Overview
Founded in 2016, Wixstars is the brainchild of Brightnet, a Romanian based gambling operator and part of the much larger Aspire Global Group. Aspire Global have been in business since 2005, and have developed a decent reputation for consistent, quality gaming. While Wixstars is still building its reputation, players are already drawn to their attractive, intuitive website, and their impressive selection of games.
NetEnt games are the foundation of Wixstars Casino, alongside contributions from Play’n GO, Blueprint Gaming and Microgaming, delivering a sizeable selection of slots games. But how does Wixstars compare to other, similar online casinos?
Safety and Trustworthiness
Wixstars is a secure, trustworthy casino with a corporate track record to prove it. While the site itself is relatively new, and the only major casino brand operated by Brightnet, it’s part of the wider Aspire Global Group, a family of casino brands that are well thought of in the online gambling community. This is a strong starting point for trust – there’s strength in numbers and Aspire is involved in multiple casino brands, with 150 employees on the job. At least you can be sure this is a legitimate operator, with the financial strength to stand behind even the biggest jackpot win.
Wixstars is regulated in Malta by the Malta Gaming Authority, as well as being regulated in the UK by the UK Gambling Commission, often regarded as the gold standard in casino licensing. That’s two independent gambling authorities with the remit to ensure fair gambling, keep a watchful eye over goings on at Wixstars. All good for player comfort and peace of mind.
The site is encrypted, and whether you’re playing on desktop or on mobile, you should have no fears about security. SSL encryption is rock solid against external attacks, and payments are handled by trusted third parties to increase the security threshold. You can be certain when you’re playing here that you’ll enjoy a safe, secure experience.
There are some negative reviews on Wixstars available online, which is to be expected for any online casino. Customers often get dissatisfied once they’ve lost money, and most are much more likely to give a negative review than a positive. From those minimal complaints available, there’s no pattern or course of behaviour that would suggest they are any other than a legitimate, safe casino operator.
Deposits & Withdrawals
Wixstars supports a range of deposit and withdrawal methods, including common methods such as Skrill deposits and Neteller. Payout times vary depending on the method, but tend to be on the longer side at 3-8 business days.
This is one area where Wixstars might want to think about improving their service. There are other casinos that can process payments much more quickly, so it’s hard to get behind a policy that takes over a week, excluding weekends, to pay out in some cases. Adding PayPal is also a must if WixStars wants to attract players in the UK market.
Bonuses
Wixstars runs a compelling welcome bonus to attract new players, with a headline rate of £300, plus 50 free spins. As always, it’s important to delve deeper into the details, and that includes making sure you understand the terms and conditions fully before deciding whether this bonus works for you.
The bonus relies on entering the bonus code 300STARS when setting up your account. The £300 is paid as a 100% deposit match bonus and extends to the first deposit only. With it comes the 50 free spins, for use on selected slots titles.
The most significant term to pay attention to is the wagering requirement, which stands at 35x. This is reasonable, and around the industry average, so there can be no real complaints here. The bonus and wagering must be complete within 21 days of your bonus being activated, which is a little tight, but definitely still doable. The minimum deposit amount to trigger the bonus is £20, and it goes without saying that it’s only available for new players, 18+, registering their first account with Wixstars.
This is actually a reasonably generous bonus. The terms and conditions are fair and reasonable, and about what you’d expect from any legitimate, stand-up operator that was keen to attract new players. Wixstars certainly fits that description, and where others pile on the terms and conditions to the point of damaging their bonuses, Wixstars has opted to go for a more player-friendly approach. So, two thumbs up for this bonus offer.
Game Selection
Wixstars has a decent selection of games, biased towards video slots. These games are drawn from some of the most notable developers in the business, with NetEnt the predominant game provider. This influences the themes that run throughout their website, which has a distinctive NetEnt feel, and you’ll see a number of characters from their classic games appearing in the site design.
The layout of Wixstars is straightforward, which makes navigating your way between games or different pages a breeze. Game software loads quickly and feels stable, so there are no concerns over lag or dropped connections. On the software side, Wixstars is a strong performer. But arguably it’s the games that stand as its best feature.
Aside from NetEnt games, you’ll also find titles from Play’n GO, Blueprint Gaming and Microgaming. Look out for slots favourites like Starburst, Jumanji, Gonzo’s Quest and Bollywood Stars, providing an eclectic mix of progressive and regular video slots to choose from.
Table games are represented in a minimal way with just 3 different roulette games and 2 blackjack. More of a show is done with their live gaming selection featuring 10 titles from Evolution Gaming. Still, while there are casinos out there with more games to offer, the selection on show at Wixstars is more than enough to keep most players busy. Sometimes quality matters more than quantity, and Wixstars have struck an optimal balance between the two with their offering.
Mobile App
With Wixstars, there’s no need to download an app to play on mobile. Their site works directly in your device browser, ensuring you can play on any smartphone or tablet. The site is designed to be responsive to different screen sizes, providing an entirely native experience, however you choose to play. That means you can forget compatibility issues – as long as you’ve got a smart device with a browser to connect to the Internet, you’ll be able to enjoy gaming on the go with Wixstars casino.
While you don’t need an app to play at Wixstars, some players do find it more convenient to access a casino via a couple of taps, rather than opening their browser and heading to the Wixstars site. It’s all a matter of personal choice, but it would be good if Wixstars were planning to release apps for iOS and Android devices, and this does feel like one obvious blind spot for the casino.
Promotions
Wixstars has a limited lineup of promotions, which can be found under the Promotions tab on main navigation. Here you’ll find offers for the likes of extra spins, reload bonuses and special seasonal promotions. These change on an ongoing basis, and you’ll find any details on the Promotions tab first. It’s easy from here to learn more about the different offers, and to find out how you can claim these bonuses for yourself.
The promotions on offer at the time of writing were a little thin on the ground. There was an offer for a second day deposit of £20, where players could claim an extra 40 free spins by depositing another £20 on the second day of their account. There was a similar offer in place for the third day deposit, and a promotion where players can deposit a minimum of £30 for unspecified rewards, available weekly.
As promotions go, these are pretty slimline, and perhaps not as valuable as promotions you might find elsewhere. While their promotions section is satisfactory on balance, they could definitely do more here to encourage more loyalty in their players.
Support
Live chat from 6am to 11pm enables all but night owls to get in touch and get a repaid reply straight away
Review Summary
Wixstars Casino might have only been around for a few short years, but they’ve determined to set out their stall as an attractive place to play for new players. Their welcome bonus gets the green light from us, with fair and reasonable terms compared to some rival offers. The wagering is straightforward, and you don’t get the sense that Wixstars are trying to catch their players out with terms that are too complicated or onerous. This is a credit to their business model, and only further proves Wixstars to be a legitimate, honest operator out to carve their niche in the online gambling market.
The selection of games is overall fine, with a nice selection of slots spinners to keep all but the most hardcore online casino players happy. The table game choice is definitely disappointing but compensated somewhat by the live dealer games on offer.
Still, the site does have some obvious limitations including the lack of apps and paypal deposits, lacklustre promotions and relatively long wait for withdrawals to be processed. Most of these issues though can be put down to Wixstars still finding their feet, and developing into the casino they want to become. While it’s far from perfect, Wixstars still performs well enough overall and gets a solid 7/10 for us.