PH E-GAMING INDUSTRY GROWTH NEARLY DOUBLES IN 2023 – PAGCOR

The Philippine Electronic Gaming sector had a banner year in 2023 with revenues nearly doubling year on year due to policy reforms, according to Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation Chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco.

Speaking during a panel interview at the ICE London 2024 Conference in London last February 6, Chairman Tencgo said “there was a phenomenal rise of over 90% in online gaming activities in 2023 compared to the previous year.”

The E-Gaming sector – which includes e-games, e-bingo, specialty games and sports betting – contributed Php58.16 billion to the country’s gross gaming revenues (GGR) in 2023, or 92.32% higher than its earnings of Php30.24 billion the year before.

The E-Games contribution to 2023 GGR is also a new record, surpassing the previous high of Php32.24 billion posted in 2019 before the pandemic outbreak.

The ICE London 2024 Conference is known as the Global Gaming Hub for all B2B industry experts that provides an ideal platform for gaming industry leaders to share their achievements, initiatives and vision for the future.

ICE historically stands for “International Casinos Exhibition” and serves as the premier destination for industry innovation, collaboration and networking.

Earlier, Chairman Tengco said PAGCOR reached another milestone in 2023 with more than 1,000 licensed E-Gaming sites – with more applications in the pipeline.

“Because of the policy changes implemented by the current management, there was a considerable increase in gaming sites. We also approved reductions in (licensing) rates that contributed to the spike in approved sites,” he said.

“The E-Games sector’s notable performance positively impacted not only the local gaming industry but also PAGCOR’s revenue generation efforts,” Chairman Tengco said.

More policy tweaks – including further lowering licensing rates – and the growing integration of technology in gaming should allow the E-Games sector to continue fueling the growth of the local gaming industry with its projected Php61.75 billion in revenues in 2024.