Starburst

About Starburst

While the new figures underline the sheer scale of Britain’s regulated market, leading operator Entain is pressing the government for tougher action against black-market platforms.

Entain highlighted that 11 of 20 Premier League clubs currently hold sponsorship or advertising arrangements with gambling operators lacking a Gambling Commission license—up from government estimates of eight clubs during the 2025/26 season.

“The government made clear in February that it would bring in a ban and it should do so immediately,” said Entain CEO Stella David, noting that clubs entering new agreements had already been warned. “Inconvenience is not an excuse for inaction.”

What is Starburst?

Last month, GiG Software plc announced plans to acquire an 80% stake in Evoke’s 888Africa, in a deal valued at up to €16.4 million ($19.1 million).

To fund the acquisition, the company intends to raise €2.5 million through a directed share issue and €6 million through convertible debt. The deal marks its return to B2C after becoming a pure play B2B platform play in 2023.

Richards tells iGB the deal is expected to be completed around the end of September and provides GiG with a “profitable, cash-generative B2C operator” and a footprint in some of Africa’s fastest-growing regulated markets.

How to play Starburst

Tests carried out using a VPN to access banned markets found Evolution’s games had been available to players in the prohibited jurisdictions of UAE, Singapore, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia.

However, further tests found that while using a VPN, Spectrum could not access Evolution’s games in the sanctioned markets of Iran, Sudan and Syria, despite claims to the contrary made by Black Cube in its prior report.

“When we attempted to play games in those locales using VPNs, we were repeatedly denied access,” Spectrum states. It therefore said it found the allegations linked to these countries were “unsupportable and lacking credibility and proper foundation”.