Post-epidemic era:

Two years after the world experienced an unprecedented impact of the epidemic, the global economic recession has also seriously affected the development of the gaming market. Fortunately, due to the global expansion of vaccination, many countries have moved towards herd immunity, so the global epidemic seems to have passed the worst. At this moment, coexisting with the epidemic has become the consensus of all mankind. In other words, policymakers, enterprises and ordinary people have adapted to the prevention and control measures taken during the epidemic to reduce the economic impact of the epidemic. At the same time, as vaccinated people The expansion of the proportion of the population will also drive growth in economic activities and consumer spending. Especially the long-standing demand from game players.

Authority policy:

The resurgence of the epidemic in the Philippines and the impact of the new tax regulations "Bayanihan 2" announced by the Philippine Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) on tax increases on gaming companies have caused Philippine iGaming companies to face an unprecedented disaster. Due to the impact of the epidemic and heavy taxes, gaming companies that have been hit hard have left in large numbers. Office leasing contracts have dropped by 50%. Office space has been idle due to the closure of gaming companies, which has also caused a loss of 1.4 billion pesos in rent and about 127,000 jobs. The opportunity disappears.

The rise of the Southeast Asian market:

Changes in policies and environment have also changed the business direction of iGaming platforms. A large number of iGaming platforms have shifted their target markets to Southeast Asian countries, with Vietnam, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries as their primary targets. Different from the clear barriers for players in the Chinese market, players in the Southeast Asian market tend to be more diverse and more willing to try different types of gambling games. Moreover, payment channels in the Southeast Asian market are relatively free of excessive government intervention. The development of the Southeast Asian market has also given the iGaming industry in the harsh winter a glimmer of hope in early spring.

5G prevails in cloud trends:

With the popularization and expansion of global 5G network bandwidth, 5G network speeds are as high as several megabits per second. This has the most direct impact on iGaming of real people & e-sports live & sports events. At the same time, due to the speed of downloading data With the improvement, more animations and sound and light effects can be achieved for various types of slot machine game products that require powerful visual, sound and light effects, thereby enhancing the entertainment and attractiveness of the product.

Asia-Pacific economic recovery exceeds expectations:

The growth in export trends of Asia-Pacific countries will predict a rebound from the global economic downturn. For example, in March 2021, China's total exports increased by 21% compared with the same period in 2019. In addition, signs such as the overall improvement of the OECD's comprehensive leading indicators and the increase in the number of new orders indicate that the economic recovery of countries in the Asia-Pacific region can stimulate the growth of imports, and the economic recovery of one country may resonate with other countries.

The 2022 World Cup is about to begin:

As the largest feast in the football world, the quadrennial World Cup is the world's top A-level event. But the World Cup is not so much a festival for fans as it is a carnival for gamblers. The top 32 and groupings of the 2022 World Cup finals have also been determined. The event will be held in November. This is the first time that this historic event will be held at the end of the year. It is also the first time in the history of the World Cup that it will be hosted by the Middle Eastern country Qatar (Qatar). However, this decision also caused some controversy. The World Cup finals are scheduled to take place from November 21st to December 18th. During these two months, temperatures in Qatar typically reach 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit). This will undoubtedly be a new challenge for the competing teams. Even before the World Cup arrives, the surrounding gaming platforms are already ready to take action.

Summary

As the global epidemic slows down and borders reopen, many gaming companies that originally left the Philippines are also gradually returning to the Philippines. Due to the popularization of vaccines, the global epidemic trend has gradually been brought under control, and the original impact of the epidemic has been gradually reduced. The telecommuting developed during the epidemic has adapted well after two years of adjustment, and the problem of difficulty in recruiting personnel has also been solved. It has been improved to a certain extent, and it also solves the need for office rental, which is not a bad thing, especially for gaming companies that have had to bear high office rental costs in the past. In the face of the "Political Aid Relief Law" promulgated by the Philippines, the reduction and exemption of office rents and compensation have also reduced the operating pressure of iGaming companies to a certain extent.

The Southeast Asian iGaming market continues to heat up. Due to loose financial market regulations, mobile phone penetration, the blessing of 5G broadband networks, large population dividends, and a rapidly developing economy, Southeast Asian online gaming iGaming has suddenly become a major player in the market. The rise of the new blue ocean and Southeast Asian markets has also reduced the damage caused by the blockade of the Chinese market to a certain extent. From an overall observation, influencing factors such as the epidemic, personnel loss, policies, and market dividends have gradually become stable, which is also shown in the website opening and survival rate data of TC-GAMING.

In other words, the market has already shown a recovery trend in the third quarter of 2021. At the same time, the recovery of the Asia-Pacific economy is bound to accelerate the recovery of the gaming market in Southeast Asia. Moreover, this year’s quadrennial World Cup is about to start, especially for Vietnamese. Famous for gambling, they bet on everything from card games and lotteries to online poker and street chicken, but football is the Vietnamese’s favorite, especially during the World Cup. This can also be confirmed by the ratio of TC-GAMING's Southeast Asian sports website openings from the beginning of April to the end of May. Therefore, from the perspective of whether the market is recovering, the editor predicts that the severe winter in the iGaming industry after the World Cup will officially end, and the Southeast Asian market will also enter a white-hot stage. As some stock commentators said: always maintain a strong focus on the future. Cautiously optimistic. I believe that as long as we survive the cold winter, spring will eventually come.