Online gaming activity in the Philippines has taken a hit in the past couple of months due to reforms around digital payments.
Despite the industry adjustment, overall revenue for Q3 in the country has stayed roughly flat, dipping only marginally from Php 94.61bn ($1.6bn) in 2024 to Php 94.51bn this year.
For this period, the iGaming segment was the strongest performer and demonstrated growth of 17.4% - it now represents 44% of the whole industry.
Alejandro Tengco, PAGCOR Chairman and CEO, noted that this growth was possible largely because Q3 includes July, which was before the new reforms came into effect.
In August and September there was a significant decline as the Philippines' central bank gave e-wallet providers 48 hours to remove in-app links to gambling platforms.
This was announced on Thursday 14 August and the following week it was reported that online gambling transactions may have been reduced by as much as 50%.
With regards to these latest results, Tengco commented: "The delinking of e-wallets resulted in a short-term decline in activity toward the latter part of the quarter. However, these measures are vital to protect players and ensure secure, transparent transactions."
He also issued a familiar warning, which was that while legitimate sites comply with new rules, the aggressive expansion of unauthorized platforms continue to put vulnerable people at risk and deprive the Government of taxes.
Outside of online gaming, all other segments: licensed casinos, PAGCOR-operated casinos and bingo operations posted lower earnings for Q3.
In a particular blow to public finances, PAGCOR-operated venues saw revenues decline by 11.6% from Php 3.64bn to Php 3.22bn.
Tengco has stressed that he believes this downward trend could reverse once the industry fully adapts to the new payments ecosystem.
PAGCOR results covering the first nine months of 2025 show a 49% year-over-year surge in net income
