No beginner’s luck for Bloomberry as e-casinos face saturation
Bloomberry Resorts Corp. may have some trouble catching up with its main competitor in the online gaming industry, with the segment seen to become “crowded” with the entry of new players.
This, after the operator of Solaire Resorts and Casino soft-launched MegaFUNalo, an online gaming platform meant to compete with market leader DigiPlus Interactive Corp.
MegaFUNalo announced via social media that its website was now live, offering various games and movies for free. New users are given 500 free credits to try games, although they are still required to deposit a certain amount before they can gamble.
While this is gaining some interest among investors, Unicapital Securities Inc. equity research analyst Jeri Alfonso pointed out its market share may not take off just yet.
“[DigiPlus] spent three years building its user base—from 800,000 monthly active users in 2022 to 7.5 million by the first quarter of 2025,” Alfonso told the Inquirer in a text message.
Ron Acoba, chief investment strategist at Trading Edge Consultancy, also noted that DigiPlus currently held 50 percent of the entire online gaming market—something it was able to attain because it was the “first mover.”
“Definitely, a lot of [DigiPlus’] patrons are used to their platform. Of course, some of them would be curious and try out the new ones,” Acoba said. “I don’t think that’s enough, though, to topple DigiPlus’ stronghold of the market.”
Bloomberry announced the arrival of MegaFUNalo in its 2024 annual report, saying it would compete directly with DigiPlus’ BingoPlus platform, which was launched in 2022.
This has resulted in Bloomberry’s share price surging by 29.26 percent since the beginning of the year to P5 as of Monday afternoon. Month-to-date, it has jumped by 41.63 percent, stock exchange data showed.
But it is not the only casino player dipping its toes into the online scene.
Acoba pointed out Andrew Tan-led Alliance Global Group Inc., through Newport World Resorts Inc., earlier said it was also “enhancing” its online system to attract more users.
Hann Holdings Inc., which is looking at a stock market debut by September, has also confirmed in its preliminary prospectus that it would expand beyond its brick-and-mortar casino in Clark by investing in an online gaming platform.
“Eventually, the online gaming market will be crowded,” Acoba said, warning that this could also result in stricter regulations for online casinos.
Alfonso also noted, “When a sector gets too crowded—especially one like gambling, which is often viewed as a social ill—regulatory pushback tends to follow.”
At the same time, however, Alfonso stressed that the government was more supportive of the gambling sector, with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) set to reduce fees for e-bingo from 30 percent to 25 percent.
“Pagcor is the third largest revenue contributor to the government, and the country is dealing with record-high debt levels,” she added.
Alfonso noted MegaFUNalo’s success would eventually depend on Bloomberry’s customer acquisition efforts.
“It could take years, but it might also happen if players end up preferring their platform over others,” Alfonso said.
