How do the Wowpot and Mega Moolah Jackpot Networks compare?

One of the best things about the Microgaming Progressive Network is that it offers players such a wide choice of games to play.

In among the different types of progressive jackpot games, which includes versions of poker, video poker, roulette and of course slot games, there are two names that really stand out when it comes to progressive jackpots.

The first of these is the Mega Moolah progressive jackpot network. Named after the original slot the network has since grown to become one of the biggest, if not THE biggest online progressive jackpot game network. It's long history includes many jackpot winners, all of whom became instant millionaires, many times multimillionaires, when they landed their prize.

The other network that has attracted plenty of interest is the more recent release Wowpot network. First available on the Wheel of Wishes slot, which was given a general release across casinos back in February 2020, the network has since seen two new games added to it, both of which offer a chance at the same jackpot prizes, one of which now stands at over 6.5 million.

So, with two stand out progressive jackpot networks, how do these two Microgaming giants compare to each other? We decided to take a look at some factors surrounding the networks of each of these games to find out just how they compare.

To begin that, we are now going to take a brief look at the history of both these networks, which in the case of Wowpot, will be pretty short, but which is much longer and more varied for the Mega Moolah network.

History of each Progressive Network

When the Mega Moolah was first released the game featured four progressive jackpots, the Mini, Minor, Major and Mega, seeded at 10, 100, 10,000 and 1,000,000 each. At the time, this was an incredibly brave decision by Microgaming as progressive jackpot slots were still very much developing online and it is fair to say that it took a little while for the games to catch on.

A short time later, Microgaming released a number of additions to the network in the shape of different themes. These were reworkings of standard slot games to incorporate a shot at the Mega Moolah jackpot prize as part of the game.

Next to be released was a couple of film tie in slots. First up, the short-lived Lord of the Rings slot was released before licensing issues saw it withdrawn and replaced by the Batman-inspired The Dark Knight slot which was available for a short while before it too was withdrawn for licensing issues.

For a good while then, there were just four Mega Moolah games you could play but that changed in 2019 when Microgaming announced the release of a Casino Rewards Network exclusive Mega Vault Millionaire. This game, only available at Casino Rewards casinos, offered players a chance to play for the Mega Moolah jackpot on a new slot for the first time in many years.

It was at this time that the Wowpot progressive jackpot game, which had originally been a small progressive slot that offered a prize of just a few thousand, became unavailable on the Microgaming Progressive Jackpot network and it seemed clear that Microgaming were now giving their progressive jackpot output a serious makeover.

Just how serious would become clear in early 2020 when in February, we saw the release of two brand new Mega Moolah-linked slots, Atlantean Treasures and Absolootly Mad and in the same month, the revamped Wowpot slot was revealed in the form of the Wheel of Wishes slot, which saw the new Wowpot progressive jackpot incorporated into this game as the top prize, alongside three other progressive jackpot prizes (Mini, Minor and Major).

Microgaming had announced that more progressive games would be forthcoming and by September 2020 they were as good as their word releasing the Book of Atem Wowpot slot followed by the Sisters of Oz Wowpot slot a week later, with more progressive jackpot titles set to be released over the next few months too.

Which brings us very nicely to where we are at the present moment in time.

Current game selection

When it comes to the games available for each of the progressive jackpot networks, Mega Moolah still has an advantage in terms of the number of games available.

• Mega Moolah (7) - Mega Moolah plus four different game themes, Absolootly Mad Mega Moolah, Atlantean Treasures Mega Moolah, and Mega Vault Millionaire.
• Wowpot (3) - Wheel of Wishes, Book of Atem Wowpot, Sisters of Oz Wowpot

There is also a greater choice of game types on the Mega Moolah network at the present moment with options including slots offering 9, 10, 20 and 25 pay lines as well as 243-ways to win. The Wowpot options only offer two 10 pay line slots and one 20 pay line at the moment. Mega Moolah also offers a Win Both Ways slot in the form of Atlantean Treasures.

Of course, Mega Moolah has been around a lot longer so it is understandable that it has more choice than Wowpot at the present moment in time, but it looks like Microgaming are hugely committed to the long term futures of both slots and I would be surprised if we do not see additional games added to these lists very shortly and also in the future too.

