Merkur

The short answer on Merkur

Merkur is best understood as a German arcade-machine brand with an online shelf, not as a born-digital slot studio. Its games are plain by modern standards. They use ten lines, one strong feature and a paytable you can read in a minute. Two of the best-known slots in its online catalogue were originally built by another developer and are licensed, a detail that matters when you compare versions. If you like slots with a hall-machine feel, Merkur is a natural home. If you want grid mechanics and big feature menus, it isn't.

Yes, it is the Gauselmann group, now renamed

The link to the Gauselmann Group is confirmed, with one update. In 2024 the group renamed itself MERKUR GROUP, and its holding company became MERKUR.COM AG. Founder Paul Gauselmann stepped down after 67 years, and Lars Felderhoff became chief executive.

The group's history page traces the business back to 1957, when Paul Gauselmann started installing jukeboxes as a sideline. Several dates explain the brand itself:

• 1974: the first arcade opened, in Delmenhorst.
• 1976: the Merkur sun logo was created by the artist Werner Ganteföhr. The name came from a "Mercury year" in the hundred-year calendar.
• 1977: Merkur B, the group's first self-developed slot machine, was released.
• 1983: Merkur Disc followed, which the group says sold more than 40,000 units.
• 2016: ownership passed to the Gauselmann Family Foundation.

The group's subsidiaries page says the holding company's staff work at its Espelkamp and Lübbecke sites in North Rhine-Westphalia. Merkur's own site describes the brand as family-owned, with about 15,000 employees.

Blueprint, Reel Time Gaming and who built what

Merkur's online reach runs partly through Blueprint Gaming. The group took a stake in the Newark-based developer in 2008 and bought it outright in 2012. According to the group, Blueprint sells games from Merkur, from Reel Time Gaming and from other studios, to both online and land-based markets.

That explains a point our two game reviews make. The Merkur-listed versions of Eye of Horus and Fishin Frenzy are most likely Reel Time Gaming originals, distributed under the Merkur name. Blueprint then built the famous spin-offs, such as Eye of Horus Megaways and Fishin' Frenzy Megaways, which the group lists among its award winners. When you compare an Eye of Horus page anywhere, check whether it describes the Merkur-listed original or a Blueprint follow-up.

A two-game Merkur shelf, side by side

Merkur's own game articles describe both titles in the same machine terms. Each can be played on five or ten lines, with a range of stake levels for each line setting. Our verified specs:

The two are more alike than their themes suggest. Each has one wild with one job, and each saves its best moments for a free-games round triggered by three or more scatters. Eye of Horus is the busier of the two. Merkur's article describes the Horus wild expanding to fill its reel and, in the 12 free games, symbols upgrading step by step from the lowest value to the highest. Fishin Frenzy is calmer. Its fisherman appears as a wild only in free games, where boats award 10, 15 or 20 spins.

The volatility labels reflect that difference: Medium for Eye of Horus and Low-Med for Fishin Frenzy. Neither game has a max win confirmed by the studio, and our game reviews explain why published figures conflict.

RTP habits

Merkur doesn't publish a brand-wide RTP policy on the pages we checked. Our Eye of Horus review records lower RTP settings alongside the 96.31% version, so the figure can depend on where the game is offered. Both headline figures in the table above are the verified values for the versions we list.

Who Merkur suits

• Players who grew up with arcade or pub machines and like ten-line layouts.
• Anyone learning how slots work, because each game has one main rule to understand.
• Series fans who want to try the originals before the Megaways spin-offs.

Merkur's strengths and weak spots

Pros

• A long, well-documented company history with a clear ownership structure.
• Simple, readable games with a 5-line or 10-line choice.
• Both games on our site have RTPs above 96% in the versions we list.

Cons

• Credit for who developed each game is often unclear, because some Merkur-listed games are licensed Reel Time Gaming titles.
• Max win figures aren't published by the studio for either game we list.

Merkur FAQ