Virgin Gaming, which hosts online competitive gaming with real cash prizes, announced today that it has surpassed a million registered users. The company also said it has disbursed over $7 million since its June 2010 launch.
Registration is free, and members can compete in a selection of head-to-head matches and tournaments without depositing any money. Participants must be at least 18 years old, however, and residents of 15 U.S. states are legally prohibited from participating in the cash games.
Virgin Gaming supports specific multiplayer PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 games, which enables the company’s platform to directly verify game statistics.
The current tournament is the Challenge Series, in which players worldwide are competing using a PlayStation 3 on EA Sports’ Madden NFL 12, NHL12 and FIFA 12 for a chance to win over $1 million in cash and prizes. The finals in the Challenge Series will be held in New York this April.
“We knew we were on to something and that our service had significant potential, we just didn’t realize it would take off as quickly as it did,” said Rob Segal, CEO of Virgin Gaming. “Our team continues to evolve the experience on a daily basis, and user feedback has been a key component in our upgrades. The responses have been resoundingly insightful and positive, so we’re very excited for our current direction and what the future holds, including the expansion of the biggest and best tournaments for mobile and social games.”
The states that prohibit gaming for cash prizes are Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Vermont.
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