Blending online and land-based gaming: Asia’s iGaming destiny
Asia has emerged as one of the most significant centres of global casino and gaming activity, underpinned by large-scale integrated resorts, strong tourism flows, and a steadily expanding consumer base. Across the region, gambling is closely tied to broader leisure and hospitality ecosystems, making it a key contributor to economic activity in several major markets.
In 2025, the Asia-Pacific casino gambling market, driven primarily by land-based casinos, is valued at approximately $59.1 billion. Forecasts by Mordor Intelligence suggest the market could grow to around $117.1 billion by 2030, representing a compound annual growth rate of just over seven percent. Longer-term projections indicate that the regional casino market could reach $185 billion by 2033, supported by rising visitor numbers, improving regional connectivity, and gradual regulatory reform in selected jurisdictions.
Despite the rapid rise of online gambling, land-based casinos continue to account for a substantial share of total revenues. APAC alone represents more than one-third of global casino gambling activity, underlining its strategic importance to international operators, investors, and regulators.
Casino hubs master in Asia
Established casino hubs remain central to Asia’s performance. Macau and Singapore continue to anchor the premium end of the regional casino market, benefitting from strong tourism demand and tightly regulated operating environments. At the same time, markets such as Japan, India, and Sri Lanka are increasingly viewed as longer-term growth prospects as investment frameworks, tourism strategies, and regulatory approaches continue to evolve.
Integrated resorts dominate the regional landscape, combining casinos with hotels, retail, entertainment, and convention facilities to generate non-gaming revenue alongside gambling activity. Macau’s recovery provides a clear illustration of this model. In the first half of 2025, licenced casinos in the territory generated almost $14.7 billion in gross gaming revenue, with subsequent months delivering some of the strongest post-pandemic results to date as regional and international visitor numbers improved.
iGaming boom: promising or worrisome?
Alongside the recovery of land-based casinos, online gambling continues to expand rapidly across APAC. In 2024, online gambling, including online casinos, sports betting, and other digital formats, generated approximately $23.9 billion in revenue. Forecasts indicate this could rise to $56.0 billion by 2033, with online casino gaming growing at a faster rate than many other segments. Wider smartphone adoption, improving digital payment infrastructure, and evolving regulation are expected to support this growth further.
However, land-based and online casinos do not operate without friction. Competition between the two has become increasingly visible, particularly in markets where digital gaming has begun to rival traditional casino revenues. In the Philippines, data from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) shows that in the first quarter of 2025, revenue from e-games and e-bingo reached PHP 51.39 billion ($956.5 million), accounting for 49.36 percent of total gross gaming revenue. By comparison, licenced land-based casinos contributed PHP 49.28 billion ($916.9 million), or 47.32 percent.
For the first half of 2025, electronic games accounted for approximately 53.5 percent of total GGR in the Philippines, marking the first time digital gaming overtook land-based casinos. This shift in consumer spending has also coincided with a rise in illegal and unlicenced online gambling platforms, particularly across parts of Southeast Asia and the Mekong region. Many of these offshore operators are linked to fraud, money laundering, and organised crime.
Early 2025 reports indicate that Asia recorded an iGaming fraud rate of approximately 3.49 percent, including identity fraud and document falsification. In response, several governments across the region have introduced stricter regulations and enforcement measures aimed at curbing unlicenced operators and protecting the integrity of regulated casino markets.
Industry observers note that this structural shift is forcing licenced operators to reassess traditional revenue models. Shaun McCamley, founder of Euro Pacific Asia Consulting, has warned that land-based casinos are experiencing material changes in revenue sources as digital gaming expands. PAGCOR Chairman Alejandro Tengco has similarly pointed to changing consumer behaviour, driven by wider access to mobile technology and on-demand gaming.
Can iGaming and land-based team up?
Against this backdrop, questions are emerging around how land-based and online casinos may coexist and fix issues altogether. Speaking to SiGMA News, Riaan van Rooyen, CEO of Aria International, said that land-based casinos continue to play a critical role within a hybrid gaming strategy.
“Land-based casinos provide the one ingredient that online gaming cannot generate on its own: Trust.”
– Riaan Van Rooyen, CEO, Aria International
In his initial response, Van Rooyen pitched that physical presence offers legitimacy, accountability, and long-term commitment. Van Rooyen also noted that casino floors generate valuable behavioural data that, when responsibly digitised, can support personalisation, loyalty programmes, and product development across online platforms.
He also highlighted that land-based casinos remain critical in player acquisition and lifecycle management, particularly in Asia’s emerging online markets. “Digital channels are efficient at scale, but physical casinos remain unmatched when it comes to onboarding high-value players,” he said. “Face-to-face verification, responsible gaming oversight, and personalised host relationships establish a level of trust and transparency that directly influences how players later engage online.”
He added that operators who fail to connect the two channels risk fragmenting their customer base. “When land-based and online platforms operate in silos, you lose visibility of the player journey,” Van Rooyen said.
According to Van Rooyen, the main challenge to full convergence in Asia remains regulatory misalignment, as land-based and online gaming are often governed under separate frameworks. As per him, the future of Asia’s gaming industry will be shaped less by competition between channels and more by how effectively regulators and operators enable structured integration between physical casinos and compliant online platforms.
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