DigiPlus Wins Back-to-Back at the Global Gaming Awards Asia-Pacific

DigiPlus Interactive Corp. retained the Digital Operator of the Year title at the fifth Global Gaming Awards Asia-Pacific on June 2, the second consecutive year the Philippine operator has taken the category. The announcement came at a luncheon at Conrad Manila during the SiGMA Asia Summit, with DigiPlus clearing a shortlist of eight nominees in a vote cast by senior industry executives and independently adjudicated by KPMG.

The recognition lands while the company is still absorbing the effects of a Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP, the Philippine central bank) directive from August 2025 that required e-wallet providers to cut in-app access to licensed gaming platforms. First-quarter 2026 net income fell 33% to ₱2.8 billion, roughly $47 million at recent exchange rates, as revenues dropped 25% to ₱17.2 billion. A Manny Pacquiao content and payments deal, plus a multiyear agreement making the company’s sportsbook the NBA’s first official betting partner in the Philippines, are the bets DigiPlus is placing while working back from those lows.

A Repeat Trophy at Conrad Manila

The Global Gaming Awards launched its Asia-Pacific edition in 2022 and has held every ceremony at Conrad Manila during the SiGMA Asia Summit. The 2026 edition covered ten categories spanning land-based and digital operators. A shortlist is published in early May with the stated reasons for each nomination, then senior industry executives vote; KPMG US audits the result before winners are announced. The process has no self-reported element: nominees are evaluated by a panel of executives with direct knowledge of APAC markets, including operators, suppliers, and regulators across the region.

In the Digital Operator of the Year category, judges weigh 12 months of growth, innovation, and player engagement. The panel cited DigiPlus’s strong 2025 financial performance, the addition of over 500 new e-games across its platforms, and the rollout of what the company calls industry-first responsible gaming tools among the deciding factors. Those tools include self-exclusion controls, betting limits, account restrictions, and player education campaigns designed to promote safer gaming behavior.

Beyond the headline award, DigiPlus took first runner-up in the Corporate Social Responsibility of the Year category. The judges highlighted the DigiPlus Foundation, which runs healthcare, education, disaster relief, and social empowerment programs and has reached over one million Filipinos since its establishment.

“We are honored to once again be recognized by the Global Gaming Awards,” said Eusebio H. Tanco, chairman of DigiPlus Interactive Corp. “These prestigious international industry accolades reflect DigiPlus’ unwavering pursuit of excellence and our drive to continuously innovate, deepen player engagement, and champion responsible gaming across BingoPlus, ArenaPlus, and GameZone.”

The Metrics Behind the Trophy

DigiPlus filed its unaudited 2025 annual results in March. Full-year revenues climbed 12% to ₱84.2 billion, with first-half strength absorbing the Q3 regulatory drag. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) reached ₱14.2 billion, up 2%, while net income came in at ₱12.6 billion, essentially flat from the year before.

• ₱84.2 billion in full-year revenues, up 12% from ₱75.2 billion in 2024
• ₱12.6 billion in net income, flat year-on-year
• ₱14.2 billion in EBITDA, up 2%
• ₱34.6 billion remitted to government in taxes and regulatory fees
• 500+ new e-games added across platforms during the year

The company operated 138 physical BingoPlus retail outlets across the Philippines and reported over 40 million registered users on its platforms as of early 2026. The board approved a ₱3.8 billion cash dividend for 2025, equivalent to 30% of consolidated net income. On the acquisition side, a HK$1.6 billion convertible notes investment gives DigiPlus the option to acquire a 53.89% stake in International Entertainment Corporation (IEC), a Hong Kong-listed company that owns New Coast Hotel Manila, a Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR, the state gaming regulator)-licensed integrated resort. DigiPlus has described that potential acquisition as a way to bring offline gaming into the same ownership structure as its digital platforms.

Navigating the E-Wallet Rupture

The disruption arrived in August 2025, when the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas directed e-wallet providers to remove in-app links to licensed gaming platforms, a step the central bank framed as a consumer financial protection measure. DigiPlus’s third-quarter revenues fell 23% year-on-year to ₱19.05 billion, EBITDA dropped 55% to ₱2.0 billion, and net income fell 59% to ₱1.71 billion.

DigiPlus moved to rebuild payment access through several alternative channels:

• Partnership with CIS Bayad Center, expanding over-the-counter deposit access at Bayad outlets nationwide
• Rollout of 3,500 Pay&Go kiosks as supplementary cash top-up points
• Introduction of a surety bond program through Philippine First Insurance Co., covering player wallets up to ₱1 million per account
• Direct outreach from the customer service team to high-value players who went inactive after the delinking

Recovery came in stages. The full year 2025 stayed positive because of first-half strength, but the damage carried into 2026. Net income for the first quarter fell to ₱2.8 billion, roughly a third below the same period in the prior year, while revenues came in at ₱17.2 billion, off 25% year-on-year. By end of March, 58% of users affected by the delinking had migrated to alternative payment channels, up from 53% at December year-end. DigiPlus has set a target of returning domestic revenue to pre-delinking levels before the end of 2026.

