The Rift

What is The Rift?

‘Meeting these modern expectations through manual trading is no longer realistic at scale’

Player propositions were included in 65% of Bet Builders, up from 25% in 2022. Meanwhile, player shots on target became Kambi’s second-largest pre-match betting offer by turnover, while other popular selections included a player to score or assist.

“Customers seek personalised experiences, extensive player proposition bets and the ability to build highly customised wagers in real time,” Lamb says. “Meeting these modern expectations through manual trading is no longer realistic at scale.”

How to play The Rift

The timing is significant. The illegal gambling market is attracting growing attention from regulators and the wider industry, while estimates of its size vary considerably depending on definitions and methodology.

A recent Fincord Intelligence report highlighted by the Betting and Gaming Council estimated that illegal online gambling generated around $50 billion in gross revenue globally in 2025. It estimated that around 5,000 operator structures were using more than 15,000 websites and apps.

Other estimates are considerably higher, illustrating how difficult the market is to measure. As an example, separate research from Gaming Compliance International put the value of unregulated online gambling at $5.9 trillion in wagering value in 2025, while estimating that unregulated operators accounted for 78% of global online gaming GGR.

What is The Rift?

“Just being a content studio is great, but if you can bolt engagement products onto your offering, you’re going to stand out from the crowd.”

For Splash Tech founder Adam Wilson, RubyPlay’s acquisition of his company is not simply the coming together of two complementary suppliers. It is an early indication of where the wider supplier market may be heading.

The deal adds Splash Tech’s free-to-play games and supplier-agnostic jackpot engine to RubyPlay’s existing portfolio of free spins, rewards, missions and tournaments. In doing so, it strengthens RubyPlay’s evolution from a content-led provider into a broader content and engagement tools company, giving operators a way to add engagement mechanics across existing and third-party portfolios without building those capabilities from scratch.