The BitPinas Webcast: Web3 Gaming Predictions
Ahead of the YGG Web3 Games Summit (W3GS), co-founder Gabby Dizon and BitPinas Editor-in-Chief Michael Mislos talk about how challenges in web3 gaming are being addressed and what games Gabby likes.
Established in 2017, BitPinas is the leading cryptocurrency news publication in the Philippines. Editor-in-Chief and founder Michael Mislos spearheads the platform, which is committed to facilitating relevant and timely discussions on cryptocurrency in the country through its webcast. The BitPinas Webcast caters to the Philippine crypto community, with notable guests such as Coins.ph CEO Wei Zhou, PDAX CEO Nichel Gaba, and YGG Guild Advancement Program (GAP) Ambassador and Superquests mentor, Kookoo.
In this episode, Michael talks to YGG co-founder Gabby Dizon about his predictions for the future of web3 gaming. The conversation also touches upon why free-to-play games took longer to catch on in the West, in contrast with a more receptive attitude in Asia. Drawing parallels with these trends, Gabby notes that Asian gamers tend to be more experimental with new gaming models such as NFTs in web3 games. This insight leads to a prediction that blockchain gaming will experience its next surge in popularity again in Asian markets as the region initially did in the early days of Axie Infinity.
The following excerpt from the webcast, partially translated from Filipino, also includes details about what attendees can expect at the YGG Web3 Games Summit (W3GS), set to unfold in Manila on November 18-25, 2023. For the complete episode, watch the full recording on YouTube.
The BitPinas Webcast: Web3 Gaming Predictions With YGG Co-founder Gabby Dizon
Michael (39:50): What are the challenges for web3 game developers and players right now as the web3 gaming space evolves?
Gabby (39:56): The challenge is being able to get a significant user base for your game. This is a problem for both web2 and web3 games: “How do you get enough users?” So, user acquisition, and especially being able to retain your members — have them interact with your game and pay for things inside your game — that is the problem of every game developer.
Fortunately, in web3, we have the power of ownership, which motivates players who enjoy our games to stick around. But for game developers, that’s still the #1 problem, “How do I acquire players?” especially now that web3 games haven’t really hit the mainstream yet. In fact, with mainstream gamers, there is a bit of a negative connotation around NFTs.
So it isn’t mainstream yet. It’s still new. And I think it will take a game that everyone will enjoy for people to see that NFT-based games are actually a positive thing.
Michael (40:54): I remember this contest from Mr. Beast, where people were joining and they were very happy. But once they found out that it had a blockchain element, people suddenly became adamant against joining because of that negative perception.
There are people from the blockchain gaming world, like Jeff (Jihoz) of Axie Infinity, who suggest that it’s better if you do not hide the blockchain parts of your game. What do you think about that?
Gabby (41:36): I agree with Jeff about this. Especially in Western markets, such as the US, they’re a little bit more conservative. For example, they adopted free-to-play games later than Asia. And I think Asian gamers are a lot more experimental with new models of gaming. That’s why I think blockchain gaming will first gain popularity in Asia.
And when it comes to countries in Asia, the Philippines is taking the lead when it comes to user base. As we saw two years ago, there were around 2 million Axie players in the Philippines. Although this number has decreased, as more games come out that are genuinely good games, more players will start playing again. As these types of games become more normal — in the West, they didn’t like a lot of free-to-play games until League of Legends popularized the model in the US. So, I do think that a lot of the innovation around web3 gaming will happen in Asia first, but I do believe it will take over the rest of the world.
Michael (48:25): Last year, we had the Philippine Web3 Festival, but [at this year’s Web3 Games Summit], the games will actually be playable. So, Gabby, what else can we expect from the upcoming YGG Web3 Games Summit?
Gabby (48:48): What I'm very excited for about the Web3 Games Summit is that there are games that you can play that will be displayed at the event. There will be eight fun web3 games that are playable right now. Everybody knows Axie, but now there’s a lot of other games you can play.
Earlier, we talked about Ragnarok Landverse, the web3 version of Ragnarok, which is an MMO that all Filipinos know about. And then there’s a MOBA called Mighty Action Heroes, which I have played, and it’s very fun as well. We have our homegrown Anito Legends and the new TCG (trading card game), Parallel, which I'm playing a lot of now — I’m actually a bit addicted to this game. PROJECT XENO, which also has a very big tournament with a very large prize pool at the event. And then there's MetaCene, which is an MMO that our community is enjoying.
These are just eight games, but there are over 30 games that gamers and all visitors can enjoy at the Web3 Games Summit.
You can listen to the full recording on YouTube.
The YGG Web3 Games Summit (W3GS) will take place on November 18-25, 2023, at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, Manila. Discover the latest projects that are changing the course of gaming, and grab your tickets at the official W3GS website:
Follow W3GS on X to stay up to date as the summit approaches. You may also join the YGG Discord or follow YGG on X.
Stay in the loop with Michael and Gabby to learn more about the Philippine web3 scene and gaming guilds in the Metaverse.