ME war, e-wallet delinking to drag gaming revenues

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine gaming industry is bracing for a downturn this year, with gross gaming revenues (GGR) projected to fall as low as P320 billion amid delinking order and the US-Iran war weighing on household spending.

Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco said the outlook marks a decline from the P396.14 billion in GGR recorded last year, cutting the online gaming-led momentum.

“Personally, I believe that it will be a lower GGR compared to 2025. Probably looking at maybe P320 to P350 billion,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the SiGMA Asia Summit 2026.

Tengco’s forecast suggests that it may fall even below the P372.33 billion GGR posted in 2024.

“Well, number one, these are the effects of delinking of the payment application,” he said, referring to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas directive backed by lawmakers last year.

“But I think more important is number two, it is primarily because of the Middle East crisis,” he added.

Tengco explained that the lower C income class and upper D households are the most affected by the crisis, prioritizing basic necessities before placing their bets.

Inflation quickened to 7.2 percent in April, with consumer prices for the country’s bottom 30 percent surged by a steeper 8.5 percent.

This outlook is already reflected in the first three months, as GGR declined by 15.9 percent to P87.6 billion due to softer e-gaming sector turnout.

“Prior to this crisis, the online gaming segment had already overtaken the land-based casinos. But we’re not seeing the same thing after the Middle East crisis,” Tengco said, adding that land-based casinos are now expected to balance with online gaming.

Despite the weaker outlook, Tengco expressed optimism that a rebound in tourism could help cushion the decline in GGR, particularly with the expected influx of Chinese visitors.

“That will bring in customers to the integrated resort of land-based customers. I heard it went up because of this 14-day no visa policy,” Tengco said.

So far, the official said that there are no plans to lower the remittance tax for online gaming operators.

At the same time, Tengco said the agency is studying whether it could regulate e-sports, an important sector where the younger generation is actively engaged.