ANC Business Roadshow: How Web3 Opens Up New Economic Opportunities for Filipinos
YGG Pilipinas Country Head Mench Dizon joins ANC anchor Denice Dinsay to discuss the rise of web3 in the Philippines, highlighting the sector's resilience amid challenging market conditions.
On November 18-25, 2023, YGG gathered gamers, developers, investors, and other industry leaders in Manila for the YGG Web3 Games Summit (W3GS) to showcase the freshest web3 titles right at the epicenter of web3 gaming adoption. The highly anticipated event featured a thought-provoking two-day conference, a jam-packed three-day expo, a massive two-day tournament, an intense 24-hour hackathon, and dozens of pre-event activities and side events across the district of Bonifacio Global City.
Ahead of the summit, Mench Dizon, Country Head of YGG Pilipinas, appeared on the ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC) Business Roadshow to talk about the impact of web3 gaming in the Philippines. Launched in 1996, ANC is the Philippines’ first 24/7 English-language news and current affairs channel. It is one of the leading stations in the Philippines for breaking news and wall-to-wall live coverage, in-depth interviews, and the full range of Philippine, international, political, business, health and weather coverage.
In this newscast of the Business Roadshow, Mench joined ANC anchor Denice Dinsay to talk about the popularity of web3 gaming among Filipino communities. Their conversation also covered the evolution of the category, which has expanded to include a range of different genres and types of web3 games.
The following excerpt from the newscast features Mench sharing her insights on the new economic opportunities in web3 that extend beyond gameplay to encompass jobs in community development, game operations, content creation and more. She also talks about the sustainability of these opportunities, the advantages of the country's early participation, and the role of YGG Pilipinas in bringing all of this together. For the complete conversation between Mench and Denice, watch the full recording on YouTube.
ANC Business Roadshow: Web3 gaming could also be a source of income for Filipinos
Denice (01:22): This prolonged interest that’s had the Philippines up in the standings for so long — have you been seeing observable shifts in the demographics or motivations of Filipino gamers engaging in web3 gaming? How has this influenced the type of games that are gaining popularity here?
Mench (01:36): It started, of course, with the popularity of Axie Infinity, which grew during the pandemic. That gave us a huge surge in terms of widespread adoption, which is exactly what the industry needs — to gain that adoption. As we move on to a more sustained interest in web3 games, we are seeing different types of game formats that are looking at participation of gamers across different types of levels. So we see more of the games that have a bit more appeal across a wider demographic as well as different levels of skill in this market.
Denice (02:19): It’s good that you brought up Axie. I mean, Mench, that was the craze during the lockdown. And the Southeast Asian region, especially the Philippines, has shown — it’s quite an understatement — this strong interest in game finance. How is this concept perceived and embraced by the local gaming community? Are you seeing specific trends or adaptations that distinguish the Philippines in the global game finance landscape?
Mench (02:56): I think, in terms of just the appeal of these games, more than just playing, this could be a source of economic opportunities for our kababayans in the Philippines. Interestingly, it used to be just grinding in a game that would get you to a level of economic participation, but in the new games that are coming out, we see more sustained economic participation.
And what do I mean by that? It’s opening opportunities in terms of the different types of work that can happen in a game, so you’re not just playing the game, you could be moderating a community, becoming part of the game operations, helping out in supporting fellow gamers, building communities. So there is now this whole range of economic opportunities that may be open to the Filipinos. And what’s interesting about this space is that, from anywhere you are, you can work and participate in the economy.
Denice (04:04): And everyone just wants a piece of that cake. And now that the Philippines is a key market for those kinds of games, how has YGG Pilipinas positioned itself to align with this or even leverage the trends in game finance? What are the specific challenges that you’re seeing and the opportunities, as well, that are arising from this kind of focus?
Mench (04:21): Because it’s a new technology and it’s a nascent industry, then the challenge is in terms of the understanding and making sure that people are well educated. That’s the reason why a big part of our advocacy as a community and as an organization is to focus on education and increasing awareness and literacy in web3. Apart from that, it’s really bringing events to the Philippines so we can have access to global insights and talent. As they impart their experience building for games all over the world, then we hope to also ignite the creativity of Filipinos to not just play the games but also create the games.
Denice (08:57): The web3 revolution in the Philippines, particularly through play-to-earn gaming and NFTs, even talking about how it has presented unparalleled opportunities for income and growth. How do you foresee the long-term sustainability and evolution of those opportunities? What role do you see YGG Pilipinas playing in guiding the Philippines and the gaming community through such a dynamic landscape that’s changing by the day?
Mench (09:29): It really ties back to our mission of providing economic opportunities to as many Filipinos via web3 games, so that this may be considered a possible viable source, if not full income, at least to help augment income for day-to-day needs. As I mentioned, it goes beyond just playing the games. It will now tie into opportunities or occupations that people can do in the web3 space. You can do web3 marketing, business process operations, content creation, game testing — there’s this whole range of opportunities that we can help our community with and get them upskilled, provide education platforms where they can be more confident to take part in this nascent technology. And because it’s new, when new people come in and take advantage of this early stage, then the upside is also much, much larger.
You can listen to the full recording on YouTube.
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