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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.

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Rather than building each slot from scratch, the studio appears to lean on recognizable frameworks it can dress in new themes. 3 Aztec Spells reads as another application of that model, not a departure from it.

Aztec is one of the most heavily worked themes in the world of online gambling, and Spinomenal is far from alone in returning to it. The setting offers the gold, temple, and idol imagery that has long anchored adventure-styled reel design.

What stands out is how often Spinomenal itself revisits the territory. A single provider maintaining multiple Aztec-flavored slots suggests the theme performs reliably enough across operator networks to justify repeated entries.

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AI is used, but only towards the end of the process. First, the system gathers objective indicators; AI is then used to assess the overall pattern and probability of a connection. “We only provide evidence-based findings,” Madsen says. “We don’t say that something is a mirror site because we suspect it is. It is only reported when we are 100% confident there is a match.”

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.