Billionaire Razon's Bloomberry launches new online gaming platform in the Philippines

Bloomberry Resorts Corp., the leisure and gaming arm of billionaire Enrique K. Razon Jr., has soft-launched its new online gaming platform MegaFUNalo in the Philippines.

The company announced the soft launch with full-page advertisements in major newspapers, highlighting the platform's integration of a free movie section—an uncommon feature in the local gaming space, the Manila Bulletin reported. A grand launch event is expected to follow next month.

MegaFUNalo offers an entertainment twist with access to free Viva Films movies alongside traditional casino and arcade games. It is exclusively available to users aged 21 and above and has partnered with major financial institutions and e-wallet providers, including BDO Unibank, UnionBank, BPI, QRPh, Maya, GCash, and GrabPay, to ensure secure payment transactions.

The platform features a variety of games, including fair games, slot machines, poker, blackjack, roulette, baccarat, and several arcade games. The movie selection spans genres such as action, comedy, drama, romance, fantasy, thrillers, and Korean dramas.

“With free games and a movie section, Bloomberry offers some unique features that other platforms don’t,” said Unicapital Securities Research Analyst Jeri R. Alfonso. “Other platforms tend to recycle the same games. Bloomberry brings a multi-layered experience.”

Razon, worth $11.3 billion per Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, said in April that the move aims to diversify the company’s income streams. Bloomberry operates two Solaire resorts in Metro Manila and a casino in Jeju, South Korea, Bloomberg reported.

Following the launch, Bloomberry shares jumped as much as 18.8% on Monday, their biggest intraday gain in over six weeks, making the stock the top performer among Philippine blue chips.

Bloomberry is also reportedly investing heavily in its online push. Abacus Securities Corp. confirmed the company is committing at least ₱1 billion ($17.9 million) to ₱2 billion ($35.9 million) per quarter on advertising and promotional campaigns in a bid to build awareness and capture market share.

"The bulk of these costs will come from customer acquisition efforts [...] aiming to close the gap with market leaders,” Alfonso said. “Development-related expenses, especially for outsourced services, are also set to climb."

He added that they expect similar cost trends from Travellers International Hotel Group Inc., a subsidiary of Alliance Global Group Inc., as it prepares its own online gaming rollout.

Alfonso noted that catching up to market leader Digiplus Interactive Corp. will be a long-term endeavor. Digiplus expanded its monthly active user base from 800,000 in 2022 to 7.5 million as of Q1 2025.

According to Abacus, Bloomberry has partnered with a third-party developer for the mobile platform, which will operate under a revenue-sharing agreement. While this arrangement reduces development risk, it also means Bloomberry may not fully capture profits if the platform succeeds.

“In the near to medium term, the losses from this venture will likely be substantial and will probably drag into next year before it starts to contribute positively to the bottom line,” it said.

The brokerage also cautioned against comparing Bloomberry’s venture to Digiplus' success too quickly. “Digiplus' spectacular rise and booming profits may have given the impression that it's all easy money and that Bloomberry can just waltz in and join the party," it said.

“Digiplus has had to spend more and more to acquire active users,” it said. “Last year, the company spent three times as much as it did on advertising and promotion (A&P) and it still actually lost a few percentage points of market share in terms of gross gaming revenue (GGR).”