President Andy Tsui has described the disruption as “largely transitional rather than structural.” Management has also narrowed its commercial focus: the high-value user segment, roughly 20% of the registered base, accounts for approximately 80% of revenues, and that group is the priority for channel migration. A technical working group formed by the Philippine Senate’s Committee on Games and Amusement is examining whether a controlled re-linking of gaming platforms to e-wallets could be permitted.

The Pacquiao and NBA Bets

On March 25, DigiPlus formally launched a partnership with Manny Pacquiao, the eight-division world boxing champion, covering game content, brand ambassadorship, and payments. Nine Pacquiao-themed game titles were released or announced across the company’s platforms, anchored by Super Ace Pacquiao and Boxing King Pacquiao; the lineup drew on mechanics from popular Philippines games, including Tongits and Pusoy card formats adapted for digital tournament play. Pacquiao also took on the role of official brand ambassador for the company’s sportsbook and casual gaming apps.

The collaboration’s financial component is MannyPay, Pacquiao’s payment platform powered by Traxion Pay Inc. and licensed by the BSP. DigiPlus became the first official gaming partner of MannyPay, gaining same-day settlement processing and continuous transaction operations. Per the company’s Pacquiao partnership announcement, all player transactions are routed through BSP-accredited channels in compliance with PAGCOR requirements.

In April, ArenaPlus signed a multiyear agreement with the National Basketball Association (NBA) to become the league’s first official betting partner in the Philippines. Under the deal, ArenaPlus integrates official NBA branding across its platforms, runs localized fan activations, and appears across the league’s Philippine digital and social channels. The association’s content reaches 214 countries and territories, backed by over 2.5 billion combined followers across league, team, and player accounts.

Becoming the Official Betting Partner of the NBA in the Philippines is a landmark moment for ArenaPlus. The NBA represents the highest standard in global sports, and its connection with Filipino fans is unmatched.

Erick Su, who heads the DigiPlus sportsbook brand, made that statement at the Manila launch event. The partnership includes a free-to-play Playoffs bracket contest; the inaugural “Playoffs MVP: Battle for the Most Valuable Predictor” ran from March 21 for the 2026 season. Separately, the sportsbook migrated its operations to Altenar’s fully managed platform, adding in-play betting functions and automated pricing tools to its product lineup.

Beyond the Philippines

While working to restore domestic volumes, DigiPlus has been building toward two international markets in parallel. The company opened a Singapore hub for corporate and strategic functions. In Brazil, the GamePlus platform soft-launched on September 22, 2025, then paused operations in October to refine the product and rebrand for local preferences. A relaunch is now targeted before the end of June 2026. The company has committed approximately $11 million to the Brazil venture, covering license fees and working capital, using what President Andy Tsui calls a “light asset model” that relies mainly on the existing Philippine platform with local modifications to meet regulatory requirements.

South Africa is the second target. DigiPlus received three licenses from the Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board (WCGRB) in April 2026: a national manufacturer license, a bookmaker license, and a bookmaker premises license. The WCGRB covers roughly 31% of South Africa’s online gaming revenues. DigiPlus describes South Africa as Africa’s largest online gaming market, with revenues estimated at $4.9 billion this year. A platform launch is targeted for the second or third quarter of 2027.

DigiPlus as an APAC Benchmark

The Global Gaming Awards Asia-Pacific has convened at Conrad Manila since its 2022 launch, a venue that positions the awards inside one of the region’s established digital gaming markets. The awards body also holds annual editions in Las Vegas and Barcelona, making the Manila ceremony one of three global recognition touchpoints for the industry. Gary Roudette, founder and chief executive of Global Gaming Insider (the awards’ publisher), noted at the June 2 ceremony that APAC had further strengthened its global standing over the prior year, citing regulatory progress across several jurisdictions. He named the Philippines specifically as a market making headway on responsible gaming standards.

Winning the Digital Operator category twice running from a KPMG-audited, eight-nominee field converts a single-year result into a measurable regional track record. The factors judges cited, 2025 revenue growth, a 500-plus game expansion, and the responsible gaming toolset, all have traceable numbers behind them. The DigiPlus Foundation spent ₱84 million in 2025 on programs that reached 989,072 Filipinos, part of the foundation’s cumulative count of over one million beneficiaries across the country.

The company’s next public milestone is the Brazil relaunch, targeted before the end of June.