
The Chief Operating Officer of the firm, Hakan Dagtas, announced plans to include live table games; the new service is scheduled to go online the following month. With 50 slot machines, Newport World Resorts already offers PIGO gamers something for them to play on, but this expansion is a conscious effort to expand its offerings and draw in more customers.
PIGO was flagged as a licensing category during the Covid-19 pandemic, allowing land-based casino operators in the Philippines to offer online gambling services to the domestic market during a period when Covid-19-related restrictions prevented players in the country from visiting casinos. The PIGO system has continued into the post-pandemic recovery period.
As the PIGO acronym suggests, such licences are for online gambling services for the domestic market, in contrast to so-called ‘POGO’ licences – Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator permits – for services aimed at players overseas. The latter licences came under scrutiny from China in recent years as part of a campaign to deter Chinese mainland residents from engaging in online gambling.
Unlike traditional online gambling that relies on server-based random number generators, PIGO games must be connected to physical gaming machines or tables specifically run by the PIGO licensee for that purpose: that is why PIGO is technically known as a form of ‘remote gambling’.
Newport World Resorts is owned and managed by Travellers International Hotel Group Inc. The latter is controlled by Philippine conglomerate Alliance Global Group Inc.