By Jason Epstein

Virgin gaming is an online service that allows gamers all over the world to challenge each other in cash- and prize-fueled competitions.  Just register, choose your game, pick your style of play, challenge players (or use VG’s matchmaking system) and play directly on your console to get started.  After completing your game, Virgin Gaming automatically updates your results and awards the winner with a payout.  They offer a standardized skill rating system, a Fair Play guarantee, and dedicated customer support to make sure that all gamers are getting an unbiased shot at their cash.  We spoke to Virgin Gaming co-founder Billy Levy about the service. 

SoundCtrl – What kind of gamer is usually drawn to Virgin Gaming?

Billy Levy – Virgin Gaming attracts gamers from all walks of life as our platform rewards both casual and avid gamers alike.  The typical gamer is male, 18-35, tech savvy, affluent, socially influential with above average disposable income.  We have registered over 2.3M gamers from over 220 countries around the world with a massive presence in the US, UK, Mexico, Canada and Western Europe.  Virgin Gaming players are heavily competitive and enjoy adding an extra layer of fun/pressure to the gaming experience by placing a small wager on the outcome.  Currently we offer an array of sports titles (Madden, FIFA, NBA 2K, NHL) as these games are inherently competitive by nature; so our users are very male and big sports fans.  Given the intersection of sports and music…music is a key passion point of our members as well.

SC – A lot of people might be wondering, How is this different (and better) than gambling?

BL – Virgin Gaming offers cash competition games of skill.  Games of skill are regulated differently and not considered to be gambling as gambling occurs in games of chance.  The games and competitions we offer are skill based.  It’s better than gambling because it’s your skill that dictates the outcome of the game.  If you are gambling and place a bet on the Knicks and they lose because Melo had a bad game, that’s totally out of your control.  On Virgin Gaming, gamers control the outcome!

Another advantage to Virgin Gaming is that you do not have to be the best player in the world to win, as we have tournaments and competitions for gamers of all skill levels and have a multi-tiered payout system in which most players win money after winning just one game in any VG tournament.  We also do matchmaking on the platform to match up players against gamers of a similar skill level and ultimately compete based on their knowledge of the game itself, the various formations, their understanding of the nuances, strategies, etc.  With Virgin Gaming, practice makes perfect and many of our players compete for free, prior to entering into cash based tournaments or head-to-head games.

Also, aside from playing for just cash, gamers have been able to win some amazing experiential prizes from trips to the Super Bowl to playing for $100k cash and a brand new car at the NBA All-Star Game.  In total, gamers have won over $32M playing video games!  That’s pretty amazing!

SC – What new games are being added and what new developments are being made for Virgin Gaming in the near future?

BL – Lots of new games coming down the pipeline…can’t disclose that just yet, but be on the lookout for some major announcements in the coming weeks.

Some new developments:

  • Xbox Tournaments with Virgin Gaming (the VG experience without ever having to leave your console) launched on April 9th.
  • Mobile gaming for cash (mobile games and challenges from your device) –  later this year we will be launching cash-based competitions in some of the world’s best mobile titles on iOS and Android.
  • User generated tournaments (gamers set the invite list, prize pool, payout structure, etc.) – coming soon.

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