New Microgaming Ontario Progressive Jackpot & Red Tiger + NetEnt Confirmed

A new Microgaming Ontario progressive jackpot Gold Factory Jackpots Maple Moolah goes live, while Red Tiger & NetEnt are also online. (Image from courtesy of Microgaming YouTube Channel)

On the whole, the inauguration of the Ontario iGaming market has been reasonably smooth with little confusion. When there were missteps in communication, the questions that arose were quickly tidied up. Although, there were still a few pre-launch uncertainties left hanging, so to speak.

Case and point, whether Red Tiger and NetEnt gaming portfolios would become available. Meanwhile, there was not much out there on the subject of progressive jackpots with little mention of how the latter would operate under new Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) rules.

Thankfully, and with a little patience, the grand opening of regulated iGaming and sports betting in the province provided answers. Evolution’s main news portal announcing the brand’s first day live in Ontario shows Red Tiger Gaming and NetEnt alongside the Evolution logo, and it went on to confirm both software providers are in fact live.

Meanwhile, Microgaming killed two birds with one stone by confirming its presence and the release of a uniquely customised version of Mega Moolah celebrating Canada’s famous maple tree. Moreover, the new jackpot slot release provides insights into how the progressive jackpot niche will work in Ontario.

Gold Factory Jackpots Maple Moolah is a brand-new Mega Moolah progressive jackpot title only available to players at Microgaming partner casino operating in the newly regulated province. The ‘Mega Jackpot’ has a CAD $1 million seed and is accompanied by the traditional ‘Major’, ‘Minor’, and ‘Mini’ jackpots. Players will spin the reels, with 25 pay lines behind them, in search of a life-changing millionaire’s windfall, which has so often been the case with its Mega Moolah slots series popular across Europe and other continents.

Microgaming Bursts Into Canada: The announcement of the new jackpot slot came at the same time as Mega Moolah confirmed that it is now live in the newly regulated Ontario iGaming market in which Microgaming partner operators offer a whopping 300+ exclusive games.

Progressive Jackpot Contributions from Ontario licenced casinos only!

Jackpots available at online casinos operating under the AGCO will not link to any operators outside of the provincial borders. In other words, contributions towards the jackpot will come solely from Ontario players. And it seems, at least for the time being, Microgaming is the only software provider offering a jackpot service in the province. This does mean we will not see as many millionaire jackpot windfalls coming out of the province compared to MGA, UKGC, and Curacao licenced online casinos which have a far wide reach across multiple countries.

Microgaming’s new Gold Factory Jackpots Maple Moolah has a CAD $1 million seed and takes a 5.3% contribution from every bet – these stats exactly match its European counterparts. The good news here is that Microgaming’s new Ontario based jackpot slot will create newfound millionaires in Ontario. Yet, with a population of 14.6 million in the province, the jackpot has a lower than usual market reach and perhaps won’t pay as higher jackpot wins or as often as its European equivalents.

Comparatively, the Microgaming jackpot network (the global network) has a market reach of over 500 million players. As a result, titles such as Mega Moolah (original) and Absolootly Mad are notorious for paying 7- to 8- figure sums with €18.9 million and €19.4 million record jackpots, respectively. Another comparison I can make is that the ‘Mega Moolah jackpot network’ pays out the ‘Mega’ jackpot every 45 days on average. This certainly won’t be the case with Gold Factory Jackpots Maple Moolah. Moreover, once other jackpot networks enter Ontario, NetEnt being the most likely, the competition across jackpot slots could result in players waiting 6 to 12 months between jackpot wins, while we probably won’t see as impressive jackpot payouts with Gold Factory Jackpots Maple Moolah likely to dish out wins worth CAD $2 to 5 million jackpots—a figure still worth vying for!

Will jackpots be a success? Some citizens of Ontario may still prefer to play progressive jackpot slots that pay larger windfalls in a shorter space of time. It will inevitably mean that this group will stick to their casino memberships at MGA and Curacao licenced online casinos available to Canadian citizens. However, these players will need to look to Playtech’s Age of the Gods network and Jackpot Giant slot titles or Yggdrasil, Bluepring, and/or iSoftBet progressive jackpots for million $ CAD wins. Now Microgaming is officially registered as an Ontario iGaming company, the software developer cannot allow any casino not operating under the new Ontario online gambling rules to offer players in the province titles from its game catalogue. Doing so would risk a find and/or its licence being revoked!