Deep dive into the Web3 Gaming market with Yield Guild Games

People often think of "gaming" when talking about DeFi, crypto, and blockchain. The gaming market is changing rapidly, especially in Web3 gaming, where players will receive rewards, experience, and interact in ways that are different from traditional gaming.

What is the current state of the Web3 gaming market, which is undergoing rapid change and adaptation? Is it likely to persist? This article summarizes the conversation from REDeFiNE TOMORROW 2023 with Gabby Dizon, CEO & Co-founder of Yield Guild Games, on the topic “Redefining What It Means to Win in Web3 Gaming,” moderated by John Lagman, APAC Crypto & FX Workflow Specialist & Strategy Lead of Bloomberg.

Get to know Yield Guild Games

Gabby Dizon mentioned Yield Guild Games, or YGG, as the Web3 Gaming Guild, a space for gamers or interested people worldwide to join in building a community and creating an economic system that other game formats cannot. Players can own assets in the game, such as armor and items in their inventory, and tokenize these assets into NFTs, which they can keep in their wallets.

Gabby Dizon continued that the obvious change in YGG's Web3 gaming was during the COVID-19 outbreak. Because people couldn’t leave their homes, games like Axie Infinity became the arena where people played, especially in the Philippines, where users in 2020 alone increased to over 2 million. In the game, players can collect, increase, and trade Axies, which are characters within the game. Axie Infinity is another interesting marketplace.

What is a Guild?

Gabby Dizon explained that guilds come in many forms. If it is a traditional game, we can see that guilds existed in Ultima Online 20 years ago, World of Warcraft, etc. He thinks guilds will continue to exist as long as people play games.

As for Web3, he views the guild as a source that attracts players with the same objectives, whether playing games, creating value for assets, or collecting levels.After YGG became more famous two years ago, the guild became another factor that attracted investors.

Gabby Dizon added that YGG has a network of guilds worldwide. In Southeast Asia, India, Latin America, Japan, and South Korea, each guild will be different according to geography. Additionally, there is a Token Achievement System designed where players can create their achievements in the game. Players can own NFTs themselves. All of this is to attract players to build the community. Web3 Gaming Market Challenges

“Web3 gaming is still a relatively new market,” said Gabby Dizon. In addition to the new game market, there is also a problem: the crypto market is in a downtrend, and the technology is still not being developed quickly enough to keep up with the demands of game developers. As a result, Web3 gaming’s space has been affected.

However, the game itself is constantly evolving and changing. The success of Axie Infinity demonstrates the attractive business model of the Web3 Gaming market. Nowadays, many developers are starting Web3 gaming startups and attracting interest from investors. According to Gabby Dizon, many more games presently being produced will hit the mainstream within the following year.

What are Play-to-earn and Play-to-own?

Dizon said that play-to-earn or play-to-own is not as significant behind the scenes as the economic model used to attract players. Web3 Gaming's goal is for players to enjoy themselves. In the end, those players own assets, whether NFTs or tokens, that they can actually use.

Many games are designed and created in this format. New innovations are also being made to enhance tokenomics.

Web3 Gaming markets to watch

Dizon said that many players are now entering the free-to-play game field on Web3. Currently, most developers come from developed markets such as the United States and South Korea, where many major game developers have begun to develop games on Web3, as well as from the Japanese game market, which is considered to be the top market in the world, which has also begun to turn to the Web3 market.

YGG has networks, or SubDAOs, in many regions around the world, such as:

• W3GG in Southeast Asia
• IndiGG in India
• Ola GG in Latin America
• YGG Japan in Japan
• SKYGG in South Korea

These communities are run by people who know what these communities do and what can be done for their benefit. Therefore, each guild will be motivated differently.

YGG and Web3 Esport

When John Lagman asked about YGG’s background in opening the Web3 Esport industry, Dizon commented that Web3 Guild and Esport are similar. Because Esport requires high-level players, guilds evolve. Esports are also developing into Web3. As the most popular game in the world, Esport, enters Web3, the market for gaming will gain more interest.

Web2 vs. Web3 Esport

In Dizon's view, Web2 Esports has a more difficult business model than general sports games. People will pay money to buy sports tickets. However, people are reluctant to pay money to watch online streaming and observe people competing. Additionally, players' event proceeds will also be lower. Dizon believes Web3 Esports will resolve this issue because Web3 Gaming operates on a revenue alignment model. YGG also plans to open a Web3 game competition next year. This will allow us to see the Web3 Esport model more clearly.

In terms of players, Web2 and Web3 players will be similar, with the difference being their interest in Web3 gaming economics. But in the end, Dizon sees players from both sides coming together.

Web3 Gaming and Content Creator 

Since Web3 is a space for gamers, how can content creators participate in this section?

Dizon said that, similar to streaming games and esports now, content creators have turned to streaming their favorite Web3 games. But it is still considered a smaller amount than general game streaming.

For game creators on Web3, the exciting thing is owning the assets themselves, making them feel part of the game, not just earning income from streaming.

YGG Fundraising Overview

In February of 2023, YGG raised over $13.8 million in ICO funding led by a16z Crypto and DWF Labs (information from Crunchbase). Dizon added that YGG has been releasing products since 2022 and has designed cross-chain achievements because he sees this as the heart of the game. It helps create a reputation for players. Whenever players play another game or on another chain, the game can study the players' achievements collected in the wallet. It will be able to offer better rewards and recommend appropriate communities based on players’ past achievements and experiences, whether they are positive or negative.

The upcoming actions of YGG

Dizon said that last year, there was Axie Open Manila, a major tournament held in the Philippines for the game Axie Infinity, which was a testing ground for Web3 Esports, as previously described. However, they are looking for games suitable for the Esports competition this year.

In addition, YGG also supports famous content creators in the Philippines, as they stream games on Web3 that the community wants.

According to Dizon, given the present state of the cryptocurrency market, YGG intends to develop products that facilitate a future market rebound because he learned that developing or introducing products to the market in 2021 during the bull market was challenging.

Watch the rerun session on YouTube: Redefining What It Means to Win in Web3 Gaming

This article summarizes the virtual conference held in May 2023.