Asia
Philippines BIR Predicts 50% Drop in POGO Tax Collections in 2021

The Bureau of Internal Revenue in the Philippines has said that the tax revenue from Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) will drop this year.
BIR Deputy Commissioner Arnel Guballa told senators that the latest projections show POGO tax collections settling at ₱3.92 billion, just half the ₱7.18 billion raised in 2020.
This is based on the January revenue of ₱327.2 million, down 69% compared to a year ago, multiplied by 12 months.
Victor Padilla, senior manager for offshore gaming of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), said there are only 38 license holders operating from a peak of 61 companies pre-pandemic.
POGOs were forced to shut down due to COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020. They were allowed to reopen in May, but were told to settle all their unpaid dues with the BIR.
The Senate Ways and Means Committee tackled bills that would set the tax rules for POGOs. In the measure, license holders will pay a franchise tax worth 5% of gross gaming receipts while foreign employees will be subject to a 25% withholding tax. This assumes that they are earning at least ₱600,000 a year or ₱50,000 monthly.
These tax rates were originally passed under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act, but POGO companies ran to the Supreme Court to stop its implementation.
“It is their contention that once the foreign national acquired their working visa, these foreign nationals should be taxed like the ordinary Filipino citizen or resident alien employee,” Guballa said during the hearing.
The BIR official added that POGO firms also insisted that they should not be paying any dues to the BIR as they registered abroad and do not derive income from the Philippines.
Asia
12BET Integrates Betradar as a New Sportsbook Provider to Mark 15 Years in the Online Gaming Industry

12BET, an online gaming and sports betting platform, announced the integration of Betradar as its new sportsbook provider in celebration of its 15th anniversary. This move aims to enhance the user experience for sports betting enthusiasts by providing a more comprehensive range of options and exciting features.
As the sports betting data division of Sportradar, Betradar offers a broad range of services, including live odds, virtual sports, live streaming, and statistics. This partnership allows 12BET members to access Betradar’s extensive range of sportsbook services, enabling an immersive sports betting experience that is supported by real-time decision-making data.
In addition to the integration, 12BET also announced exciting IPL offers for cricket enthusiasts, including a range of prizes such as a Mahindra XUV 700, Royal Enfield Meteor 650, Samsung galaxy fold4, and more. These promotions are available throughout the duration of the event and customer support is provided in multiple languages such as English, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam for their Indian audience.
“We are thrilled to announce our partnership with Betradar as our new sportsbook provider. Our aim has always been to provide the best possible experience to our beloved members. With Betradar’s expertise, we have enhanced our offerings and are positive to provide an unparalleled experience to end-users. We are excited to celebrate our 15th anniversary and have loads of offers ongoing, especially for the IPL.” said a spokesperson from 12BET.
12BET, a prominent iGaming brand that offers multiple gaming products, including Sportsbook, online casino, Keno, Lottery, and other games, all under one roof. Licensed and regulated by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) and is currently ranked as 17th EGaming operator in the industry.
12BET’s partnership with Betradar marks a significant milestone in the company’s history as it celebrates its 15th anniversary. The integration of Betradar as a sportsbook provider enables 12BET to expand its offerings and provide its members with an enhanced sports betting experience. With additional promotions such as the IPL offer and customer support in multiple languages, 12BET demonstrates its commitment to providing its members with the best possible gaming experience.
Asia
MOGO Recruiting Brands with Physical Sites in India for AI-Driven Collaborative Research into Gaming, Youth and University Student Markets

