At the recent Yield Guild Games (YGG) Play Summit press conference in Manila, attendees were given a preview of what to expect from the five-day event this November, which will showcase the latest innovations in web3 gaming and the hottest titles from all around the world.
A dominant theme of the summit is exploring the future of play, with discussions on how web3 is changing digital ownership, opening up new avenues of player engagement, and enabling more complex in-game economies. During the press conference, speakers highlighted one particularly exciting web3 trend: the reimagining of traditional strategy games like chess and trading card games (TCGs). By incorporating blockchain-based dynamics and new gameplay loops, these much-loved games are now teaching players not just the classic tactical skills but also the digital skills for the future.
On a panel featuring Brian Chan, Head of Anichess, and Carlo Ople, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Unbox Digital Media Group, the two talked with moderator Jayvee Fernandez, Technology Editor for the Philippine Star and Editor of Multiverse.ph, Philstar’s web3 and gaming publication, about the way that Anichess is based on the original strategic board game while incorporating “spells” and other fantasy elements, with a plan to integrate NFT assets in the future that players can trade in the open market. Ople highlighted how web3 TCGs like Parallel create ways for players to own their digital assets, giving them the freedom to trade, sell, or upgrade their collections like their physical counterparts. Web3 also enables competitive TCG players to participate in on-demand e-sports tournaments with more transparency.
“Early on, a lot of people were just in web3 gaming for the financial incentives. But today, you can see that the quality of games has improved dramatically and web3 games can be fun on their own, even without the tokens,” said Brian Chan, Head of Anichess. “The idea of building on-chain goes further than this; we want to empower our community to contribute to the game. By using a decentralized governance model, players who are deeply invested in the game can contribute directly. This brings a new layer of engagement and ownership to the players, and that’s a big part of why we’re building on web3.”
On another panel titled “Play, Learn, and Work,” YGG co-founder Beryl Li shared her vision for YGG’s recently launched Future of Work program to provide its community with skill-building opportunities to equip them for the next phase of the digital economy. It expands beyond web3 gaming by tapping into the growing need for human input in areas like artificial intelligence (AI) data labeling and decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN) to deliver decentralized, fully flexible, and easily accessible options for personal and economic growth that empower individuals who have the necessary skills, regardless of their background. Fellow panelist Coins.ph CEO Wei Zhou said that locally licensed cryptocurrency exchanges provide the financial rails to allow these gig workers’ cryptocurrency earnings to be converted into Philippine pesos.
“We’re excited about how the future of play connects with the future of work because digital skills learned in web3 games are becoming relevant across industries. The convergence of web3 and AI is going to redefine the way we work and play together, and we’re seeing the early signs of this today,” said Mench Dizon, Country Head, YGG Pilipinas. “At YGG, we remain committed to our mission of bridging economic opportunities for Filipinos, no matter where they are in the world. Together, we’ve onboarded the world into this new era of digital play, simply by playing and working together as a community.”
Building upon the trends and evolution in web3 gaming, the YGG Play Summit will feature a main conference called Industry Day with more than 50 web3 builders and thought leaders. Notable speakers include YGG co-founders Gabby Dizon and Beryl Li, Head of Base Jesse Pollak, Wildcard (and previously, Words With Friends) co-founder Paul Bettner, and Pixels co-founder Luke Barwikowski with CMO Heidi Christine. Additionally, a series of invite-only Leaders Roundtables will elicit the opinions of industry leaders to inform a report on web3 gaming consumer trends for 2025 to be released in the first quarter of next year.
Supporting the goals of the YGG Play Summit are Title Sponsors: HyperPlay and Mantle. Other key sponsors include Aptos, B3, Ubisoft, OpenSea, Coins.ph, Ronin, SKYGG, and the Echelon Prime Foundation. Key opinion leaders (KOLs) Sam Steffanina and Een Mercado will participate, as well as YGG Play Summit official ambassador YellowPanther, while a side event with Southeast Asian game marketing agency, MADEVIRAL, will invite over 100 gaming creators to meet with curated game companies to explore cooperation in 2025. The YGG Play Summit will also include the Gamer Expo, featuring demos and show matches from over 40 games. Attendees will be able to play some of the biggest games in web3 including Star Atlas, Blade of God X, Sparkball, Spot Zero, Immortal Rising 2, and Captain Laserhawk: The GAME.
E-sports tournaments will also be held during the YGG Play Summit, including a Parallel TCG US$100,000 prize pool tournament featuring the top 16 players from online qualifiers held prior. Other competitive events are for games Arena of Faith (AOF), Anichess, and Indus, each with US$10,000 prize pools. Additionally, the finalists of a Game Jam conducted by Web3 Metaversity will pitch their ideas on key themes around modding, social games, digital assets, and onchain game logic, following an earlier hackathon with two separate divisions — one to challenge students and another for experienced developers. The two events will have a ₱500,000 prize pool distributed among winners. There will also be a cosplay competition with a ₱130,000 prize pool and many other side events running throughout the week.
Red carpet events are also lined up throughout the week as a celebration of the best the industry has to offer. This includes the first in-person GAM3 Awards ceremony featuring the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra performing nostalgic video game theme songs. Additionally, an invite-only red carpet event will premiere the Metaverse Filipino Worker 5-part video series at the SM Aura Premier Cinema, the trailer of which was previewed for the first time during the press conference.
YGG Play Summit will be held on November 19-23, 2024, at SMX Convention Center, SM Aura Premier, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. Tickets for the event are available at the YGG Play Summit website, with an early bird discount running until November 1, 2024.
