Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know the name “VGW” by now. If you aren’t familiar with it, don’t worry. Here’s a quick breakdown.
🏢 Who Are VGW?
VGW is a huge technology company that burst onto the scene back in 2010. Founded by Laurence Escalante, the company started out making online social games for modern players before eventually launching their own social gaming platforms. As of today, these platforms consist of:
🔥 Chumba Casino (2012)
🔥 Global Poker (2016)
🔥 Luckyland Slots (2018)
🔥 VGW Play (2023)
The bond between them all is that they’re centred around social gaming. You get to enjoy casino-style games (The Sand Princess, Reelin n’ Rockin), poker, puzzles, and more in a social environment with both friends and random people. On top of this, there’s no real-money gambling involved. All of the games are free-to-play and mobile-friendly, with an additional option to play with Sweeps Coins (SC) if you want to try and win some real cash prizes. For example, Chumba Casino allows you to redeem SC for cash prizes, gift cards, and more.
🎮💻 How VGW Changed the Gaming Industry
Before 2010, Laurence Escalante had an interesting experience. He tried to play poker online for real money but wasn’t allowed to because of his geographic location. This stayed with him and ultimately inspired the future entrepreneur to create VGW — a company that said “bye-bye” to real-money gambling and embraced a sweepstakes model, instead.
By using a sweepstakes model, this would allow VGW to legally bypass gambling laws while gaining access to millions of people around the world with a passion for social games. This was a genius move, as it left lots of online casinos stuck in the mud, as they weren’t able to bypass the same laws.
In a nutshell, because all of VGWs social gaming platforms and in-house games deal exclusively with virtual currencies, from Gold Coins (GC) to Sweeps Coins (SC), it isn’t technically classed as gambling. However, the model is still profitable, as players have to deposit real money to get their hands on SC.
According to Mike Fatouros, the head of sweepstake casinos on gamblingpromocodes.com, adopting a sweepstakes model before anyone else is ultimately what propelled VGW to the very top of the industry:
“VGW was the first major company to offer online social games that followed a sweepstakes model. This was beyond smart, as it allowed the company to grow their global reach without getting blocked by gambling laws. Not to mention, it now seems like the average person would rather play online games with virtual currencies instead of real money, which has massively contributed to the continued success of VGW.”
This trend quickly caught on once Chumba Casino, which was launched in 2012, gained massive global popularity. As of today, Chumba Casino offers 150+ social games and has over 1 million daily users, which has inspired the launch of many other social gaming platforms across the internet, such as Pulze (2020) and WOW Vegas (2022).
Social games and casinos went up a notch back during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which is when VGWexperienced its highest levels of growth to date. The reason for this was because millions of people were stuck at home with nothing to do and they couldn’t see their friends, so they started using social gaming platforms to pass the time. The social gaming trend has stuck around ever since — and VGW has solidified its market position as the number one company.
🏆 Why VGW’s Success Will Continue
As of 2024, social casinos and social gaming platforms are legal in most countries and states around the world due to the fact that they don’t break gambling laws. When you also factor in that Gen-Z and Millennials create the majority of their social connections through online games, all signs point to continued success for VGW and its social gaming platforms. Moving forward, it’s highly likely that other companies (such as online casino operators) will look to copy the sweepstakes model adopted by Chumba Casino, Global Poker, LuckyLand Slots, and VGW Player so that they can also attract millions of players and avoid gambling restriction in big countries like the US.
Also Read: Exploring the Connection Between Car Accidents and Mobile Gaming