Mobile Global Esports (MOGO) announced that the company is actively recruiting brand partners to engage in collaborative alpha market research programmes based upon MOGO’s unique user data-driven insights into the Indian collegiate esports and youth mobile gaming market. Mobile gaming is no longer just an expensive hobby for urban youth who can afford it – participation in esports has expanded beyond initial metropolitan areas into Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in India, and new research shows that the Indian mobile gaming market is expected to exhibit a compound annual growth rate of 19.75% through 2027.
“We already know what these gamers are playing, and are building anonymized yet addressable user profiles. Now we are enhancing those profiles with the top twenty physical locations they spend time at, be it at their or a friends home, a university cafeteria, internet cafe, movie theater, fast food restaurant, retail establishment, gym, and such. We execute our aggregation of data on a 100 percent precision basis, and we are using AI to guide this precision. No misfires or misplaced clusters, we hit the same target every time, allowing partners to craft singularly appealing offerings that speak to the unique needs of the individual,” said MOGO CDO Nick Venezia.
MOGO’s modelling analyses geo-verified location data to assign interest to that user identity, allowing us to create clusters with similar preferences and buying behaviours in different regions of the country. The Company’s Point of Interest (POI) geodata ties into actual physical visits to locations, such as restaurants, retailers and entertainment venues with high levels of consumer activity.
Application of this intelligence allows MOGO to also look historically into the past to see what games users were playing and then tying that to a current job title and industry they’ve gone into post-graduation. One preliminary hypothesis is that first-person shooter fans have a proclivity to become sales professionals. MOGO’s precision data and technologies have the ability to help foster the knowledge, innovation and thought leadership that will help power India’s ascent as a market leader now and for the next 100 years.
“We’re at a very exciting inflection point in the build-out of our signal-aggregate data platform. India is an evolving consumer market, well-educated and socially connected with a growing middle class, 37+ million college students with 8+ million coming up every year and 18-24 year olds affluent enough to afford smartphones and data plans. Most companies have little visibility into their true market dynamics in India, and those that do hold it very close to the vest. We’re recruiting partners with which to provide actionable insights and paths to engagement and customized user experiences in India that benefit both our target demographic and the organizations and brands engaged – from game publishers to retailers to cell phone and consumer services providers,” said MOGO CEO Dave Pross.
“For example, when you compare India cell phone penetration at 46.5% of the country’s total 1.42 billion population, with US cell phone penetration at 81.6% of US total 338 million population, there is room for significant provisioner growth in India, especially into the expanding youth and student demographic as better phones and faster data plans become more affordable. Given our visibility into the mobile gaming market in universities and beyond, and that 91% of Indians participating in competitive video gaming do so on their mobile devices, we see significant opportunity for provisioners seeking actionable insights and paths to engagement in the mobile device and data market, as well as for enabling offerings such as financial and credit services,” Pross added.
“Our initial research into the dynamics of the university student, Gen-Z and Gen-Alpha provides demographics in India through deterministic modeling, POI (Point of Interest) geodata indexing and dwell time linked to site visit data is showing actionable paths to engaging this market through tailoring products and services to meet their true needs. Given the high level of mobile gaming in India, cross-correlating actual physical location data with game-play behavior is important to our partners in focusing their marketing efforts. For example, in areas where gamer groups are congregating to compete that also show that vegetarianism is prevalent, a restaurant food chain could offer a laser-targeted vegetarian loyalty program and we can measure its effectiveness in almost real-time,” said Venezia.
For a video game developer/publisher seeking entry or greater presence in the Indian market, insights into the preferences, behaviours, and demographics of their target audience will help identify which game attributes are most important to different age/gender/affluence levels and geographic regions and tailor their games accordingly, as well as allowing for personalization of game attributes for individual players based on their preferences and behavior patterns – like game and character content, rewards and challenges that are more likely to appeal to them. In addition, MOGO partners will be able to create predictive models to anticipate future trends, demands and preferences using user data from previous version and/or game launches, player reviews and social media conversations to optimise game attributes and improve overall player experience.
“We’re able to say to a brand with 100 percent accuracy, while promulgating world-class user privacy and data security standards – that this person showed up at this point at this time, spent ‘X’ minutes playing ‘X’ game, and then went to a movie theater afterwards. From the very first ‘Intergalactic Spacewar Olympics’ Space Invaders’ Championship at Stanford University in 1972, esports has held the interest and focus of the college audience. They’re competing for a lot more than a subscription to Rolling Stone magazine now, and spending a lot more time and money. For this audience, authenticity matters – from human, creator and brand standpoints – and we aim to help our partners deliver that,” Venezia concluded.
Asia
ParlayBay content portfolio now live with M88 Mansion

ParlayBay, the provider of innovative sports betting titles, has significantly enhanced its footprint in Asia with content now live with leading operator M88 Mansion.
The latest deal sees the provider elevate its presence across Asian markets, with its captivating titles including new releases Stack ‘Em and popular esports title CS:GO, now live on M88 Mansion.
M88 Mansion is one of the leading online betting and gaming sites in Asia, and the operator will significantly benefit from the innovative content provided by ParlayBay and its partners.
With an aim to revolutionise the sports betting market, ParlayBay’s pioneering titles offer a fantastic player-centric experience, which includes fast gameplay and engaging features such as re-buy, cash-out, leader boards, and other social tools.
Focusing primarily on unique micro-betting markets and tailored to attract a broad and modern customer base, ParlayBay games wrap up accumulators, bet builders, and single market betting in sticky metagaming frameworks.
The use of real-time data feeds offers new and intuitive permutations of in-play betting opportunities, while cutting edge AI/ML algorithms price up markets in-house to ensure accuracy for customers.
ParlayBay’s intuitive and engaging content welcomes all level of sports bettors, removing the requirement for players to hold expert betting knowledge, opening up the fun and entertainment to everyone.
Patrick Nordwall, CEO at ParlayBay, said: “We’re delighted that our content is now live with M88 Mansion. ParlayBay is making significant moves across Asia and this partnership allows us to reach a wide and engaged audience of bettors across the continent.”
Joy Lao at M88 Mansion, added: “We at M88 Mansion are extremely excited to partner with ParlayBay and for our customers to enjoy content like Stack ‘Em, where players can enjoy innovative live Bet Builder Games across multiple matches at once.”
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