A celebratory photo on stage at the YGG Play Summit. A large group of attendees, organizers, and creators are gathered, cheering and raising their hands as confetti rains down. A prominent figure (likely Gabby Dizon) stands center-back, wearing a baseball cap and dark shirt, with many attendees wearing black YGG shirts. A large, stylized purple and gold YGG Play logo is visible in the foreground. The text at the bottom reads: "YGG Play Summit Champions Creators Taking Web3 Games Mainstream."

YGG Play Summit Champions Creators Taking Web3 Games Mainstream

🖋️ Justine Abalos 📅 November 27, 2025
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The YGG Play Summit 2025, the world’s largest player-focused Web3 gaming event, drew more than 5,600 local and international in-person attendees to Bonifacio Global City, Metro Manila. The Summit achieved a total global online reach of over 490 million, with livestreamed content across YouTube, Facebook, and X attracting more than half a million unique viewers, as per media tracking that was monitored via Meltwater by the event organizers.

A wide, dynamic photo of a large crowd of attendees celebrating on stage at the YGG Play Summit 2025. Confetti rains down over the diverse group who are cheering and raising their hands. The stage backdrop features the "YGG Play Summit" logo, and the image is overlaid with the text: "YGG PLAY SUMMIT CHAMPIONS CREATORS TAKING WEB3 GAMES MAINSTREAM."

This year’s “City of Play” theme was a celebration of the trailblazing content creators whose impact and influence are moving Web3 gaming from a niche to mainstream.

In Web3, creators play a critical ecosystem role across product discovery, shaping community, and educating new users. The broader market reflects a growing reliance on creators, with ad spend reaching US$37 billion in 2025 — four times faster than the overall media industry, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau. Sprout Social reports that 90% of consumers rely on social media to keep up with trends and cultural moments. This year, the YGG Play Summit provided a platform for rising Web3 content creators to network with potential new partners and improve their business acumen through interactive sessions, while refining their craft in front of a global audience.

“We’ve seen very talented people come [into our community], who started as volunteers and scholars, and now they’re project founders leading companies, now they’re esports players and top creators,” said Gabby Dizon, co-founder of YGG. “This kind of opportunity is the reason why YGG exists, and this is why we do what we do. We’d like people to remember the experiences and the opportunities here, so we’d have something to look forward to again next year.”

Global Creators Take Center Stage

To kick off the YGG Play Summit, a live recording of “LOL Lounge,” YGG Play’s podcast on the business of Web3 game publishing, delved into strategies for building successful, sustainable careers in content creation. The special episode featured GamingGrid co-founder YellowPanther and Gaming Daily founder Iceyyy, two leading content creators and ambassadors for YGG Play who built their brands throughout the pandemic. In conversation with YGG co-founder Gabby Dizon and host Leah Callon-Butler of Emfarsis, they explored what makes brand-creator partnerships work in Web3, underscoring that long-term success comes from authentic alignment over short-term profit, real enthusiasm for the games they review, and a commitment to a more professional approach.

On professionalism, Dizon highlighted consistency as the single most important and least common habit for creators. Iceyyy and YellowPanther stressed the value of attending in-person events like the YGG Play Summit for relationship-building and business development, encouraging other creators to show up offline rather than relying solely on digital channels.

The LOL Lounge live episode was one of the Summit’s most-viewed segments on X, alongside the US$100,000 YGG Parallel Showdown and Aurory’s Amiko Legends demo.

Another live podcast recording happened later in the day with “Gamified IRL,” where host Sam Steffanina of WolvesDAO led a debate on the effectiveness of creator-led user acquisition. The panel concluded that while celebrity creators with large audiences can generate a short-term spike in attention for Web3 games, this type of top-heavy approach rarely converts to retained users.

A panel of eight people seated on colorful stools on stage for the "Gamified IRL" podcast recording/debate. The large screen behind them displays a stylized graphic of a soccer player and a quiz question: "1 FOOTBALL DOT FUN IS IT A WEB3 GAME?" with "YES" and "NO" options.

WolvesDAO and Beam also held a creator workshop in collaboration with YGG’s educational arm, Metaversity, covering content strategy, monetization, and community building. Onstage, WolvesDAO co-founder Payton Kaleiwahea also showcased Kizuna, WolvesDAO’s AI-powered community platform that turns engagement data into actionable insights, helping creators reward loyal contributors and drive retention.

A large group of content creators and attendees pose for a photo during a "Creators Lunch & Learn with WolvesDAO" session. They are seated around long tables set with food, and many are smiling, waving, and giving thumbs-up gestures, filling a conference room.

Other creators at the Summit included Philippine basketball champion turned entrepreneur, Jared Dillinger of Agent Daredevil, Pichapen of SuperConnector, and Pukerainbow of Pukecast. 

Celebrating Web3 Gaming Excellence

On Friday evening at the YGG Play Summit, the GAM3 Awards by GAM3S.GG brought its in-person ceremony back to Manila for a second year in a row, honoring the best in Web3 gaming. One of the most prestigious titles awarded was Creator of the Year, previously won by YellowPanther (2024), Sam Steffanina (2023), and Brycent (2022).

In 2025, it went to Cagyjan, co-founder of the Silly Kitties IP and one of the earliest content creators in Web3, starting with Axie Infinity in 2020. For Cagyjan — who credits the Philippines for launching his career as a creator, decided to make Manila his home following the 2024 YGG Play Summit, and previously jokingly dubbed himself “CEO of the Philippines” — earning a major industry award within the country carried a special sense of pride. 

