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What is Gems Bonanza?
Harrison Barrett, VP of business development, spoke to the iGB team at iGB L!VE 2026 to discuss the evolution of Soft2Bet’s MEGA platform, which started out as a purely gamification layer but has become “much more compelling than simply leaderboards, missions and point-based rewards”.
As Barrett puts it, MEGA is “ultimately a retention tool that helps our partners move away from heavy bonus and costs”.
With ice hockey and UFC-themed initiatives driving engagement in North America and a 45% lifetime value increase seen with the launch of MEGA Shoot, a player-versus-player simulation penalty shootout game initiative which launched during the World Cup, it is an exciting time for the Malta-based platform provider.
What is Gems Bonanza?
The proposition is already being tested commercially. Live casino supplier Eeze has become the first supplier to utilise Studio in a Box as it looks to expand its proprietary content into slots. Using Yggdrasil’s framework also gives Eeze access to its wider distribution network.
The first games are expected towards the end of the year, with the partnership ultimately targeting a release cadence of two games per month. For Curwen, Eeze demonstrates the demand among established gaming businesses for greater ownership of their content strategy without the cost and complexity of creating a conventional development operation.
The implications could extend well beyond companies already established in other areas of gaming.
About Gems Bonanza
Entain’s removal from the FTSE 100 is a telling sign of what has happened to gambling stocks across both Europe and the US in recent years. The company’s shares have fallen sharply over the past year, even as its first-half results showed continued growth in several important markets.
In the six months to June, Entain’s online net gaming revenue rose 7% in constant currency. Revenue in Britain and Ireland increased 13%, while the company maintained its full-year guidance for online net gaming revenue growth of 5% to 7%. So why is its stock price still so under pressure?
One answer is that the industry is no longer being valued primarily on the promise of endless growth. The market instead wants to see profit, cash generation and manageable regulation maintained across all facets of a listed business. Ed Birkin, managing director of H2 Gambling Capital, says the longer-term decline in gambling stocks runs much deeper than just changes to earnings forecasts.
