Expanding wilds are the central idea of both games. This explainer is dated 2 February 2026, the day of the latest official release notice, and it draws only on Pragmatic Play's own releases and game pages. The aim is to separate what each source actually says about the wilds, their multipliers and the top prizes.
What an expanding wild does
In both versions a wild can land on the 5x5 grid and grow to cover its whole reel. It then carries a random multiplier that applies to the win. The original release names the thunderbolt as the expanding wild in Olympus and the bident in Hades, and says they can hit in the base game or the free spins. The sequel's page adds a condition: a wild that lands followed by a winning combination is the one that expands.
Multipliers: 100x against 250x
- Original (22 May 2023): the multiplier on an expanding wild goes up to 100x the bet.
- Gods of War 250 (2 February 2026): the multiplier goes up to 250x, in the base game and in the bonus.
Both figures are upper limits for a random value. The sources do not publish how the values are spread, so a wild showing the top multiplier should not be treated as expected.
Sticky wilds or locked-in wilds
In the original's free spins, expanding wilds are described as sticky. In the sequel, the release speaks of multipliers that stay locked in place for the whole round, and the game page says the expanding wilds remain together with their multiplier value for the entire feature. These are two phrasings of a similar idea, and the official texts do not explain any difference in detail, so we avoid inventing one. Only the original adds that an expanding wild is guaranteed in Hades free spins.
Maximum wins
The original lists a top prize of 15,000x, and the release says expanding wilds are the key to reaching it. The sequel raises the stated cap to 25,000x and again ties the chance of getting there to the locked-in wild multipliers.
Why it matters for a player
A higher multiplier ceiling and a higher maximum win describe the best case, not an average one. The published return figures, 96.07% for the original and 96.56% for the sequel, are long-run averages and do not predict a session. Use the demo to watch the wilds first, and keep to a limit you set in advance. See the original page and the 250 page for the full lists.