Gunzilla Games’ battle-royale shooter “Off The Grid” (OTG) swept five awards, including Game of the Year for the second year in a row. Theodore Agranat, Gunzilla Games’ Director of Web3, spoke at the YGG Play Summit about OTG’s strategy to onboard traditional gamers. At OTG’s launch, Gunzilla had partnered with leading creators such as Ninja, Shroud, and TimTheTatman known for titles like Fortnite, CS:GO, Valorant, Call of Duty, and Apex Legends. These creators bridged the information gap for OTG’s blockchain elements, making content creators a core engine of the game’s adoption.

Two men are celebrating on stage after winning an award. The man on the left, wearing a blue suit, has his hand on the shoulder of the man on the right, who is wearing a black Gunzilla Games t-shirt and suit jacket and is shouting with excitement while holding up a tablet displaying the GAM3 Awards logo. A fast-paced, first-person shooter game scene from Off The Grid is visible on the large screen behind them.

Other GAM3 Award winners included Parallel (Best Strategy Game), CCP Games’ EVE Frontier (Best Adventure Game), Ronin (Best Ecosystem), Pixels (Best Browser Game), and Atia’s Legacy (Most Anticipated Game). Pudgy Party, Mythical Games’ multiplayer mobile game featuring the Pudgy Penguins IP, won Best Mobile and Best Casual Game, while YGG Play publishing partner Gigaverse took home the Games’ Choice award, as elected by fellow GAM3 Awards nominees.

Two men in formal attire stand on a brightly lit stage at the GAM3 Awards. The man on the right, in a tuxedo, is handing a trophy to the man on the left, in a dark suit. The large screen behind them is black with glowing green elements, displaying the text: "EVE FRONTIER AWARD BEST ADVENTURE GAME."
A large, blue and white plush mascot of a Pudgy Penguin stands on a stage next to a podium where a woman is speaking. Behind them is a large screen displaying the "GAM3 Awards" logo and a starry backdrop. The stage is draped in rich green velvet, and bright green spotlights illuminate the area.
Three people stand on stage at the GAM3 Awards. The man on the left and the woman in the middle (wearing a black dress and holding the trophy) are smiling at the audience, while the man on the right is also smiling. The screen behind them displays vibrant, pixelated art from the game Pixels.

Building Skills, Building Communities

An overhead view of a diverse group of key leaders and industry representatives seated around a large table during the Metaversity Interactive session. They are engaged in discussion, with purple educational sheets laid out on the table in front of them, focusing on topics like 'Leadership' and 'Web3 & AI Skills.'

The Summit placed equal emphasis on upskilling, recognizing that creators, students, and builders all need access to practical education to thrive in an industry defined by rapid technological change.

A close-up shot of three young participants, likely students, collaborating at a table during a Metaversity Interactive session. One woman in a maroon top and glasses is focusing intently on a small card she is holding, while the two others (one in a suit jacket, one in a striped shirt) look on.

Metaversity Interactive brought together industry, government, and academic leaders to work with students to identify in-demand Web3 and AI skills and assess candidate readiness. Insights gathered from the forum will inform future Metaversity programs to meet real-world market needs. The session was attended by more than 50 participants, including representatives from YGG, YGG Pilipinas, Mysten Labs, Earnscape, The9Bit, CCP Games, Gunzilla Games, OP Games, Coins.ph, and the DICT, as well as graduates of the Sui Builder Program.

A wide-angle view of a workshop session titled "Vibe Coding Prompt to Prototype." A large group of attendees are seated in rows at tables, focused on their open laptops, which display code and various software interfaces. A speaker stands at the front, next to a large blue backdrop displaying the Metaversity logo and a screen showing a development interface. The room is modern, designed for a practical, hands-on learning environment.

The Base-sponsored “Prompt to Prototype” vibe coding workshop taught participants how to use no-code tools to create playable game prototypes. HOWS Asia’s Kat Gonzalez and Phee Tejada of YGG Pilipinas also launched “Creators of Play,” a program unifying the Web2 and Web3 creator landscape by providing a bridge for aspiring creators to build communities, engage, and grow. More than 100 up-and-coming creators have joined and will benefit from courses provided by Metaversity.

Immersive Creator Experiences, and More

The Summit offered various ways for creators to engage with the local community. The Creator Photo Crawl across BGC, Early Risers sports games, and Pob Crawl in Poblacion facilitated casual networking. At the expo, creators also had access to the Creator Lounge, a dedicated studio-style setup for on-site content production.

The winners of the Cosplay Showdown are posing on stage at the YGG Play Summit. The central figure, who won for their depiction of Sun Wukong/Monkey King, is wearing elaborate dark armor with golden/red accents. They are flanked by other cosplayers and organizers, with the stage backdrop reading "SHOWDOWN."

The Summit’s Cosplay Showdown saw 16 standout cosplayers contend for the top prize, with Ken Cangas winning for his depiction of Sun Wukong, or the “Monkey King.”

Coins.ph’s “Love in the Metaverse” dating contest was hosted by renowned content creators, Coins.ph Global Marketing Director Amira Alawi and Kookoo of Kookoo Crypto TV, with contestants competing for the favor of a Web3-savvy bachelorette.

Sponsors of the YGG Play Summit were tournament partners Might & Magic: Fates, Parallel, and Vibes; diamond sponsors Aurory, Coins.ph, Sky Mavis, and Ubisoft; platinum sponsors Earnscape, Pixels, Spekter Games, and Sui; gold sponsors Cambria, DWF Labs, Last Odyssey, Moonshot Play, OpenSea, RealGo, The9bit; silver sponsors Base, Beam, CryptoBilis, FanTech, GAM3S.GG, G!G Rewards, Juice Gaming News, KIN Labs, Sonzai Labs, and The Raya Clinic; and media partners BitPinas, BusinessWorld, WhenInManila.com, Unbox.ph, VRSUS, and YGG Alerts.