YGG Play Summit: The Biggest Web3 Gaming Event in the World
The YGG Play Summit, the largest player-focused Web3 gaming event in the world, ran November 19 to November 23 in Manila, Philippines, the home of Web3 gaming. More than 7,000 attendees came to experience the energy of the Summit first hand, while 150,000 more watched online via live streams.
Now in its third year, the YGG Play Summit gave gamers, founders, developers, investors, content creators, cosplayers, and community members from across the globe an opportunity to meet, exchange ideas, and celebrate the progress and achievements of the Web3 gaming industry over the past few years.
The event was made possible thanks to a host of local and international sponsors, with HyperPlay and Mantle as Title Sponsors, and Coins.ph and Ubisoft as Diamond Sponsors. In total, the YGG Play Summit was supported by over 50 partners, including some of the biggest games globally, as well as the blockchains underpinning them, such as Aptos, Avalanche, Base, B3, Immutable and Ronin.
The Premier Web3 Event by Gamers, for Gamers
Event-goers likened the quality and energy of the YGG Play Summit to world-class events like Gamescom Cologne and Tokyo Game Show. Superfine CEO Christian Calderon said it was Web3’s answer to GDC, referring to the Game Developers Conference held annually in San Francisco which attracts around 30,000 attendees. WolvesDAO member and content creator Iceyyy said “YGG Play Summit is the best gaming conference I’ve been to all year,” while the Ronin Network OG Cagyjan was so hyped that he appointed himself CEO of the Philippines and started planning his permanent move to the country.
WolvesDAO co-founder Sam Steffanina also shared a video recap of the week’s events and spoke with founders about the professional evolution of the web3 gaming industry. In an interview with Steffanina, Head of Gaming at OpenSea Oliver Maroney said “the crowds that YGG got to this event were very surprising to me, I did not expect that.”
Esports star and Parallel ambassador Alliestrasza said the experience was “magical” and that she’d even seen some of her peers tearing up. “It really feels like a core memory, everyone being here,” she added.
“If you were at home and not here, you must be here next year. The YGG Play Summit is insane,” said Dreamer, President of DeFi Kingdoms. “This Summit is representative that we all are on the up and up. There are bigger, better things coming, and there’s some beautiful stories here, learning how the previous market has really changed lives, and those people are here to expand that impact — it’s quite beautiful.”
Much of the Summit’s magic came from connecting Web3’s biggest games with some of Web3’s most passionate gamers IRL. The community was able to get hands-on with games like Seraph, RIFTSTORM, Star Atlas, Captain Laserhawk, My Neighbour Alice, DeFi Kingdoms and MetaCene. Additionally, showmatches featuring elite players took center stage throughout the week, with exhibition matches for Off The Grid, Shatterline, Sparkball and Parallel.
Throughout the week, in the booths and on the expo floor, the excitement was palpable as founders from all over the world got to interact directly with their fans and future customers, showcase their games, get valuable feedback and pose for infinite selfies.
A highlight for many expo attendees was the Pixels AMA and Energy Party, where Pixels Founder and CEO Luke Barwikowski and Pixels CMO Heidi Christine fielded questions from the community onstage. Additionally, the AMA was simulcast into a special YGG zone in Pixels where players could complete quests for additional rewards. Attendees of the live AMA saw Terra Villa come to life, with cosplayers dressed as their favorite Pixels characters joining Luke and Heidi on stage. Even YGG co-founder Gabby Dizon cosplayed as his own NPC in Pixels.
Epic Tournaments, Unforgettable Wins
During the YGG Play Summit, US$130,000 in prizes were up for grabs during the week’s run of tournaments across four games. Given the size of the tournament prize pools, all matches were conducted under the guidance of the Games and Amusement Board of the Philippines, which oversees all professional sporting events in the country. Each player was licensed and drug tested before the start of play, a first-time experience for many competitors who made their professional esports debut during the Summit.
Johnfdong won the Anichess tournament, earning US$3,000. SylphyT1 of Sylphy Academy took home US$4,000, split among Syl, Stephy, Lrdgrim, Fer, and Pelfi for winning the Arena of Faith finals. The Indus tournament saw Kadiliman Esports claim the US$2,500 grand prize, shared between Bison, Pabi, Majo, Jayzee, and Bluetzy. Additionally, Kadiliman Esports qualified for an all-expenses-paid trip to India to compete in the Indus International Tournament for its US$240,000 prize pool.
The biggest highlight was the US$100,000 Parallel tournament. YGG Esports veteran Zeliaser won the grand prize of US$20,000 after turning the tables on Hungarian player Bullbence in the final, avenging a loss against Bullbence in an earlier round.
“I just want to say thank you to everyone who supported me. Everyone was so friendly. Everyone in the Parallel community is super nice. I just had so much fun meeting everyone,” said Zeliaser, who traveled from South America to compete at the Parallel Invitational, the first of its kind in Asia.
In an article for The GAME, esports editor Ramon Domingo shared his experience attending the week of esports events. “There’s really no way of replicating a bunch of fans getting excited while watching the game that they love,” Ramon wrote. “Web3 gaming is uncharted territory, but the potential is there for it to deliver exciting moments and unforgettable experiences. And at the end of the day, that’s what esports is all about.”
Keynotes, Fireside Chats and Roundtable Discussions
On Wednesday, otherwise known as Industry Day, talks and panels had a B2B vibe and developer focus. A fireside chat between Gabby and Emfarsis Director Leah Callon-Butler revealed one of the week’s biggest announcements — the launch of Onchain Guilds on Base. Toward the end of the session, Base founder Jesse Pollak joined Gabby and Leah on stage to discuss what it means for YGG and Base to build together onchain.
“Whether through competitive esports teams, decentralized artist collectives, or AI-driven projects, Onchain Guilds positions YGG as a leader in the movement to bring communities together onchain,” wrote Phil Hall of PlayToEarn.
In a feature article on Decrypt, reporter Vince Dioquino observed that “the launch of Onchain Guilds on Base feels less like a product release and more like a coming-of-age moment for Web3 communities.”
Also on Industry Day, YGG co-founder Beryl Li spoke on a Future of Work panel together with FrodoBots core team member Niresh Dravin, CUDIS Chief Marketing Officer Dirk Yuan, and BitPinas Editor-in-Chief Michael Mislos, to share how YGG has expanded beyond gaming and into AI and DePIN to uncover more learning and earning opportunities for its community.
“YGG is in a very unique position because we have a global network reach of over 7 million community members, and what sets us apart from different communities is that we are very much open to economic opportunities,” said Beryl during the panel. “We try to provide what they want, and to be able to do that, we offer them a platform where they can discover and try out these quests and activities for economic opportunities. This is what we do. We give them what they want.”
Other speakers included Parallel co-founder Kalos, esports pioneer FATAL1TY, Confiction Labs co-founder and CEO Arief Widhiyasa, MapleStory Universe Chief Business Officer and VP Dominic Jang, and more.
For a much-anticipated presentation and the final keynote of Industry Day, CCP Games CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson discussed EVE Online’s community-driven growth over the past two decades and touched on its upcoming Web3 survival game spinoff EVE Frontier. Under his leadership, EVE Online has thrived with over $500 million in lifetime revenue, boasting a player-driven economy that facilitates more than 2 billion daily transactions and has cemented its place as one of the longest-running and most economically intricate MMOs in gaming history. In a key takeaway from the talk, Hilmar stressed that robust virtual economies cannot grow if their communities don’t scale alongside them.
During the Summit, YGG also partnered with Web3 consulting firm Emfarsis to conduct a series of Leaders Roundtable discussions, facilitating debates on two controversial topics impacting the Web3 gaming industry. The first topic was designed to explore the value and ethics of key opinion leaders (KOLs) in Web3, and then, the second took a deep dive into evolving trends in Web3-native user acquisition (UA).
Many of the Summit’s speakers joined the Leaders Roundtables, including YGG Pilipinas Country Head Mench Dizon, CCP Games CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, MON Protocol co-founder Giulio Xiloyannis, Daredevil Media Founder and CEO Jared Dillinger, Unbox founder Carlo Ople, Cointelegraph journalist Ciaran Lyons, The Sandbox co-founder and COO Sebastien Borget, KGeN Elder Council Member Ishank Gupta, Infinity Ventures Crypto (IVC) Partner Ann Chien, and many more.
In total, almost 70 industry leaders took part with industry figureheads sharing the table with streamers, guild leaders and gamers, to elicit robust dialogue and a diverse range of perspectives. Insights from the Leaders Roundtables will inform a post-event report to be published in early 2025.
Community and Content Creators in the Spotlight
Following the big announcement that Onchain Guilds would launch on Base, YGG Community Manager and Axie University (AxU) co-founder Spraky took to the stage to introduce some of the most prominent Onchain Guilds in the global ‘guild of guilds’ network, including Nate from Synergy Guild, Kookoo from Sando Metaverse, and JB from NFT X-Street.
YGG’s community members and content creators showcased their talent to the world throughout the Play Summit. Star performers included Sedano, Excelsor, Munchies, Stephy, Miccolo, and Ruth, who hosted sessions, shoutcasted tournaments and showmatches, and joined panels and masterclasses to share their knowledge with the global Web3 gaming community.
To support aspiring content creators, a Creator Masterclass was offered by YGG’s educational platform, Web3 Metaversity. Led by Carlo Ople, Kyroh and Kookoo, the workshop focused on providing practical advice for ways that creators in Web3 can promote authenticity, build communities, educate newcomers to crypto, and produce engaging content for their audiences.
“In web3, there are the builders, there are the gamers, and there are the creators. Creators are especially important because they are the front-facing people who keep the gaming space alive. They provide not just entertainment but also educational value,” said YellowPanther, co-founder of Gaming Grid, Official Ambassador to the YGG Play Summit and the GAM3 Awards 2024 Content Creator of the Year winner.
WolvesDAO, a global collective of content creators, thought leaders, investors, and competitive gamers traveled to Manila to take over the YGG Play Summit main stage on the final day of the event. Led by co-founders Sam Steffanina and co-founder Payton Kaleiwahea, WolvesDAO hosted its first CreatorDEN, bringing with them a cohort of 15 leading Web3 gaming content creators. This included crowd favorites like iceyyy_gaming, MatDefies, dub, Cbass, Storming, SpikeCollects, and itzBolt.
“Creators drive awareness and engagement and play a pivotal role in shaping the narratives and communities that fuel the web3 gaming industry’s growth,” said Steffanina. “Bringing this group of creators to Manila wasn’t just about content production; it was about East meeting West and seeing firsthand the Philippines’ impact on Web3 gaming and shaping the industry’s future. Supporting YGG’s mission and amplifying their vision made this event impactful for everyone involved, solidifying why WolvesDAO prioritizes initiatives like these.”
Match + Play — a mixer hosted by MadeViral and YGG — was a welcoming entry point to introduce Web2 content creators to the world of Web3 gaming. Experienced Web3 KOLs including Myrtle Sarrosa, Een Mercado, Extra Rai and VMiguelG led panel discussions and hands-on game demos, to introduce key concepts and help make decentralization technologies feel less intimidating. Web2 attendees were also connected directly with Web3 games that joined the mixer, including Shatterline, Sparkball, Sipher Odyssey, Aurory, and more, giving them ample opportunity to get better acquainted with Web3 gaming.
Game Jam and Cosplay Competition
Co-hosted by YGG Pilipinas, Web3 Metaversity and Sovrun, the YGG Play Summit Game Jam saw 35 teams and 136 individuals compete for a prize pool of PHP 500,000. G?Ka emerged as the top entry from the Beginners Track, which consisted of students and first-time game developers, taking home PHP 75,000. Kusho Guardians won the Professionals Track for more experienced developers, earning the PHP 220,000 grand prize.
As always at YGG’s events, the cosplay community brought iconic Web3 gaming characters to life throughout the expo, all vying for the top spot of the Summit’s Cosplay Competitions. In the Community Cosplay bracket, Dwight Tristan Ibajan and Zhiwei each took home PHP 5,000, dressed as Pulsefire Ezreal and Kana respectively. For the Professional bracket, Izaiah took home the grand prize of PHP 34,990 for his cosplay of the robotic soldier KAY/O from Valorant.
Rolling Out the Red Carpet
After Industry Day wrapped up on November 20, attendees headed to the red carpet premiere of Metaverse Filipino Worker, a mini-series detailing a range of alternative career paths enabled by Web3, written and directed by “Play-to-Earn: NFT Gaming in the Philippines” creator and Emfarsis Director Leah Callon-Butler.
The series featured YGG Pilipinas Community Manager Spraky, YGG Esports Captain Disi, NFT X-Street founder JB, YGG Pilipinas Social Media Manager Stephy, YGG Pilipinas Events Admin and Mommy Influencer Julie, and Aileen and Kryztine, Web3 Metaversity students at the Sisters of Mary School.
“These positive stories that have come from members of the community — just real, everyday Filipinos — and these stories don’t always see the light of day. So for me, it’s really important to share those and I guess I’m in a privileged position to be able to do it because I actually live here [in the Philippines],” said Leah in an interview with GMANetwork.com. “I’ve lived this, so it’s my goal to be able to show that to the rest of the world.”
Metaverse Filipino Worker was scored by L!NE OUTS!DE, a collaborative outfit headed by Filipino music icon Apl.de.Ap and his long-time DJ and producer, Edgar “Artek606” Sinio, who joined the premiere with Dan Vo, manager of Apl.de.Ap.
The Play Summit also hosted the first in-person awards ceremony for GAM3S.GG’s annual GAM3 Awards. Off The Grid took home Game of the Year, Action Game of the Year, and Multiplayer Game of the Year, Parallel took home Esports Game of the Year, Strategy Game of the Year, and TCG of the Year, while Pixels earned the title Casual Game of the Year for the second year in a row as well as the People’s Choice Award. YGG Play Summit official ambassador YellowPanther was recognized as the 2024 Content Creator of the Year.
Ronin won the Best Ecosystem award, with co-founder Jihoz addressing the crowd with a heartfelt speech. He called for unity within the Web3 gaming industry as Ronin transitions to an open and permissionless network. “With the opening of Ronin, it’s a great opportunity for more harmony in the space,” said Jihoz during his acceptance speech.
The YGG Play Summit was a week of wins for Web3 gaming. Builders, content creators, esports athletes, and newcomers to the industry all experienced the community’s energy and passion. With Manila, the epicenter of Web3 gaming adoption as its backdrop, the Summit set the stage for the continued growth of the global ecosystem.
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