Progressive Jackpot seed amounts

What is interesting here is that when it comes to the seed amount for each of its progressive jackpot prizes, the Wowpot slot actually comes out on top:

Mega Moolah seed smounts

• Mini - 10
• Minor - 100
• Major - 10,000
• Mega - 1,000,000

Wowpot seed amounts

• Mini - 10
• Minor - 100
• Major - 50,000 (5x the Mega Moolah amount)
• Mega - 2,000,000 (2x the Mega Moolah amount)

However, the appeal of a progressive slot goes far beyond its seed amount and perhaps more important is the rate at which a progressive jackpot grows and in this respect the Mega Moolah slot, being the more established of the two, grows generally at a much quicker rate than the Wowpot jackpot prize, which has taken from February 2020 to reach 6.5 million. In that same time period, the Mega Moolah slot has paid out over 62 million in prize money in different currencies across six different jackpot winners in 2020.

Which brings us nicely onto another key aspect of a progressive jackpot slot game, how often the game awards its biggest cash prizes.

Historic prizes won

This category is perhaps a little unfair to the Wowpot slot as it has only been available on general release since February 2020 and is still a baby in the progressive jackpot industry. Mega Moolah has been around for many years and as such, has a much longer history of winners, including some massive big money winners, to fall back on.

We know Mega Moolah has paid out ten winners that have landed a prize of over 10 million or more, while there has been one winner of over 20 million. Wowpot cannot even get close to these numbers as yet.

However, it is worth noting that back in the early days of Mega Moolah, the jackpot was won just once in 2007 (that we can find data on) and also just once in 2008 and the amounts won both times (over 4 million for the first, around 5.5 million for the second) would be commensurate with a win on the Wowpot slot about now.

One nice addition to the Wowpot progressive jackpot game Sisters of Oz slot is that underneath each jackpot you will find details of the number of jackpots of that type won, what the last jackpot prize won was and when it was. While this is ever-changing for the Mini and Minor jackpots, it is extremely useful information for the Major and Wowpot jackpot prizes (and reassures players that the game is paying out).

So yes, Mega Moolah has the upper hand in terms of jackpot wins at the moment, but give Wowpot a few years of play before you can make a judgement as to how well it rewards its players in comparison.

Popularity with slots players?

Once again, the longevity of Mega Moolah has given it a massive advantage when it comes to popularity with players. The Mega Moolah name is recognised globally as one of the premiere online progressive jackpot slot games and it is not an overstatement to say that it is probably the most famous online progressive jackpot slot game in the world today.

However, what is pleasing for the Wowpot slot is that it is definitely gaining in popularity and the addition of the two new slots in the past week have enhanced its standing with players and has seen an increase in the rate at which the jackpot is growing. That is indicative of more players playing the game and more spins being played on it, which is exactly what Microgaming would want to see with these two releases.

So yes, Mega Moolah is still the king when it comes to popularity with progressive jackpot fans around the world, but Wowpot is starting to claw back that gap and given time, it should be able to close it quite a great deal.

Forthcoming titles

You may think that having released a number of big progressive jackpot games over 2020 already that Microgaming would be content to see how these new games go before releasing any more, and you would be entirely wrong, at least in terms of the Mega Moolah slot.

On the horizon for Mega Moolah are two brand new games, the first Fortunium Gold Mega Moolah, is the second game in the Fortunium series and offers 5x5 reel action (another first for Mega Moolah slots). This is slated for release sometime soon with a September 22^nd release date mooted for this game.

Also, in the pipeline, of which fewer details are known, is the Juicy Joker Mega Moolah slot, which is slated for release some time over the remainder of 2020 and which we will bring you more details of when we have them for the slot.

However, Microgaming are not finished with the Wowpot network either and on the horizon for this network is the African Legends slot, which is due for release later this year and which offers players a chance to play for the 50,000 seeded Wowpot Major progressive jackpot prize. You can follow the winners of the Wowpot and Major jackpots at WheelofWishes.net.

I would also add a note here to say that given how popular these progressive games have been in 2020, I would expect Microgaming to be looking at 2021 and perhaps thinking of adding more new games to each network.

Conclusion

Both the Mega Moolah and Wowpot network have been hugely successful for Microgaming in 2020. The release of the new Wowpot series has gone very well and while there has not been a big money winner on that network as yet, there have been over 20 Major jackpot winners.

Mega Moolah will see a total of four new games across 2020 and it has already paid out six big money winners to the tune of over 62 million in total across a variety of currencies. With such fantastic figures and both networks showing no dwindling of popularity with fans, I would expect 2021 to be as exciting a year for both networks as 2020 has been.

And for progressive jackpot fans, that is great news!