With their irreverent charm and relentless innovation, ELK Studios has carved out a unique space in the world of online slots. The Pirots franchise, a series centered on four colorful birds and their globe-spanning adventures, has evolved from a quirky Pac-Man-inspired concept into one of the most ambitious slot narratives in recent memory.
Now, with the launch of Pirots 4, ELK Studios is taking its avian heroes to the stars – and beyond. The latest entry brings not just new mechanics and a cosmic setting, but a bold twist: a mysterious countdown timer that promises to rewrite the game itself once it hits zero. In an exclusive interview, Fredrik Lindberg, Chief Product Officer at ELK Studios, sits down with Bigwinboard to discuss the creative risks, technical challenges, and grand vision behind the studio’s most daring release to date.
Bigwinboard (Daniel): From the Wild West to deep space. Walk us through the creative leap. What made you say: ‘Yup, space parrots are next’?
Fredrik Lindberg (ELK Studios): The space theme offers a lot of creative freedom when it comes to both visuals and narrative. It is full of familiar elements that players instantly recognize but also open for crazy and playful twists. You can get away with almost anything when you put our birds in zero gravity.
That said, this wasn’t a spontaneous decision, the destination for the fourth game was actually set long ago. If you go back and rewatch the theme park map in the Pirots 2 intro video you will see all four destinations in the series so far. They were baked into the journey from the very beginning.
Bigwinboard (Daniel): You’ve introduced a literal countdown timer to a slot. What inspired this concept and can you hint at what players might see when that mysterious countdown timer hits zero?
Fredrik Lindberg (ELK Studios): We wanted to add a mysterious question mark inside the game, something that quietly grows in the back of your mind while you play the game. A countdown naturally creates some tension. It signals that something is coming, but not what or how, only when. We do not want to reveal what happens when it hits zero, but it is an event you don’t want to miss. A piece of slot history is about to be written.
Bigwinboard (Daniel): Ohh exciting! Let’s talk about “time-based evolution”. It’s a bold move. Are we talking cosmetic changes, new mechanics, or something players haven’t seen in a slot before?
Fredrik Lindberg (ELK Studios): Our goal with this new concept is to introduce a progression that follows a storyline, evolves over time, and creates a journey we hope players want to join us on. It is something we have never seen done in this way before and we are very excited to see how players will respond to it as the story unfolds. So, to answer the question without revealing too much just yet – Yes.
Bigwinboard (Daniel): The CollectR™ mechanic continues to anchor the series. What enhancements did you make to it in Pirots 4 that weren’t possible in previous entries?
Fredrik Lindberg (ELK Studios): CollectR is still the foundation, but in Pirots 4 we have added a whole new set of features on top of it. Many of them are designed to move the birds in new and unexpected ways, helping them to reach better positions for collecting symbols or triggering features across the grid.
You will encounter tunnels, portals and black holes, all of them increasing the movement possibilities. We are also introducing a wider range of enemy encounters with some familiar faces returning alongside new ones. The coin mini bonus we introduced in Pirots 3 is back, but has been completely redesigned to fit the new setting.
The grid also evolves more dynamically than in any of the previous games. Expansions can now create asymmetric grids, making rounds feel more unique and unpredictable than ever before.
Bigwinboard (Daniel): Alien Invasion, Power Clashes, Space Portals… this game sounds more like a strategy RPG than a slot. How do you balance complexity with casual accessibility?
Fredrik Lindberg (ELK Studios): There is a lot going on in this game, especially for players who might be new to the series. But we have aimed to design the features in a way that lets them explain themselves through gameplay. Once you have seen how a portal or a tunnel works it quickly makes sense and you know what to hope for the next time it appears.
We think that the real fun begins when you start to understand how the different features interact. That is where the depth of the game comes in and what we hope keeps it engaging over time. And as always in a Pirots game, players can expect a few easter eggs and surprises to discover after a few play sessions.
Bigwinboard (Daniel): With Pirots 4 sitting on a 10,000x cap again, some players wonder why that number hasn’t budged. What’s the design philosophy behind maintaining that threshold?
Fredrik Lindberg (ELK Studios): We like to think that the game mechanics work really well with a 10,000x max win and that is why we have kept it consistent across the series. It gives us the flexibility to build a volatile but balanced gameplay and it also means that max wins can feel relatively achievable, especially compared to games with 25,000x or 50,000x caps, which can feel out of reach for many players.
For the first time in the series we have introduced multiplier features. This means players do not always have to collect a larger number of gems or pick up a gigantic coin to win big. There are now faster and more explosive paths to higher payouts than before.
Bigwinboard (Daniel): That makes sense. So, what was the biggest technical challenge in creating a game world that physically expands as you play it, with tunnels, portals, and corner bombs?
Fredrik Lindberg (ELK Studios): Now that we have reached the fourth CollectR game in the Pirots series, we have developed a solid technical framework for building and balancing this type of complex gameplay. But every new version brings its own challenges.
In this game, one of the trickier problems was figuring out what to do after we removed parts of the tunnel system surrounding the grid. When the idea of replacing them with corner portals came up it immediately felt like we found the last missing piece. It helped us improve the game flow and increase potential as the grid expands.
Bigwinboard (Daniel): On a final note, is there anything you’d like to say directly to the Bigwinboard community – the fans who’ve followed the Pirots saga from day one?
Fredrik Lindberg (ELK Studios): Thanks for feeding our birds and helping us turn Pirots into one of the most hyped slot series ever. We hope you will enjoy everything we have packed into the Pirots 4 space journey.
And remember to keep a close eye on that countdown timer…
Until its global release on July 24, Pirots 4 is available exclusively at the following online casinos:
(Sweden) LeoVegas, Expekt, GoGo, BetMGM
(Finland) Veikkaus
(Italy) PokerStars, Sisal
(UK) Sky, PokerStars, Paddy Power, Betfair
(Denmark) Danske Spil
(Netherlands) Toto