Gemstone

About Gemstone

“Oftentimes when you see governments increasing taxes, banning iGaming, it’s mainly because of illegal operators because they don’t comply,” he declares. “An illegal operator may not provide age verification, responsible gambling tools, secure treatment of player funds, or an effective complaints mechanism.

“So illegal operators undermine licensed businesses that invest in compliance, contribute to taxes and operate under regulatory oversight. We are where we are because of illegal operators. Oftentimes, licensed operators have licence conditions that they need to abide with.”

Kesitilwe highlights a recent study by Gaming Compliance International that estimated around 77% of Africa’s gambling market is offshore.

How to play Gemstone

All nine of Atlantic City’s casinos agreed to new labour deals this summer without a strike, although its union opted for just one-year deals instead of the typical length of three or more years. This was in response to increased uncertainty related to looming competition from both New York City casinos and New Jersey’s own online gaming industry.

In Las Vegas, the Culinary Union has unionised the entire Las Vegas Strip and secured historic wage increases during the last round of negotiations. Those deals are about halfway done now, and Culinary is no stranger to strikes, having used them as leverage to secure new deals in the run-up to the inaugural Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix in 2023 and and Super Bowl the following February.

Jess has covered the global gaming industry since 2022. A native of Reno, Nevada, he’d like to note that it’s Ne-va-da, not Ne-VAH-da.

How to play Gemstone

The wider opportunity is to reduce some of the fragmentation operators face. Splash Tech’s jackpots and free-to-play products complement RubyPlay’s free spins, rewards, missions and tournaments, while remaining capable of supporting third-party content rather than being fenced inside a single studio’s games.

What changes is the support behind that business. Wilson says Splash Tech is moving from the resources of a 20-person company to those of a group of around 300, adding depth across licensing, compliance, finance, technology, product and business intelligence. In his characteristically understated phrasing, each area has had “rocket fuel injected into it”.

RubyPlay’s broader licensing footprint and distribution also give Splash Tech access to operators and markets it could not have pursued efficiently alone.