Virgin Games

Virgin Games has been around for a long time but was acquired by Gamesys Operations Limited in 2013. That means it’s now spent more than ten years with this casino network company, during which time it’s flourished and grown immeasurably. Today, though, there are several Virgin Games sister sites for the casino to compete against, along with plenty of competition from elsewhere. How does the current version of the casino stack up in that context? This review will tell you.

Virgin Games Welcome Bonus

Virgin Games prides itself on offering very favourable bonus terms (more on that in a moment). The trade-off is that the promotions it offers aren’t anything to write home about. If you’re new to Virgin Games, the way to get a welcome bonus is to deposit £10 and then play through it on slots within thirty days of registering your account with the casino. In return, you’ll get one hundred free spins worth 10p each to use on Game of Thrones. Should you win anything from those hundred free spins, you can keep it without having to wager it again. There used to be a bingo alternative for anyone who didn’t fancy the slots, but that’s no longer on offer, so if slots aren’t for you, you’re out of luck.

Ongoing Promotions at Virgin Games

Earlier on, we said that Virgin Games prides itself on the terms and conditions of its promotions. What we meant by that is that the site promises to pay all wins out as cash in perpetuity. You’ll never have to deal with any wagering requirements, your winnings are uncapped, and your withdrawals aren’t subject to any fees. It sounds like a great set of terms and conditions until you hear this – there still aren’t many promotions aside from the welcome promotion. Once you’ve had the welcome promotion, you might be waiting a while before you see anything else in terms of bonuses. The “Red Hot Rewards” tab at the top of the Virgin Games site does at least spell out what’s available a little more clearly these days. There’s £20 in cash for referring a friend, and a weekly Virgin Prize Wheel that invited players can spin for cash prizes of between 5p and £60, depending on how much they’ve wagered that week. Beyond that, you might be offered new bonuses every now and then, but there are no guarantees.

What are the Pros and Cons of Virgin Games?

Featured Slots and Casino Games

Virgin Games lists its online slots before any of its other gaming categories, so we can assume that slots are the site’s reason to be. There are more than a thousand online slots to choose from these days, and while the featured games change regularly, these four are worth singling out:-

Secrets of the Phoenix: This Roxor Gaming slot has a name that implies it might be connected to the world of Harry Potter, but it isn’t. Instead, it’s a fairly basic Aztec-themed slot that was released in early 2017. Secrets of the Phoenix offers 94.98% RTP with medium volatility and contains no bonuses other than a fairly bland free spins and multipliers feature.

Double Bubble Jackpot: This is the kind of game we’d expect to see featured at Double Bubble Bingo, one of the Virgin Games sister sites, but we digress. This is another Roxor Gaming slot and is exclusive to this casino network family. Unfortunately, it looks a little dated because it’s based on the 2006 original. Looks aren’t everything, though, and the simple truth is that plenty of people will be interested in this traditional-style, cartoonish slot and its massive volatility because it theoretically offers a jackpot of more than £2m.

Cleopatra: There are hundreds of Egyptian-themed slots out there, but IGT’s Cleopatra remains the most popular of them despite looking long past its best. The 2D style of this 2012 release hasn’t been in vogue for quite some time, but getting an x3 multiplier during free spins is still a potent bonus. Cleopatra isn’t flashy, but with 95.7% RTP and average volatility, it still offers a fair reward for standard gameplay.

Rainbow Riches: A warm welcome to the ten or so of you who’ve spent every year since 2009 hiding under a rock and have never heard of Rainbow Riches before. The world’s most popular Irish-themed slot comes from Barcrest and is as popular now as its ever been despite the fact that 95% RTP is considered a little low these days. From its cute leprechaun mascot to its “road to riches” bonus round, Rainbow Riches is a casino game without equal.

Virgin Games also has its own versions of some of the biggest hits around, including Virgin Gates of Olympus, Big Bass Virgin Xplorer and Virgin Gold Blitz, along with bingo rooms, Slingo and a live casino. What it doesn’t have is a sportsbook, which makes it the odd one out on its network, as all five of its sister sites now take bets on sport. The Virgin name for sports betting belongs to Virgin Bet, which is run by a different company entirely.

Deposits and Withdrawal Methods

Options for deposit and withdrawal at Virgin Games are surprisingly limited. The site used to deal in PayPal but doesn’t anymore, so if you’re a new player, the options available to you are Visa Debit, Mastercard Debit, Apple Pay, Google Pay and bank transfer. Withdrawals take between 4 and 24 hours to process, and then up to 3 working days to reach a Visa Debit card, or up to 1 working day for Mastercard. Withdrawals directly to bank accounts might be a little quicker, with up to one working day to deliver once processed. Apple Pay can now be used for withdrawals too, but Google Pay can’t, so anyone who deposits with it will be paid to a bank account instead. There are no e-wallets on offer, and the minimum withdrawal is £10. Needless to say, this is subpar by the standards of the 2020s. Visa cardholders whose banks support Visa Direct might have better luck in terms of speed, with funds arriving within four hours.

Customer Support and Licensing

Virgin Games stopped offering telephone-based assistance in 2023, so players are limited to using the ticket-raising service or live chat, which is at least available around the clock. As a Gamesys casino, Virgin Games is covered by UK Gambling Commission licence no. 38905. The operator had to pay a massive fine of £6.07m in late 2023 after accepting a charge of breaking several licence conditions, including those that prevent money laundering and govern interactions with customers. As well as the fine, Gamesys received a formal warning and extra conditions to abide by. The licence, while tarnished, remains in force and covers the Virgin Games sister sites, too.

Virgin Games – The Verdict

Virgin Games should be better than it is. It gets everything right with the terms and conditions of its promotions but then lets itself down by not offering enough promotions. The slots collection has grown past a thousand titles, which is a welcome improvement. The payment and withdrawal methods have moved on a little too, but they’re still behind the times. We don’t hate Virgin Games – we think it’s actually quite good – but “quite good” isn’t good enough for a brand of this size. Given how many players there are actively complaining about the site on review websites, we’d suggest that there are improvements that Gamesys could and should make here.