The Philippine gaming sector, including non-casino operations, generated gross gaming revenue (GGR) of PHP89.23 billion in the three months leading up to June 30, marking a 32.3 percent increase from the same period last year.
The total rose by 9.2 percent compared to the previous quarter, according to a Sunday announcement by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR), the country’s casino regulator. This set a new quarterly record for industry-wide GGR.
PAGCOR reported that the electronically-delivered games segment led the industry in growth, reaching PHP30.85 billion in the second quarter.
Alejandro Tengco, chairman and chief executive of PAGCOR, highlighted that the e-Games segment “recorded an impressive 525-percent increase” from the previous year.
“This sector continues to exceed targets and should help compensate for any shortfall caused by the [Philippines] President’s order to ban offshore gaming operations by the end of the year,” Tengco stated.
PAGCOR mentioned that the financial impact of banning offshore online gaming operators would be “minimal on the Philippine gaming industry, as the segment contributes less than 5 percent of [total] gross gaming revenue.”
The country’s licensed commercial-sector casinos remained the “largest contributor” to second-quarter GGR, with PHP49.5 billion. This figure represented a 4.3 percent decline year-on-year and remained flat sequentially, according to the Sunday release.
PAGCOR-operated casinos, under its Casino Filipino network, generated PHP4.20 billion in GGR from April to June, a 14.8-percent decrease from a year earlier and a 10.4 percent drop compared to the previous quarter.
PAGCOR anticipates the nation’s gaming industry to produce PHP336.38 billion in GGR this year, reflecting a 17.9-percent increase compared to 2023. The first-half total accounted for 50.8 percent of the agency’s target. In July, the state-run PAGCOR reported a net income of PHP6.56 billion for the first half of 2024, up 121.5 percent from the same period last year.
Aside from table games, the market has been growing in the electronic gaming sector. Electronic games prove customers with so many different varieties, design, and style to choose from. The same can be said with choices in online gaming where one can find a game to suit one’s preference.