Philippine online gaming revenue surges 17.4% to PHP41.95 billion

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2025/11/03: PAGCOR revenue up 5.8% and net income surges 49% 2025/05/01: E-gaming responsible for over half of PAGCOR first quarter revenue 2025/08/21: Philippine online gambling transactions fall 50% after e-wallet restrictions 2025/10/10: Philippine government honors PAGCOR for PHP12.7 billion contribution to treasury

The Backstory

Why online gaming’s rise matters now

The latest jump in Philippine online casino revenue lands after a year of rapid expansion mixed with regulatory speed bumps. Earlier data showed the e-gaming segment becoming the industry’s main engine, with e-games and e-bingo generating more than half of sector revenue in the March quarter, according to first-quarter results published by PAGCOR. By midyear, online gaming revenue surpassed US$2 billion for the first time as e-gaming accounted for a majority of gross gaming revenue, based on first-half figures.

That momentum explains why the sector could absorb new curbs and still post double-digit gains. PAGCOR has emphasized that it is trying to balance growth with tighter oversight. The regulator’s net income surged 49 percent through the first nine months as it cut costs and pushed digital transformation, even after a temporary pullback tied to payment restrictions, according to its January–September update.

The immediate takeaway: online gaming’s structural tailwinds remain intact, but performance increasingly hinges on how operators adapt to a stricter rulebook.

Payment friction reshapes behavior

The most visible shift came when the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas ordered the delinking of gambling platforms from e-wallets. PAGCOR has acknowledged that the move cut transaction volumes sharply in the short term and hit revenue in August, a dynamic it reiterated while reporting improved nine-month results in spite of that dip. The regulator previously told lawmakers that enforcement against illegal sites and the e-wallet delinking were meant to curb unregulated access and protect consumers, part of a broader message that regulated igaming is a major revenue driver but requires vigilance.

Even with that friction, demand migrated rather than disappeared. Operators adjusted onboarding flows and payment pathways, while PAGCOR leaned on data-led supervision. The agency said it is studying AI tools to strengthen e-KYC and spot risky play patterns in real time, including automated cooling-off periods for flagged accounts, underscoring its intent to build safeguards into growth. Those initiatives were outlined in its AI oversight brief to Congress.

The net effect supports the current report’s picture: a market that slowed late in the quarter as new rules bit, then stabilized as platforms and players adapted.

Ad crackdown shifts the optics

Another pivot has been marketing. In July, PAGCOR moved to curb the visibility of gambling promotions across public spaces and mass media. The regulator signed a memorandum with the Ad Standards Council to pre-screen all gambling ads, as reported by Inside Asian Gaming, which detailed the pre-clearance requirement for gambling advertisements. Days earlier, the agency ordered the immediate removal of billboards and other out-of-home placements by online operators, according to Inside Asian Gaming’s coverage of the billboard takedown.

Those measures reduced high-visibility outreach while pushing marketing into more controlled channels. They also aligned with a period of heightened political scrutiny. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. avoided the online gaming debate in his state of the nation address, signaling caution on an issue that has drawn competing calls for a ban or stricter oversight. Inside Asian Gaming noted the omission in its report on the SONA.

Against that backdrop, the sector’s revenue resilience suggests underlying demand remains strong even as top-of-funnel advertising is curtailed. It also puts more weight on compliance, retention and product breadth rather than mass-market promotion.

A two-speed gaming economy

The online upswing contrasts with softer trends at integrated resorts. Philippine IRs saw combined second-quarter gross gaming revenue fall 10.6 percent to US$778 million, Inside Asian Gaming reported, citing seasonal and macro pressures that chipped away at VIP and premium mass play; see the second-quarter IR GGR report. Earlier this year, PAGCOR data showed licensed casinos accounting for a smaller share of the industry pie as e-gaming expanded its lead, a shift highlighted in first-quarter results and reinforced in first-half figures.

The divergence underscores an important policy question: how to capture growth where consumers are increasingly spending time—on phones and PCs—while managing risks that are different from those in destination resorts. PAGCOR has framed the answer as “growth with accountability,” pairing compliance mandates with technology-led monitoring and coordinated advertising limits.

For operators, the two-speed picture means digital product, payments resilience and responsible gaming tooling are now as critical to performance as floor traffic once was. For government, it raises the stakes on enforcement against illegal platforms that siphon play, tax and consumer protections.

Follow the money to social programs

PAGCOR’s stronger bottom line adds political cover for its regulatory approach. Through September, the agency reported a 5.8 percent rise in revenue and a 49 percent jump in net income, with higher mandated contributions to the national government and social initiatives, per its nine-month update. Earlier, the regulator detailed how igaming proceeds fed universal health care and community projects, reinforcing the narrative that legal channels fund public goods, as laid out in its testimony to the House Committee on Games and Amusements.

That linkage matters as lawmakers weigh calls for tougher restrictions. The more PAGCOR can tie online growth to classrooms, clinics and disaster response, the more durable the policy consensus for regulated expansion becomes—particularly as illegal sites remain a drain on tax receipts and a risk to players.

What’s next

Three variables bear watching. First, payments: the industry’s adaptation to e-wallet delinking will continue to shape volumes and channel mix. Second, marketing: enforcement of ad pre-clearance and the outdoor ban will test how operators acquire customers without splashy campaigns, with Inside Asian Gaming tracking the ad standards agreement and billboard directive. Third, supervision tech: PAGCOR’s exploration of AI for identity checks and behavior monitoring, outlined in its AI study, could become a template for other markets if it shows measurable impacts on problem gambling and fraud.

Combined, these threads explain how the online segment could deliver another quarterly revenue surge while the broader system absorbed new restraints. The trajectory from early-year dominance to midyear milestones and late-quarter recalibration sets the context for today’s headline figure—and signals where the next set of pressures and opportunities are likely to emerge.