. Part of the portfolio therefore runs on borrowed foundations rather than in house development. Nothing shocking in this industry, where emerging studios happily share the heavy lifting, but it does temper the talk of full technological ownership.
This architecture explains something many players read the wrong way. When an ELA Games title vanishes from a lobby, it is almost never the studio's decision. Either the operator switched aggregator, or the aggregator trimmed its catalogue. The supplier takes the hit just as you do.
Which online casinos offer ELA Games titles?
Industry directories list around fifty gaming sites carrying this provider. The documented integrations break down by jurisdiction, which mirrors the licence map set out above.
- Denmark: Stake.dk, Tivoli Casino through Danske Licens Spil, RoyalCasino, Casino House, Betinia, CampoBet, Swiper and Betoro
- Sweden: Betinia, Swiper, CampoBet and QuickCasino
- Romania: Don.ro, TopBet and Swiper
- Greece: ElaBet, joined in June 2026 by Fonbet.gr
The Betsson group also appears among the announced operator partners, as does Rootz Ltd, the Maltese operator behind Wildz, Caxino, Wheelz and Spinz. Outside those jurisdictions, the portfolio shows up at several brands under Curaçao licence, including Wazamba, Rabona, Cazimbo, SlotsPalace, Cadoola and 5Gringos.
Denmark is the studio's strongest market, with a declared 58.6% rise in betting volume over the first quarter of 2026. Greece shows even sharper growth across two quarters, with 86.3% more active users. These figures come from the studio itself, with no independent audit, and triple digit percentages are all the easier to produce when the starting base is modest.
CashCrab, when the claw machine becomes a casino game
If ELA Games is remembered for anything, it will be this machine. CashCrab is a physical claw machine, a real one, filmed on a continuous video stream and piloted remotely by the player. There is no animation and no simulation. An operator maintains a fleet of machines, and you take the controls.
How does a round work?
Each round runs twenty-five seconds. You move the claw with four directional controls, then trigger the drop with the grab button. If the clock runs out before you decide, the claw descends automatically from the last position you set. Each type of toy corresponds to a different prize.
The available variants
- FancyFaces: four types of coloured balls carrying multipliers of x1.5, x1.8, x3 or x5
- Soccer Machine: a single ball with a fixed x1.5 multiplier
- ThreePointer: three catches to chain together, x1.5 then x2 then x10 on the third ball
The gamification features
Six cross cutting mechanics wrap around every variant. Piggy Bank returns a share of losing rounds as cashback, calculated from your leaderboard position. Hall of Fame awards experience on every round, won or lost, and feeds a weekly ranking that sets that cashback rate. Tournaments convert successful catches into ranked points, with prizes awarded at the end of each period. BetBehind lets you wager on another player's success, paying x1.5. Boosters activate temporary bonuses, and Cash Multiplier adds a time limited multiplier on selected variants.
On the operator side, almost everything can be customised: claw size and colour, interior wallpaper, floor cloth, camera angles, laser colour, the content of the back wall screen, and the prize chute. A so called neuro camera automatically recognises the toys on multi prize machines.
Where can you play CashCrab?
One caveat is needed here, and it tempers the enthusiasm. CashCrab is not distributed like an ordinary slot. It requires a fleet of physical machines, a capture studio, video bandwidth and constant mechanical maintenance. That naturally limits the number of operators able to host it.
No public integration announcement currently details which casinos offer CashCrab for real money. The studio's operator communications deal almost exclusively with its slots. If the product interests you, ask your casino's customer service directly rather than trusting the supplier name in the lobby.
Game of skill or game of chance?
This question looks theoretical. Its consequences are very concrete.
The EGR B2B 2024 awarded ELA Games in the Skill Game Supplier category. The classification holds up. In CashCrab you choose where the claw sits, you weigh up several toys, you manage your clock. An attentive player will do better than a distracted one, which never happens on a slot.
This regulatory grey area is no small matter. Depending on the jurisdiction, a game with a skill element sometimes falls under a separate regime, with different licensing, tax and advertising rules. It probably explains why CashCrab stays absent from the per market certification announcements, while the studio's slots appear there in numbers.
Do not misread it, though. Skill influences the outcome without determining it. The catch stays largely random, because the claw frequently drops its load, and the grip strength setting is entirely out of your hands. Chance dominates, skill shades the edges.
The awards won by ELA Games
The trophy cabinet filled quickly, which remains the most tangible measure of the studio's standing in the industry.
2024 brought three awards at SIGMA East Europe, including Best Slot Provider, matched by the same title at the SBC Awards, the Skill Game Supplier category at the EGR B2B Awards, and Slot of the Year at the CasinoBeats Game Developer Awards.
In 2025 the studio took two prizes at SIGMA Americas, Best Games Studio and Most Played Game, two more at SIGMA Asia in the newcomer categories, the Innovator award at the Women in Gaming Diversity Awards, and Brand of the Year B2B at the EGR Marketing & Innovation Awards. Add to that nominations at the EGR B2B 2025 and two places on the EGR B2B 2026 shortlist, announced this April.
