DigiPlus Interactive Corp., one of the Philippines’ largest licensed online gaming operators, posted a 27 percent year-on-year decline in fourth-quarter 2025 revenue, with net income falling 36 percent, amid a Philippine central bank directive that severed the link between e-wallets and licensed online gaming platforms, temporarily disrupting how millions of players accessed and funded their accounts.
The Manila-listed operator reported 4Q25 revenue of PHP 17.3 billion ($289 million) and net income of PHP 2.5 billion ($42 million), according to its official earnings release. The figures reflect the most direct financial consequence yet of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Memorandum M-2025-029, which required GCash, Maya, and other regulated e-wallet providers to remove direct links to gambling platforms from their applications.
Regulatory disruption
When the BSP directive took effect around August 2025, the change was felt almost immediately. What had previously been a single tap through a familiar payments app became a longer, less intuitive process — and for operators built around digital convenience, that friction showed up fast in the numbers.
PAGCOR, the Philippines’ gaming regulator, reported that transaction volumes across licensed online platforms dropped roughly 50 percent following the delinking. The figure underlines how deeply the sector had come to depend on e-wallet infrastructure, not just for payments, but for player acquisition and retention more broadly.
DigiPlus moved to offset the disruption by accelerating direct bank integrations and building out in-house payment alternatives. Despite this, the transition had an impact on quarterly performance. The BSP referred to the directive as a consumer protection measure, establishing a boundary of compliance between financial services and gambling.
Full-year performance
The quarterly decline sits against a more stable full-year picture. DigiPlus recorded 2025 revenue of PHP 84.2 billion ($1.4 billion), a 12 percent increase on the prior year. Full-year net income of PHP 12.6 billion ($210.7 million) was broadly flat year-on-year, while EBITDA rose two percent to PHP 14.2 billion ($237 million).
The company also confirmed a total dividend of PHP 3.8 billion ($63.3 million), equivalent to PHP 0.83 ($0.014) per share, with a record date of 1 April 2026 and payment scheduled by 15 April 2026.
Chairman Eusebio Tanco said the results reflected platform resilience under regulatory pressure. “Despite regulatory changes, DigiPlus delivered a resilient performance in 2025, reflecting the strength of our platforms and the trust of our users,” he said.
Land-based expansion
Aside from its digital presence, DigiPlus has also been expanding its network in the land-based gaming sector through its investment in International Entertainment Corp., which is developing a casino integrated resort at the New Coast Hotel Manila. Licensing has already been granted by PAGCOR for the project. The casino opened in January 2026, with the full operation of the hotel set in the third quarter of the same year.
That diversification reduces dependence on any single revenue pathway, a consideration that carries added weight given how sharply e-wallet restrictions hit the business last year.
Industry-wide compliance
The impact of the BSP directive did not stop with DigiPlus. GCash and Maya were similarly affected, as they had to make changes to the application level to stay with the compliance. The affiliates and suppliers of the platform were affected as well, as transaction throughput slowed down during the transition.
The directive remains in effect, with the requirement that the operators sustain their payment infrastructure that does not rely on direct e-wallet integration with gaming platforms. The fourth quarter was when the impact bit hardest at DigiPlus. The full-year numbers suggest the business held up but how quickly operators rebuild their payment infrastructure will be one of the more consequential questions facing the Philippine online gaming sector through 2026.
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