For the land-based Asian casino industry, 2026 could be about future-proofing existing licences and market share via better digital engagement with customers – especially the younger ones – rather than opening fresh jurisdictions.
So suggests Shaun McCamley, an industry expert with experience of operations in land-based, online and social gaming.
He told GGRAsia: “For land-based casino operators, 2026 will increasingly be about integration rather than expansion.
“The next competitive advantage will come from how effectively physical casinos link on-property play with persistent off-property engagement – before, between, and after visits.”
The setback in 2025 for the casino-liberalisation push for Thailand could be a sign the Asian market is approaching maturity, rather than being still-expanding.
Mr McCamley suggested that for those land-based operators already with a stake in the sector, it was social gaming platforms, “mission-based loyalty”, and community-driven experiences that were “rapidly becoming standard infrastructure rather than optional marketing tools”.
Social gaming – typically done online but avoiding cash play – may not be considered as gambling for regulatory purposes. Its advocates say it can help to engage loyalty to a casino or gaming equipment brand, encouraging people to return to a bricks and mortar casino.
Mission-based loyalty is typically where customer purchases or engagement help support a cause, such as a charity or social initiative.
Mr McCamley told GGRAsia: “Operators that fail to build digital touchpoints risk losing younger and mid-tier players to alternative entertainment ecosystems, even where real-money online gaming remains restricted or unavailable.”
Arguably, for digital engagement – including marketing via social gaming – to be effective and sustainable for land-based operators, there needs to be regulatory clarity about what is and is not permitted. Social gaming has already met regulatory resistance in some U.S. states, that have sought to characterise it as gambling.
Philippines online, emerging UAE
In Asia, the Philippines is the only major regulated market for domestic remote gaming – whether delivered via tables or machines sited on casino floors; via apps; or via gaming studios offering either casino games or social games.
Lawmakers there have had some pushback against online, with the delinking last August of payment platforms from app-based online gaming providers.
Nonetheless, Daniel Cheng, a prominent commentator on the Asia-Pacific casino sector, told GGRAsia that in his opinion the country’s regulator the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor) is “pinning its primary hopes on the online domain” for 2026 and beyond.
But the former casino executive added: “The market is facing an ongoing correction that has yet to find a floor, while simultaneously grappling with the predicament of new gaming positions flooding a local market that has surged past its saturation point.”
A jurisdiction within continental Asia that has produced some clarity about online gaming is the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
In late 2025, it was reported that a company named Momentum Group had launched the first online betting and casino platform in that market, a fresh milestone in the gaming legalisation process in the federal nation.
The coming year is likely to see interest and focus on the UAE in the land-based sector, as work on Wynn Resorts Ltd’s US$5.1-billion resort Wynn Al Marjan Island moves toward a targeted first-quarter 2027 opening.
Ben Lee, managing partner of casino industry adviser IGamiX Management and Consulting Ltd, told GGRAsia: “We could see two more [land-based] gaming licences announced for the UAE, which could lead to a rush of interest.”
He added: “The UAE is a hotbed of Russian oligarchs and online gaming bosses who will drive that market to potentially become the world’s second largest after Macau.”
For Macau itself, Mr Lee thinks the city – the only place in China where casino gambling is legal – “will likely continue its current trajectory of growth” in gross gaming revenue, “albeit most likely at mid-single digit” in percentage terms, “and will continue to reign as the world’s largest” single-location gaming jurisdiction.
Locals in Vietnam, Japan’s road
There were two pieces of seemingly upbeat news about the wider Asian land-based market that appeared at the end of 2025. They were the resumption and expansion of Vietnam’s pilot scheme to permit wealthier locals to gamble in its casinos; and a provisional date for a new application round in Japan for communities wishing to host an integrated resort (IR) with casino.
Mr Cheng said of the latter it was likely to be met with “more scepticism than enthusiasm” by the industry and international investors.
“Politics are likely to overshadow proceedings once more,” suggested Mr Cheng, referring to an undercurrent of domestic opposition in many communities, and some anticipated stringent safeguards, including against problem gambling.
He said a “question on everyone’s mind” was “how long” Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi – the first woman to hold the post of Japanese premier – “can remain in power to shepherd the process”.
May 2027 is the proposed start period for the next application round.
Mr Cheng noted: “In the meat-grinder of Japanese politics, two years… is an eternity in which leadership can evaporate”, causing “any momentum to reverse” regarding the IR policy advocated a decade ago by the late prime minister Shinzo Abe.
Although up to three IRs were contemplated under the initial liberalisation process, Osaka is the only place so far to be building one, namely MGM Osaka, due to open in 2030.
Regarding Vietnam, the coming year could, said Mr Cheng, be a “defining phase as the market confronts whether it can finally shed its long-standing ‘pretender’ label,” by loosening the shackles of being essentially a ‘foreigner-only’ casino jurisdiction.
He stated, referring to a large-scale resort (pictured above), southeast of Ho Chi Minh city and built by foreign investors: “The Grand Ho Tram’s opening to local patrons represents a long-awaited inflection point, and its performance in 2026 will conclusively determine if a bona fide gaming jurisdiction can exist under this ‘pilot’ framework.”
