When thinking about social gaming, one of the first thoughts for most people is sitting around a table and playing cards or a board game. Social gaming used to be like that for everyone but thanks to the developments in technology, social gaming has change significantly over the past decade. For example, you no longer must go to the casino to play casino games with a real dealer and other people. It is possible to do that online thanks to real dealer games and in addition to real money live dealer games, we now have social casinos, often called sweepstakes casinos. VGW are one of the leading providers of sweepstakes casinos and they are responsible for some of the major changes in social gaming in recent years.
Who are VGW?
Virtual Gaming Worlds (VGW) was created by Laurence Escalante. In their own words, VGW Holdings Ltd is ‘a technology company dedicated to creating immersive experiences for our customers using our in-house software and technology.’ The company is an online social gaming giant and VGW has created some of the most popular online sweepstake casinos. The idea behind the concept of sweepstakes casinos is that they are free to play but it is also possible to win real cash prizes. The focus of the casinos and games is to have fun and it is possible to chat to friends and make friend lists, so you can see who is playing each time you login to your account. To underline their growing presence in the online gaming world, VGW recently signed a partnership with Ferrari, which means VGW is a premium partner of Scuderia Ferrari. There are several online sweepstakes casinos created by VGW, with Chumba Casino being a good example. There have been some questions on the legitimacy of Chumba recently but the website is legitimate and licensed under the Malta Gaming Authority.
What Makes Sweepstakes Casinos Different?
VGW are changing social gaming because they have found a way to bring online casino gaming to people who have previously not had access to casino games online. In the US, there are only a small number of states where online casino gaming for real money is legal, and that includes playing live casino games. However, because sweepstakes casinos use virtual currency to play the games, they do not fall under the same legislation as real money online casinos. Despite not using real money to play the games, it is still possible to win real money when playing at sweepstakes casinos thanks to sweeps coins. These coins are given away for free by the sweepstakes casinos and if you win big when playing games using sweeps coins, you can exchange them for a real cash prize. It quickly becomes apparent how VGW are changing social gaming thanks to their online sweepstakes model. It is possible to play online casino games using virtual currency and enjoy chatting with friends while also having a chance to win a cash prize. Due to the nature of sweepstakes casinos, they are legally available in most states in the US, something that cannot be said about real money online casinos.
Social Media Accounts
One way in which VGW has been clever and changed social gaming is by allowing users to sign up to their sweepstakes casinos using social media accounts. By integrating social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and X (formerly known as Twitter), VGW have created social gaming communities, allowing people who enjoy playing online casino games to connect over a shared activity. VGW are also clever in their use of social media and will promote free coin offers for their sweepstakes casinos and they receive plenty of reposts as there are many people who want to take advantage of the promotions.
Social Aspects of VGWs’ Sweepstakes Casinos
Many of VGW’s sweepstake casinos have chat rooms and while it is possible to chat to other players when playing online video games, they do not usually have chat rooms. The chat rooms can be used for talking with other gamers about their favourite games, offering and receiving advice about games, or simply to have some fun talking with likeminded people. Tournaments and leaderboards are used to create friendly competition between players at sweepstakes casinos. Rather than always being competitive and seeing players compete against each other, some tournaments give players common goals. This can lead to friendships between players rather than creating rivalries, which can sometimes turn nasty when playing other online games.
There is no doubt VGW have changed social media gaming and will continue to find new ways to create social gaming experiences online. Sweepstakes casinos are like no other online social game in that they transcend the fun aspect of playing games together with the possibility of winning real cash prizes.