Wowpot Jackpot to expand with Sisters of Oz forthcoming slot release

Ever since the Wheel of Wishes slot was released in February 2020, there has been just one slot contributing to the newly revamped Wowpot Progressive Jackpot Prize. However, that could well be all set to change with the forthcoming release of not just one but two brand new slots, both of which will be linked to the new progressive jackpot network.

While Fortunium Gold is set to be released a little later in the year, many fans are expecting that Triple Edge Studios are putting the finishing touches to their Sisters of Oz slot, which was confirmed as the next slot to become part of the Wowpot Progressive Jackpot network back at ICE 2020 in February.

So before we learn a little more about this forthcoming game, let's first explain why the Wheel of Wishes slot and the Wowpot Jackpot are so important to Microgaming and its customers.

Wheel of Wishes and Wowpot

For a long time, the Wowpot Jackpot was something entirely different to what it is now. Initially Wowpot was not just a jackpot, but also a game. Wowpot was a relatively small progressive jackpot on the Microgaming network that offered prizes that usually amounted to the thousands to its players. The game was available for many years until in 2019, it suddenly disappeared from Microgaming casinos, with rumours afoot that Microgaming were planning something different for this particular jackpot.

What followed was a huge surprise. The new Wowpot Progressive Jackpot Prize no longer only catered for small wins. Instead, it mirrored the Mega Moolah progressive in that it had four jackpot prizes available, two small prizes, Mini and Minor, and two much larger, the Major and the Wowpot.

The really exciting thing for players of progressives and in particular Microgaming progressives was that these new games would be the largest seeded slot in the history of the company. The Wowpot top progressive prize would be seeded at an incredible £2 million (or the equivalent in your local currency). With the Major Jackpot prize being seeded at £50,000, the Minor at £100 and the Mini at £10.

That meant in terms of seeding, the Wowpot progressive jackpot top prize would be twice as high as the Mega Moolah Mega progressive jackpot seed amount of £1 million.

Unsurprisingly, progressive jackpot fans wanted to see what game this new jackpot prize would be available on and in February 2020, they got their answer when the Wheel of Wishes slot was released.

The Wheel of Wishes slot offers players the chance to play in one of two modes, standard mode or Power Mode, the latter of which can be played for every spin, but at 10x the cost of your standard bet (so if your standard wager was 0.10, then your Power Spin bet would be 1.00.

It is worth noting that because you can only trigger a shot at the Jackpot Bonus game and therefore one of the four progressive jackpot prizes, by playing a Power Spin. In the base game, Power Spins are triggered when two or more Power Spin Scatters are landed on the reels.

With just 10 pay lines, the game is one of the cheapest progressives to play in the standard mode, although in Power Mode it becomes much more expensive than comparable slots like Mega Moolah.

Since its release, while the slot has paid out a number of Major jackpot prizes, some well in excess of 200,000, we are yet to see the first Wowpot progressive jackpot winner in the game. Furthermore, the jackpot amount has risen to just over £3.8 million and at the present moment, the Mega Moolah slot jackpot increases at a far greater rate and has been triggered four times since the release of Wheel of Wishes, including three wins in May 2020.

However, it is clear from the changes to the structure of the Mega Moolah progressive network in recent times that Microgaming have big plans for their progressives and it seems that their attention is now set to shift to Wheel of Wishes and to increase the exposure of the Wowpot Progressive jackpot prize with a couple of key releases over the coming months, starting with the Sisters of Oz slot.

What do we know about Sisters of Oz?

The first thing we know is that Sisters of Oz is the next slot from Triple Edge Studios, who have produced a number of fine slots as part of their agreement with Microgaming. This includes the Mega Moolah progressive linked Absolootly Mad slot that was released in May, as well as the first game in the Oz series, Book of Oz Lock N Spin Hyperspins. Other games the company have released include Lara Croft Temples and Tombs, African Quest and the Attack on Retro, the last two slots also being Hyperspins games.

Other than that, we know little else about the Sisters of Oz slot, not even a release date for the game. Looking at the Book of Oz slot, we would guess that it is going to be a 5x3 reel slot, although whether it will be another Hyperspins slot remains to be seen. It may be somewhat tricky for Triple Edge Studios to work that feature in on the Sisters of Oz slot given that it is going to be linked to the Wowpot progressive jackpot prize.

We do know that the theme will be loosely based on the Wizard of Oz and that I would expect a similar sort of look and feel to the Book of Oz slot, although who the 'sisters' are in the title of the slot still remain something of a mystery. Could they refer to the Wicked Witches of the East and West? Who knows?

In previous years, Microgaming have tended not to have too long a wait in between games showcased in February and their eventual release date. There have been a couple of exceptions to this rule (Fortunium was one, as was Cash of Kingdoms) but in general those games previewed at ICE 2020 tend to hit casinos in the spring and summer of that year.

As such, excitement is building for the release of Sisters of Oz and it may well give the Wowpot Progressive Jackpot prize fresh impetus, especially seeing as since Mega Moolah's top jackpot prize was triggered three times in May, it is now Microgaming's largest progressive jackpot prize available to be won.