Metaverse Filipino Worker: The New Face of Opportunity
For many Filipinos, seeking work abroad is not a choice but a necessity. Low wages and limited job opportunities at home leave many with no choice but to seek work overseas in order to support their families. Unfortunately, this comes at a great emotional cost. Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) make immense personal sacrifices, often spending months, years, or even decades away from their families to provide them with a better future.
In recent years, an alternative has emerged: the Metaverse Filipino Worker (MFW). An MFW still needs to travel outside the Philippines for work, but they don’t go by bus, boat, train or plane. Instead, they only need a computer, an internet connection, and a crypto wallet to get to the open Metaverse.
The open Metaverse is built on Web3: a decentralized internet powered by blockchain technology. It enables people to participate in a permissionless, open ecosystem across interconnected virtual worlds, where they can learn, work and play on their own terms. In recent years, this has given rise to movements like play-to-earn, which allow gamers to monetize their time and effort in ways that were previously not possible.
A new short film, Metaverse Filipino Worker, sheds light on some of the possible career paths enabled by this emerging industry. Written, narrated, and directed by Leah Callon-Butler, creator of the 2021 viral hit Play-to-Earn: NFT Gaming in the Philippines, the film features members of the YGG community in the Philippines as its stars. Opening with an animated title sequence by renowned Filipino cyberpunk artist Lucius Felimus, the short film also features an original musical score by L!NE OUTS!DE, the collaborative outfit of Filipino music legend Allan Pineda, better known as Apl.de.Ap of the Black Eyed Peas, and his longtime DJ, Edgar “Artek606” Sinio. The film was recently released on YouTube and has since hit 1 million views.
Metaverse Filipino Worker marks the first stage of a campaign by YGG Pilipinas to educate and upskill millions of Filipinos for meaningful participation in the global decentralized digital economy.
Globally Competitive Skills
Metaverse Filipino Worker begins with the story of YGG Pilipinas Community Manager Spraky. When the play-to-earn movement was at its peak, Spraky coined the term “Metaverse Filipino Worker” to describe the Filipinos who found online and remote earning opportunities in Web3 while the country stood still during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
In his episode, Spraky recalls how he co-founded the guild Axie University (AxU) in late 2021 to help onboard Filipinos to Web3 through Axie Infinity. AxU taught new players a range of sophisticated skills and concepts like wallet security, play-to-earn mechanics, and the role of NFTs in the ecosystem.
When the crypto market crashed in 2022, those players who were motivated by short-term financial returns began to abandon the Web3 community — including many active members of AxU. Those who stayed experienced their first down-cycle together, enduring tough losses and learning hard lessons as they navigated the Crypto Winter in real time. But even while their guild grew smaller, Spraky and his co-founders never gave up on their original vision.
Their commitment paid off when Web3 gaming finally picked up steam again in the following years, thanks to an influx of new, high-quality games. Today, Spraky spends his days grinding in Web3 games with his fellow guild members in the YGG Pilipinas community, applying his skills and experience in engagement and moderation, content creation, growth strategy, issue resolution, and Web3 literacy to help them maximize their opportunities across the ecosystem.
Coming from a family of OFWs, Spraky always assumed he would follow in their footsteps — and in a way, he has, but as a tourist rather than a worker. Spraky’s episode reveals his plan to take his parents on a holiday to Canada to celebrate his older sister’s birthday.
Enter the Metaverse from Anywhere
The Metaverse presents people with another option, especially for those in rural areas. Farmers, in particular, are among the poorest in the Philippines, often forced to take on multiple side hustles just to survive due to low crop prices and unstable income. Others have been left with no other option but to abandon their agricultural roots and pursue other livelihoods in the city and overseas.
Metaverse Filipino Worker shares the story of YGG Esports Captain Disi, who comes from a long line of farmers. A qualified engineer, Disi took a mathematical approach to Axie, which gave him an edge over other players when he got into the game in 2021. His early run to the top of Axie’s leaderboards allowed Disi to establish himself as one of Web3 gaming’s top streamers, content creators, and competitors. As an esports professional in the open Metaverse, he earned enough from Web3 to be able to stay on his family’s farm in the Philippine province of Pampanga and pursue his passion for farming on the side.
