Office space demand by offshore gaming firms on the wane —Colliers

The demand for office space by online gaming firms overseas is declining over the medium term, according to property consultancy firm Colliers International.

"Requirements of POGO (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators), in terms of inquiries, have declined, Dinbo Macaranas, Colliers International senior research manager, told reporters on the sidelines of a briefing in Makati City on Thursday.

"They used to get 10,000 square meters or more inquiries. Now we are talking about just a 5,000 sqm range," he said.

"It appears to be declining. It's a question whether new licenses will be issued or whether these existing players would like to expand," Macaranas noted.

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) has so far issued 42 POGO licenses.

"They issued 42, they haven't issued 8 more, although they said 50," he said.

"That's where I'm coming from when I mentioned it's not as predictable if they will be big moving forward," he added.

Macaranas said POGOs substituted the demand for BPOs, which has slowed since the start of the year.

"However, given the wide range of space requirement from this sector, it has become difficult to predict the sustainability of this demand in the medium to long-term," he said.

"Concerns about potential crackdown in home countries such as China and Korea persist even over a year into the expanded mandate of PAGCOR to regulate these entities," he added.

In September 2016, PAGCOR introduced POGO to offset foregone revenues from e-bingo and e-games.

"There's still much to learn about this segment, it appears to be tapering down. But as to how long this tapering down can be—or can it rebound?—it's a question of regulation and their requirements," Macaranas said. — VDS, GMA News