🏛 Who is VGW? My VGW review reveals all…
VGW – an acronym for “Virtual Gaming Worlds” – is basically an entertainment company that specializes in developing state-of-the-art, sweepstakes-style casino gaming experiences.
Initially founded by tech entrepreneur Laurence Escalante, the firm’s been going since 2010, and today powers three prominent sweepstakes and social casino brands – Chumba Casino, Luckyland Slots and Global Poker.
If you haven’t heard of sweepstakes companies or social casinos before, allow me to illuminate you. In a nutshell, sites like Chumba Casino and LuckyLand Slots are a bit like regular, real-money-powered casinos, except with the “real money” part taken out – because instead, they offer free-to-play, casino-inspired games that are powered by virtual coins, and playable without any purchase requirement.
I’ll talk a little more about how this all works in a bit. First, let’s take a closer look at VGW’s company operations…
🔑 Key VGW details– at a glance
I’m sure that by now you’re getting a bit more of a picture of what VGW does. Though I myself find that company information is often best understood when laid-bare in an easy-to-read table.
So, here we go. In the table below, you’ll find a few essential must-knows about the brand – from VGW’s contact information and corporate address, to the names of their subsidiaries, and the sweepstakes sites that they run. Beneath the table, I’ll explore the brand’s operations and background in a bit more detail.
| 🏛 Company | 📅 Founded | 📍 Address | ✅ Licenses | 🚀 Subsidiaries | 🎯 Sweepstakes Casinos |
VGW
(Registered name: VGW Holdings Limited) | 2010 | 15-17 William Street, Level 11, Perth, Western Australia 6000, AU | N/A – VGW runs virtual-coin-powered sites only. These platforms don’t require US state-level licenses. | Golden Feather Studios | - Chumba Casino
- Luckyland Slots
- Global Poker
|
📌 What does VGW do? Here’s a bit more background…
So, what does VGW do, then? Well, in its own words, VGW is “a company dedicated to creating immersive experiences… using in-house software and technology”. And of course, it’s active in the sweepstakes gaming sector.
Basically, then, the brand sees itself as something of an innovator in the field of sweepstakes gaming, striving to deliver high-quality games and player-friendly gaming platforms.
These days, they do a pretty darn good job, too – their three sweepstakes platforms currently collectively boast more than one million US players, and the brand competes neck-to-neck with other big iGaming companies like Playtika and YSL; whom you can read more about in my recent Playtika and YSI reviews to get a better feel for what the competition are offering.
But why are sweepstakes gaming platforms so popular in the US right now? Well, I’ll get into that after a quick run-through of VGW’s company history up until the present day…
⭐ VGW’s backstory – all the VGW details you’ll ever need
How did VGW get to where it is today? Well, my VGW review can reveal that the brand’s company history looks a little like this:
- 2010
– VGW is founded by angel investor Laurence Escalante, who manages to scrape together $16 million in early-stage funding.
- 2012
– Chumba Casino – VGW’s first sweepstakes gaming brand – is first launched, driven by exciting free-play games and social gaming tools that enable player-on-player interactions.
- 2016
– The VGW team expands considerably, with an increasing focus on developing original games through its Golden Feather Studios subsidiary. Around this time, VGW launches its second brand, Global Poker – which specializes in sweepstakes-style poker tournaments.
- 2018
– Following an exciting acquisition, VGW develops and drops its third brand, LuckyLand Slots.
- 2024
– VGW hits more than one million US players across its three sweepstakes platforms. The brand also strikes-up a high-value partnership with Scuderia Ferrari; the two companies sharing similar values in terms of tech and innovation, despite their industries being worlds apart.
In my recent Playtika review, I explored how that company made its name in very much a similar way to VGW – i.e., by producing free-to-play, social and sweepstakes casino games.
Next up, allow me to talk a bit about how these sites work, to put you guys in the best possible position for enjoying VGW’s star attractions – their three epic-fun sweepstakes casinos.
🎯 Social and sweepstakes casinos – what are they? And why are they so hot right now?
So, VGW is by far best known for its three sweepstakes gaming platforms – Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots and Global Poker – which, as I said earlier, are virtual-coin-powered gaming sites in the vein of Las Vegas-style casinos.
I’ll review all three of these in full later in this guide, but to really understand what VGW does, you’ll need to get your head around how these unique platforms work first.
Basically, then, sweepstakes sites are iGaming brands that
- Offer free-to-play, casino-inspired games with no up-front purchase requirement.
- Enable you to choose from two different kinds of virtual currencies when playing – “Gold Coins (GC)” and “Sweepstakes Coins (SC)” – but never USD.
The crux of it is that GC games exist solely for fun, while SC can be entered into sweepstakes tournaments, where you can accumulate more SC. Said SC can then later be redeemed for real-world-prizes – including cash prizes – once certain conditions have been met.
In my recent Rush Street Interactive review, I talked about how that brand’s sweepstakes casinos are growing immensely popular in the USA – and it’s the same story with VGW’s sites. But why are sweeps sites hotting-up so darn much? Well, sweepstakes casinos:
- Don’t require state-level iGaming licenses – meaning they’re legally available in most US states.
- Offer all the fun and excitement of real-money casinos, but with the option to either play purely for fun, or for the potential to redeem your SC for prizes – meaning more choice for us as gamers.
Sounds like fun, eh? And that would be because it is.
💥 What does VGW do behind the scenes of these sweeps sites?
VGW has two major roles here. First-up, through their subsidiary Golden Feather Studios, they develop and produce completely original sweepstakes games. A few popular titles you guys might’ve already heard of, include:
- Stampede Fury.
- Gem Huntress.
- Fu Qian Qian.
What else does VGW do? Well of course, they also actually own, operate and manage individual sweepstakes sites like Global Poker. This means that when it comes to VGW’s famed games, you’ll usually only ever be able to play these exclusively at VGW’s own gaming sites, like Chumba Casino, for example.
As VGW has been in the biz for a fair few years now, you’ll always be in good hands with a VGW sweepstakes brand – though it is important you double-check players from your state are definitely accepted before you register and start playing with one.
⚡ A closer look at the three sweepstakes brands uncovered by my VGW review
As a general rule of thumb, most sweepstakes casinos are legally accessible in all US states bar Washington, Nevada and Idaho.
That said, Chumba Casino, Luckyland Slots and Global Poker all set their own rules in regard to player acceptance – and my VGW review found that each one offers massively different kinds of games than the next, too.
Here’s what you need to know about VGW’s three flagship sweeps brands:
🎰 Chumba Casino – the best-balanced VGW sweepstakes casino
Chumba Casino: Pros & Cons
- Excellent mix of games
- Competitive GC/SC bonus
- Easy-to-navigate site
- 24/7 customer support
Chumba Casino is a fun, feature-packed sweepstakes site that offers 24/7 customer support, a user-friendly interface, and an incredible first-timer bonus that’s worth up to 2,000,000 GC and 2 free SC when you register from a permitted US state.
But what does VGW do in relation to Chumba Casino? Well, the short answer would be a lot. VGW powers the entire Chumba Casino platform, as well as a large portion of the site’s GC and SC-powered game catalog.
Here, you’ll find a mix of slots, fruit machines, blackjack tables and even the occasional 75 and 90-ball bingo hall. The game selection’s peppered with VGW’s own, in-house developed reels games like Stampede Fury, as well as other awesome titles sourced from external developers like Relax Gaming, Playtech and Pragmatic Play.
The tables come with both high and low limits to suit players of different experience levels, while the slots tend to be packed full of high-octane bonus rounds and multipliers – particularly the VGW-powered games like Stampede Fury. In all, Chumba is a great place to play for… pretty much anyone, really. The game selection’s so broad and diverse, you guys are sure to find whatever it is you’re looking for.
2M Gold Coins + 2 Sweeps Coins
🎰 LuckyLand Slots – ideal if you’re into fruit machines
LuckyLand Slots: Pros & Cons
- Perfect for slots-lovers
- 100+ different games
- Great-value GC packages
- Mobile-friendly site
- Less games than competitors
While Chumba Casino makes for a great all-rounder, LuckyLand Slots is a sweepstakes site catering a little more toward gamers who favor fruit machines and one-armed bandits over, say, blackjack or bingo.
What does VGW do here? Well, yet again they’re the software people pulling all the strings behind LuckyLand’s website – which you guys can currently access legally in all US states bar WA, MI and MT. It’s incredibly easy-to-navigate and can be downloaded as an APK file if you’d rather not play directly through your browser, too; though I’ve found that playing via Chrome or Brave does tend to offer the best user experience.
Game-wise, there are more than 100 different slots up-for-grabs here that you can play using either just-for-fun GC, or prize-redeemable SC. The bulk of the games on offer come from Relax Gaming and Pragmatic Play, and include such popular titles as Big Bass Bonanza and Gates of Olympus – though you will find the odd VGW game here, too.
One of my favorite aspects of LuckyLand Slots is that while all games are accessible without a purchase requirement, you can get a huge SC bonus here if ever you make an optional GC purchase. Buy-ins are available as packages starting from just $0.99 (for 2,000 GC) and going all the way up to $99.99 (for 576,000 GC) – the latter of which will see LuckyLand Slots throw-in an incredible 101 SC bonus for free.
5 SC FREE + 250 Game Coins and 600 Diamonds
🎰 Global Poker – a unique sweepstakes site aimed squarely at poker nuts
Global Poker: Pros & Cons
- Hugely popular
- Great for beginners
- 100,000 GC welcome bonus
- Unique, poker-focussed platform
If LuckyLand Slots is the go-to social casino for slots, Global Poker’s like heaven for card sharks. Of course, being another VGW brand that strives to offer a bit of everything, you will find a handful of slots games here, but to be honest, the site’s 99% poker tournaments.
Available in all US states bar MI and WA (ID gamers get GC-powered poker game access only), Global Poker offers Texas Hold’Em and Omaha-style tables, as well as a ton of competitive special events and tournaments. Basically, by collecting “Rare Entries”, you can challenge either your friends or other like-minded poker nuts to the brand’s best tournaments, which routinely advertise six-figure prize pools and above.
My VGW review found that there are some great social features built-in here, too – you’ll be able to compete via leaderboards that are updated in real-time, unlock bespoke game avatars, make new friends and more.
If you’re new to poker, you’ll be happy to hear that the brand offers seemingly no-end of blogs on how various poker game iterations work, too – from a comprehensive “Card Room Rules” guide to an incredibly useful, jargon-busting “Poker Dictionary”. That said, limits on Omaha and Texas Hold’Em games tend to be flexible enough to accommodate more experienced players and high-rollers, too.
5 SC FREE + 250 Game Coins and 600 Diamonds
💡 VGW review conclusion – VGW fuel some of the very best sweepstakes sites in the biz
Since 2010, VGW has been bringing us gamers state-of-the-art sweepstakes slots and table games – and there’s never been a better time to check out the brand’s individual sweepstakes sites.
Right now, these guys are running three very different GC and SC-powered gaming platforms, and so long as you’re based in an eligible US state, these brands can grant you access to some of the market’s very best and most intuitive sweepstakes games.
If fruit machines are your jam, LuckyLand Slots is currently serving-up hundreds of games developed by VGW and other major developers. If you’re more into poker, Global Poker offers some of the most popular and competitive SC poker tournaments this side of the Atlantic. If you’re looking for a sweepstakes site with a little bit of everything, Chumba Casino is certainly one to watch. Just be sure to double-check each site’s state-level eligibility requirements before you sign-up.
Top-rated sweepstakes casino bonuses we recommend
1.
5 SC FREE + 250 Game Coins and 600 Diamonds
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Min. Deposit: 20
❓ VGW review FAQ
🎮 How many sweepstakes casino games has VGW created?
Via its software subsidiary Golden Feather Studios, VGW has put-out more than 70 different social and sweepstakes casino games since 2010. You can check out the bulk of these by playing at VGW’s sweepstakes casino platforms, Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots, or Global Poker.
🔍 What does VGW do?
VGW is an entertainment company which develops its own, virtual-coin-powered sweepstakes games and offers said games to US gamers via three separate iGaming platforms.
✅ Is VGW legit?
You betcha. VGW has been going since 2010, has registered addresses in Australia and New Hampshire, USA, and powers three widely-respected sweepstakes brands that boast more than one million US players combined.
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