Other enterprising MFWs have turned to Web3 to kickstart their dream businesses. In Metaverse Filipino Worker, NFT X-Street guild leader JB shares how he turned his long-held dream of opening a computer shop — where customers could rent computers for gaming, internet browsing or work — into a reality. He opened NFT X-Street to put a Metaverse-ready spin on the computer shop model and provide a gaming hub for his community. Any member of the NFT X-Street community can visit and use the shop’s high-end PC equipment to explore Web3 games, receive coaching to improve their game as well as their financial literacy, and learn new skills to keep themselves competitive in the Web3 job market.
Bridging Generations
The film also highlights the inter-generational impact of the MFW journey with the story of YGG Pilipinas Events Assistant Julie Soriano, a single mother who saw Web3 as a way to be able to provide for her daughter without having to leave her or their home country.
Julie was introduced to Web3 gaming by her daughter during the pandemic. While other parents might have scolded their children for spending time playing games, Julie saw it as an opportunity to bond with her daughter while learning about future-forward technologies.
Later, she applied to YGG Pilipinas via the GetHired platform for a job as an events assistant. She got the role, and through it, she met many successful key opinion leaders (KOLs) representing the Web3 gaming community in the Philippines and globally. Deeply inspired by their work to educate and empower newcomers to crypto, Julie realized that she, too, had an important message to share with other parents: that Web3 offers a way to learn, earn, and connect with their children.
After voicing her goal to become a mommy influencer, Julie accepted an invitation to speak at a GetHired event that YGG was sponsoring — even though she had no prior experience in public speaking. For her, it was a full-circle moment: standing on stage and sharing her story with other Web3-curious parents via the same platform where her own Web3 talents had been discovered and her new career began.
Julie demonstrates how resilience, courage, and a willingness to embrace new opportunities can be a stepping stone to self-sufficiency, even for those in the most challenging circumstances — whether it’s a parent learning Web3 or a child striving for a better future. In the final episode of Metaverse Filipino Worker, two students at The Sisters of Mary School show how education can change lives.
The school is a charitable institution working to break the cycle of poverty for the poorest of the poor families in the Philippines. They offer their students housing, food, medical and dental, as well as vocational education with a focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) in order to give them the best chance of success in the future job market.
Unfortunately, the school’s outdated technical equipment and facilities struggle to support modern software. With the backing of its generous donors, Sisters of Mary is now raising funds to build a brand-new facility dedicated to teaching Web3, AI, robotics, coding, and more, equipping students to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving workforce. It has partnered with YGG’s educational arm, Metaversity, to provide a structured way for students to familiarize themselves with Web3 and decentralized applications.
The film features Sisters of Mary students and Metaversity course enrollees Aileen and Kryztine. They share their excitement about learning to create voxel models in The Sandbox, a decentralized gaming platform and hub for user-generated content in Web3.
A Global Workforce Without Borders
Metaverse Filipino Worker illustrates technology’s impact on the choices available to Filipino breadwinners. Through the Metaverse, Filipinos looking to provide for their families can tap into the global decentralized digital economy with their loved ones at their side.
As the world watches the Metaverse redefine what it means to work beyond borders, the Philippines is not just participating in this digital revolution — but leading the charge.
Read external coverage on the MFW movement below:
- Metaverse Filipino worker: A new era of work for Filipinos — The Manila Times
- “Metaverse Filipino Worker” short film that highlights stories of digital pioneers is now on YouTube — GMA Lifestyle
- “Metaverse Filipino Worker” film features Pinoy digital pioneers — Philippine Daily Inquirer
- Metaverse Filipino Worker short film premieres on YouTube — BlockchainGamer.biz
- “Metaverse Filipino Worker” Short Film Premieres on YouTube Today, Highlighting Stories of Digital Pioneers — PlayToEarn.com
Watch Metaverse Filipino Worker at MFW.Life on YouTube now:
