There is good news and bad news from Playtech, the leading software provider to the online casino industry. As usual, the bad news has to be delivered first. The extremely popular Marvel superhero branded slots from Playtech will be retired soon. There has been a change in the ownership of the copyright and as a result the licencing agreement that created these iconic games has been terminated.

The good news is that Playtech has already created a substitute. It is a series of online video slots titled Age of the Gods. These are based on popular characters from Greek mythology. Seven video slots have been named in the series including the flagship Age of the Gods. Some of the other titles in the series are Zeus, Hercules, Furious Four, Athena and Fate Sisters. The artwork and symbols invoke the associations with Greek mythology, which is a very popular theme in online casino slots. Software providers like Microgaming and NetEnt are very strong in this niche area. Playtech does not have a very strong presence here. It major foray is Battle of the Gods with an X-Men like free spins feature. Now the Age of the Gods series will fill this void.

Playtech has released Zeus, the first video slot of the series. This is fitting in a way because Zeus is the head of the Greek pantheon. The slot machine is in the 5x3 reels structure with 25 paylines. Three scatter symbols will trigger 10 free games with a frozen Zeus Wild and an increasing win multiplier. Zeus and the other Age of the Gods slot games will be networked to the same multi-tier progressive jackpot, which will function in an identical manner as the Marvel Mystery jackpot. The four jackpot levels bear the same names, which in order of increasing amounts, are Power, Extra Power, Super Power and Ultimate Power. The path lies through a randomly triggered Jackpot Game. You overturn tiles in 4×5 grid to match three symbols. You are assured of winning one of the four progressive jackpots.

The reviews of another game from the Age of the Gods series are out. This is Furious 4, probably modelled after Fantastic 4 of the Marvel slots. The slot game features four characters from Greek mythology: Prometheus, Apollo, Pandora and Atlas. Each one of them offers his or her free spins feature. The Age of Fire is based on Prometheus, Age of Light on Apollo, Age of Curiosity on Pandora and Age of Endurance on Atlas. Shimon Akad, chief operating officer for Playtech, said, “Our casino unit has developed a series of incredible, high-quality games that will add yet another dimension to our already unique suite of 600 best-performing titles.”