Sweepstakes Giant VGW Pulling Out Of Canada In Stages Over Next Two Months

Virtual Gaming Worlds (VGW), the major sweepstakes operator behind such sites as Chumba Casino, Luckyland Slots, and Global Poker, sent its players in Canada an email over the weekend informing them that the operator is in the process of shutting down its platforms in the country.

The exit has three scheduled phases, leading up to the end of access to the sites on Oct. 23.

The first stage arrives Thursday, when players in Canada will no longer be able to make purchases on the dual-currency sites. Four weeks later, on Sept. 25, the site’s games will no longer be available for play. And four weeks after that, Oct. 23, is the cutoff for redeeming remaining coins for prizes.

“We understand this is an adjustment after many years and our valued Canadian players may be disappointed,” read the email sent to customers. “This decision wasn’t taken lightly and our focus is on ensuring players are fully informed about the changes, and that this transition is as smooth as possible.”

The decision comes amid a year of constant scrutiny in the U.S. of social gaming sites using the sweepstakes prizing model. Legislatures in Nevada, Montana, Connecticut, and New Jersey have passed bills in 2025 banning sweeps, while several other states have sent cease-and-desist letters to operators or have introduced anti-sweeps legislation. Notably, VGW executed a phase-by-phase exit from New York, similar to that announced for Canada, as the Empire State was advancing its sweeps ban bill this spring.

But there has been no known regulatory pressure on VGW or sweepstakes sites in general in Canada. According to a statement VGW sent to Canadian Gaming Business, “Ultimately, this is a difficult but strategic, isolated decision. Our Canadian business is relatively small, as the vast majority of our players reside in the larger U.S. market, where we will concentrate our management focus, resources, and investment going forward.”

VGW wheeling, dealing, and defending

The news out of Canada comes less than a week after VGW announced a partnership with Kletsel Dehe Wintun Nation of the Cortina Rancheria tribe in California — the most lucrative U.S. state for sweeps operators.

California has been advancing a sweeps-ban bill of its own, AB 831, but that is receiving pushback from some of the state’s tribes, and it would appear VGW is positioning itself with an eye toward AB 831 failing to become law.

In other VGW news in California, the operator is the primary defendant in a class-action suit filed last week in the Northern California District Court. But there are other defendants that make this lawsuit unique. KYC solutions company Jumio, payment-processing outfits Trustly and Yodlee, and BetMGM ambassador Brian Christopher — a recent guest on Casino Reports’ podcast Low Rollers — are also named in the suit.

In many of the states in which Australia-based VGW has ceased its sweepstakes-prizing operations, it still allows free play for “Gold Coins.” But its departure from Canada will be a complete exit, where even purely social play will no longer be available.

In Fiscal Year 2024, VGW reported global revenue of about $4.1 billion and net profits of roughly $318 million, with Chumba Casino producing the largest portion of both figures.