In the context of strong regulation and policy shifts in the Philippine gaming industry, an underrated local company quietly completed its evolution. This series will systematically dissect the rise of DigiPlus from three aspects: policy, business, and capital.
If one only understands the Philippine gaming industry from a Chinese perspective, DigiPlus is easily overlooked. Now, DigiPlus is not just an ordinary gaming operator; it possesses capabilities in traffic, payment, and content distribution.
Five years ago, no one would have predicted this.
DigiPlus was originally known as Leisure & Resorts World Corporation (LRWC), a veteran company. Its core assets were the nationwide offline bingo halls—Bingo Bonanza.
These outlets were located in malls, community centers, and transportation hubs, serving the most stable demographic of gamblers in the Philippines: middle-aged and elderly people, housewives, and retirees. This is the most traditional form of gambling in the Philippines.
The pandemic in 2020 hit the pause button on this system.
Long-term lockdowns led to the collective closure of physical stores, and LRWC's revenue collapsed rapidly. For a gambling company heavily reliant on a physical network, survival became a problem.
It was then that the management realized something crucial: ⚠️ If they did not fully digitize "bingo," LRWC would naturally die out under regulatory permissions.
Thus, in January 2022, BingoPlus was launched.
During the pandemic, to prevent a break in gambling tax revenue, PAGCOR was forced to relax its long-standing restrictions on online entertainment, systematically opening up online traditional bingo licenses for the first time. LRWC did not hesitate and quickly secured an Online Traditional Bingo (OTB) license.
Past online entertainment was mostly about crudely transferring offline gameplay to the web, resulting in a thin experience and limited stickiness. However, BingoPlus introduced a completely different path—it combined live streaming with bingo lottery.
DigiPlus specifically built a professional live broadcast studio, equipped with hosts, interactive systems, and real-time streaming technology, bringing the originally offline lottery ceremony completely onto mobile screens.
Against the backdrop of long-term home confinement and severed social interactions, BingoPlus provided a large number of Filipino players with an alternative social setting—not only could they place bets, but they could also chat and watch in the live rooms.
BingoPlus quickly appeared frequently on the download charts of the Philippine App Store and Google Play, with online entertainment revenue growing much faster than expected. By the end of 2022, digital business had begun to surpass physical stores in revenue structure.
So, when the transformation direction was validated by the market, the company chose a more thorough separation. In February 2023, LRWC officially renamed itself DigiPlus Interactive Corp., changing its stock code from "LR" to "PLUS".
🌐 To understand DigiPlus, one must first understand the Philippines.
The openness of gambling in the Philippines has already surpassed that of Macau and Singapore, with the core of the Philippine gambling system being #PAGCOR.—This is an agency directly under the Office of the President, not just a regulatory body, nor a state-owned enterprise, but a distinctly Filipino mix of regulatory and commercial functions.
For a long time, PAGCOR played two roles: on one hand, it set rules, issued licenses, and collected taxes, deciding who could legally enter the gambling industry; on the other hand, it personally entered the field, operating a chain of casinos known as Casino Filipino.
This structure, controversial in the eyes of outsiders, has long been the practical foundation of the Philippine gambling order. For any gambling company,—without PAGCOR, there is no legitimacy.
In the eyes of many unfamiliar with the Philippine market, the mention of "online gambling" easily leads to associations with #POGO, and even directly equates DigiPlus with "pig butchering scams."
But in fact, whether it belongs to POGO is precisely the critical dividing line in determining the fate of DigiPlus.
During Duterte's administration, POGO was once a business tacitly permitted, even actively introduced by the government. At its peak, POGO was seen as the "cash cow" of the Philippines. However, social issues surrounding POGO quickly fermented, directly impacting international relations.
Under the Marcos administration, this line was completely cut. In July 2024, Marcos announced a complete ban on POGO, demanding a total withdrawal by the end of the year.
After the ban was announced, the capital market reacted swiftly. Companies associated with "gambling" generally faced pressure on their stock prices. DigiPlus was no exception.
But soon, the management repeatedly emphasized a fact: 📈 DigiPlus has never been POGO.
What it holds is an IGL (Internet Gaming Licensee), also known as PIGO (Philippine Inland Gaming Operator) license.
The difference between the two is a completely opposite policy logic. The problem with POGO is "earning foreign money"; the premise of IGL/PIGO is "serving only Philippine local users, with all income and taxes staying domestically."
In 2024, DigiPlus paid over 33 billion pesos in taxes and regulatory income to the Philippine government.
With the disappearance of POGO, it instead created a rare supply-side clearance for DigiPlus. To further consolidate the compliance system, PAGCOR even continued to lower the gambling tax rate, trying to exchange a lower tax burden for higher transparency and scaled development.—The original electronic gaming gambling tax rate of 50%–55% was gradually reduced to the 30%–35% range.
Therefore, in the current Philippine gambling system, regulation has become DigiPlus's most solid moat.
This article is just the starting point of the DigiPlus transformation story. The following chapters will delve into the specific business structure and capital operations, further dissecting how this Philippine digital gambling platform amplifies growth and is re-priced by the market.
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This article is from "PASA-Global iGaming Leaders," a gambling industry news channel:https://t.me/pasa_news
Original deep gambling channel:https://t.me/gamblingdeep
Free data reports: @pasa_research
PASA Matrix: @pasa002_bot
PASA official website: https://www.pasa.news
