Gala Bingo Has Left Virtue Fusion

It’s been a long time coming, and some people thought it would never happen, but Gala Bingo has finally moved all of its 20+ bingo rooms off the Virtue Fusion network, replacing the Playtech bingo product with Entain‘s proprietary bingo software.

This move has been brewing ever since the autumn of 2018 when Foxy Bingo became the first bingo site to run on the proprietary software (itself an evolution of the old Cozy Gaming bingo product) and the writing has been on the wall for Gala since last year when Entain (or GVC as they were then known) moved first Coral Bingo and then Ladbrokes Bingo on to the new platform.  Gala has a much bigger player base than the other two sites had so Entain were quite understandably reluctant to move it too hastily; although the back end of the site was moved to the Entain platform some time ago (massively improving the selection of slot games and enabling them to offer free spins on a wide variety of games) the Virtue Fusion bingo product stayed as it was.  There was even speculation that it would stay like that until 2025 (when Entain’s current deal with Playtech runs out).  Earlier this year, though, planning for the migration began and now it has finally happened.

But what does it mean for players? First of all, because the back end of the site isn’t changing everything apart from the bingo is as it was before.

The first thing you will notice when you try the new bingo software is that it once you get into a bingo room, it’s hard to work out how to get back to the lobby.  In fact, once you’ve looked inside three bingo rooms you will find that you have to remove one before you can bring the lobby up again and that when you do, the lobby takes up to 15 seconds to load-  which is disappointing and annoying if you’re used to the Virtue Fusion lobby.

Once inside the lobby, it’s not what you’d expect if you’re familiar with other Entain sites.  At first glance lots of the bingo rooms are unchanged – but are they really?

1. What’s Gone
2. What’s New
3. What’s Changed Behind The Scenes
4. What’s Stayed (Mostly) The Same
5. What Looks The Same But Isn’t
6. Where To Play Instead

What’s Gone

• Housey
• Rainbow Riches Bingo
• 75 ball pattern bingo
• Some of Gala’s regular promotions including the Roy’s Rolls scratchcard
• Virtue Fusion network promotions including big money games and progressive jackpots (which Gala players have contributed to)
• Any unused bingo bonus you may have had (warnings were issued about this apparently but since Gala were giving out welcome bonuses until just before the move some players have been complaining in the chat)
• Some of the free bingo
• Most of the features like 1TG/2TG and Roll On
• For mobile players, slot games inside the bingo rooms (they are still available when playing on a computer or tablet)

What’s New

• Fluffy Favourites Bingo – the Entain version of Fluffy Favourites Bingo is completely different to the Virtue Fusion version (36 ball multi stake instead of 90 ball regular)
• 30 ball bingo

As yet, other Entain exclusives including Friends Bingo and Cash Out Bingo have NOT been added

What’s Changed Behind The Scenes

The networking is what makes the difference to players; many rooms at Gala remain networked but instead of being connected to the huge Virtue Fusion player base, they are connected to other Entain sites including Coral Bingo and Foxy Bingo.  This means the prizes are smaller –  in some cases much smaller.