Philippines gaming leader pivots online, eyes superapp and global expansion

Amid record Covid-19 cases in early 2022, DigiPlus Interactive’s chairman Eusebio Tanco shifted the loss-making Leisure & Resorts World into an online operator by creating BingoPlus, which helped the firm post a 600.7 million-peso profit that year. Over the next three years the company added sports betting, slots and live-dealer games, growing its registered base to 40 million and achieving the highest gross gaming revenue in the Philippines, with 83.1 billion pesos in 2025.

New domestic competitors and a central-bank order to delink e-wallets have pressured the business, prompting DigiPlus to double its game catalogue, broaden its payment network with partners such as PayPal and Manny Pacquiao’s MannyPay, and launch a marketing push for high-value users. Tanco is also investing abroad, buying a stake in International Entertainment Corp and obtaining online gambling licences in Brazil and South Africa, while planning a superapp that could bundle e-commerce, insurance and entertainment. Analysts see a gradual revenue recovery, but caution that reaching pre-ban levels by year-end may be optimistic.