A word on method applies across the whole sector. Categories such as newcomer and under five years single out emerging studios within a narrow field. They reward genuine potential rather than a leadership position.
The ELA Games responsible gambling policy
The studio claims to build player management tools into its products. It highlights its ISO 27001 compliance for the protection of player data. The detail of those measures stays thinly documented in public.
In practice, the protections you will actually use depend far more on your casino than on the games supplier: deposit limits, loss limits, session time and self exclusion. Check what your casino provides, not what the studio announces.
Should you play ELA Games titles?
This provider is worth choosing for its visual identity and for CashCrab, not for its numbers.
What works in its favour:
- a sharp and recognisable art direction
- real innovation with the live claw machine
- a serious regulatory footing across five European markets
- systematic GLI testing
- localisation in 28 languages
- a technical team with a solid pedigree
What should give you pause:
- a small portfolio
- the complete absence of progressive jackpots and Megaways
- win ceilings that vary widely between titles
- poorly documented CashCrab availability
- return to player rates that sometimes fall well below the market average
On that last point there is no room for debate. A lower RTP mathematically means a higher expected loss over time.
The GAMES filter at the top of this Kynox Casino page opens the demo versions. Test the volatility and the feature trigger rate first, without staking a penny. That is the only honest way to find out whether the ELA Games style suits you.
FAQ: ELA Games licences, games and partner casinos
What is ELA Games?
ELA Games is an online casino provider specialising in slots, founded in 2021 and based in Nicosia, Cyprus. ELA Games develops HTML5 titles distributed to regulated European operators, along with an unusual live claw machine product called CashCrab.
When was ELA Games founded?
ELA Games launched in 2021. The holding company, Fankong Global Limited, was incorporated in Cyprus on 20 February 2020. The studio made its name the following year with a grouped launch of three slots: Malina, Wazamba and Jungle Tangle.
Which company owns ELA Games?
The ELA Games brand is operated by Fankong Global Limited. It is a private limited company under Cypriot law, registered under number ΗΕ 407284. Its head office is at 12 Dimostheni Severi, 6th Floor, Office 601, 1080 Nicosia, Cyprus.
What licences does ELA Games hold?
ELA Games holds five game supplier licences in Europe: Malta with the Malta Gaming Authority, Romania with the ONJN, Sweden with Spelinspektionen, Denmark with Spillemyndigheden and Greece with the Hellenic Gaming Commission. The Maltese licence was obtained in November 2023, the Greek one in December 2025.
Is ELA Games a trustworthy provider?
Yes, on technical and regulatory grounds. The studio's random number generators are tested by the independent laboratory GLI. The company claims ISO 27001 compliance for the security of its information systems. Its games are certified individually in every jurisdiction where they are offered.
How many games does ELA Games offer?
The portfolio held 24 titles at the start of 2024 and passed forty slots by late 2025, with a production rate of roughly one game per month. That remains a small portfolio next to the thousands of titles from the major suppliers.
What is CashCrab?
CashCrab is a real claw machine, filmed on a continuous video stream and piloted remotely by the player. Each round runs twenty-five seconds, during which you move the claw with four directional controls before triggering the drop. Each toy you catch corresponds to a multiplier.
What is the Winpot feature?
Winpot is a proprietary ELA Games mechanic that gives players control over their cash out strategy. It powers Zeus Winpot, Joker Winpot and Rabbit Winpot Deluxe among others. Joker Winpot takes the concept as far as a 1x1 grid, an extremely rare setup in the industry.
What is the RTP of ELA Games titles?
Return to player varies by title. Tail of Crime posts 96.2%, in line with the sector average, which sits between 95% and 96%. Since the studio publishes no summary table, check the rate shown in the game information before you play.
Does ELA Games offer progressive jackpots?
No. The portfolio contains neither progressive jackpots nor Megaways titles. Wins rely on fixed multipliers, with ceilings that are moderate by market standards. Tail of Crime, one of the better documented titles, caps at €150,000 on a maximum stake of €50.
Which casinos offer ELA Games titles?
The documented integrations mainly cover Denmark, with Stake.dk, Tivoli Casino, RoyalCasino and Casino House, Sweden with Betinia, Swiper, CampoBet and QuickCasino, Romania with Don.ro and TopBet, and Greece with ElaBet and Fonbet.gr. The Betsson group also features among the partners.
How many languages are ELA Games titles available in?
The games are localised into 28 languages and support more than 130 currencies. The language actually displayed depends on the casino hosting the game and on your player account settings.
Can you play ELA Games titles for free?
Yes. The studio's slots exist in demo versions, playable without registration and without a real stake. These demos faithfully reproduce the mechanics and volatility of the paid versions, which lets you test the feature trigger rate before committing any money.
Do ELA Games titles work on mobile?
Yes. ELA Games develops in HTML5 with a mobile first approach. The games run directly in the browser on smartphone, tablet and desktop, with no download and no dedicated app, whatever the operating system.
