Hong Kong-listed company Century Entertainment recently restructured its joint venture with Philippine electronic gaming system service provider World Platinum Technologies, abandoning the previously planned equity issuance model and instead adopting a fixed licensing fee of $500,000 per year. This adjustment aims to optimize its technology-driven gaming strategy. Under the new arrangement, Century Entertainment retains control over its capital structure while gaining access to the WPT platform infrastructure. The joint venture company, holding a 51% stake by Century, focuses on the development, customization, and distribution of gaming platforms in the Asia-Pacific region, with the Philippines confirmed as the core initial market. Frankly speaking, switching from equity to platform to a fixed annual fee makes financial forecasting much simpler.
Fixed annual fee replaces equity, simplifying the cooperation model
The revised arrangement replaces the previous structure planned to exchange platform rights through issuing shares to partners. Now, the joint venture adopts a direct licensing model, allowing Century to access WPT's technology stack without diluting its equity. WPT provides underlying technology, including servers, random number generation systems, and a regulatory framework compliant with PAGCOR requirements, while the joint venture is responsible for front-end development, customization, and ongoing technical support. Century emphasizes that the joint venture strictly acts as a B2B technology provider, does not engage in gaming operations, does not handle player funds, nor directly interacts with end-users. The shift to a fixed licensing fee marks the company's move towards a more predictable revenue and cost structure. The company states that this change does not affect daily operations, as the joint venture continues to generate income through service fees and revenue sharing linked to platform performance.
Economic role transformation: JV becomes the "house"
In the next development phase, this model will further evolve, with the joint venture taking on a more central economic role. According to the updated structure, the joint venture will receive 100% of the net gaming revenue and pay WPT 15% as a "runner fee" for platform hosting, infrastructure, and compliance services. This effectively makes the joint venture the economic "house," bearing the exposure of game outcomes, while WPT, as a PAGCOR-certified game system administrator, continues to handle regulatory compliance. The company clarifies that the runner fee is calculated at 15% of net revenue, defined as total gaming revenue minus taxes and mandatory platform fees, addressing previous questions about fee calculations. It is worth mentioning that this "fixed annual fee + backend sharing" model not only ensures WPT's stable income but also gives the JV an opportunity to share the upside.
Compliance and licensing: No need for a gaming license
Century reiterates, based on legal advice, that the joint venture does not need to hold a gaming license, as its activities are related to providing backend technology and support services, not directly operating games, thus not within the regulatory scope of PAGCOR. To support compliance, the platform incorporates geographical blocking, IP monitoring, and payment verification measures to ensure access is limited to players within the Philippines, along with standard KYC and anti-money laundering controls. Despite ongoing updates at the operational level, Century Entertainment's stock remains suspended, and the company continues to strive to meet the requirements for resumption of trading. For more updates on Asian gaming technology and compliance, continue to follow the PASA official website.
————
This article is from "PASA-Global iGaming Leaders," a gaming industry news channel:https://t.me/pasa_news
Gaming original depth channel:https://t.me/gamblingdeep
Free data reports: @pasa_research
PASA Matrix: @pasa002_bot
PASA official website: https://www.pasa.news
