When the crypto market lurched and many Web3 gaming projects spiralled downward, YGG made a quiet pivot that’s only now showing its significance. Instead of chasing token pumps or speculative asset plays, YGG leaned into its community—into shared mission-driven activity, skill development and identity building—and that strategy is showing up now as a model for building resilience during the downturn. Where many guilds tied their fortunes to asset values and token price cycles, YGG doubled down on community behaviour, shared goals and long-term capacity rather than short-term flips. That shift matters because when prices drop, communities that were built on the belief “we’ll make money” crumble; the ones built on belief “we’ll grow together” survive.
For years, the cornerstone of YGG’s community programme was the Guild Advancement Program (GAP). From Season 1 onwards, GAP offered quests, missions and achievement-driven tasks to members across game-play, content creation, community participation and more. Season 1 alone delivered over 102,000 YGG tokens and more than 1,000 NFTs as rewards, all tied to active contribution rather than passive asset holding. This wasn’t just a rewards scheme—it was a deliberate practice of skill-building, content creation and community leadership. Players streamed, helped others learn, created events, produced tutorials. YGG turned members into builders and contributors, not just gamers. In a market where yield dried up and token valuation tumbled, the value these members carried was not just speculative—it was reputational, communal and durable.
Parallel to GAP, YGG launched Metaversity in the Philippines and other regions. This programme aimed at equipping members with transferable skills: Web3 fundamentals, content creation, AI tools, community management, digital-economy literacies. Reportedly YGG expanded the Metaversity ahead of its YGG Play Summit 2025. The strategic point wasn’t how many tokens someone could earn this month, but how many useful skills someone could carry into future roles—content creator, game tester, community lead, regional manager. By building those capabilities even while the market was soft, YGG seeded long-term value that remains even if token prices wander.
This community-first philosophy is neatly summarised in co-founder Gabby Dizon’s words: “We build our communities because they like to do activities together. We don’t build communities because of a certain price of an asset.” That statement stands out precisely because during bear markets most projects double down on token utilities, price rebounds and speculation. YGG took a different route—activity, belonging, collective growth. This philosophy isn’t idealistic fluff; it shows up in programmes designed to reward behaviour, reputation and contribution across seasons.
One of the most telling shifts came when YGG announced that Season 10 of GAP would be the final seasonal iteration under that format. That didn’t mean YGG was abandoning mission design or community programmes; it meant they were evolving them. Instead of checklist-quests tied to tokens, they aimed to rationalise and deepen the systems: rewarding active contributors, creators, top players, community builders—not simply anyone who completed tasks. This update highlights that YGG saw value in structuring community mechanics that out-last token cycles, rather than dependent on price alone. It signalled a transition from “task-for-reward” to “value-creation for reputation”.
What this approach accomplishes in a bear market is multi-fold. First, it anchors retention. When community members identify with shared missions and creators they follow or work alongside, they aren’t easily swayed by token crashes. They show up because they belong. Second, it builds a talent pipeline. Metaversity graduates, GAP achievers, creators trained for YGG’s ecosystem become part of the guild’s engine rather than peripheral members. Third, it shifts value from speculative assets to reputational credentials. In the post-yield era, what players carry is less about what NFT they hold and more about what they’ve done, who they know, what content they created.
For example, through GAP Season 1 over 500 members participated, claim-ed achievement NFTs, coordinated content and community tasks. In Season 9 they expanded to over 27,000 questers, including 14,800 first-timers—signals of scale even when the market was tough. That growth despite adverse conditions underscores that the engine wasn’t only asset-driven, it was participation-driven. One could argue that YGG built during the quiet before the next wave—investing in people and infrastructure when many others focused on token price and hype.
Studios and gaming partners too benefit from this community-first model. For a game publisher looking to launch in a bear market or transition period, plugging into a guild that offers not just players but creators, mission systems, trained talent and community-behavior mechanics is a strong proposition. YGG’s community structure gives games access to contributors who already know how to build content, engage audiences, lead groups and localise. In that sense, YGG doesn’t just provide a “guild network” any more—it provides a community infrastructure that outlasts ups and downs in price.
Of course, the strategy isn’t without risk. Giving priority to community-building over immediate token value may stretch patience of some members in down cycles. The transition away from purely token-qu est-based mechanics means YGG must ensure its newer models reward value appropriately—for example, upgrading creators, regional leads or mission builders. Also in a bear market, resources may be scarcer, attention harder to secure, but YGG’s structural investment in skills and contribution may cushion those pressures.
When you zoom out, you see how this fits into the broader narrative of Web3 gaming moving beyond the yield bubble. The early P2E era raised players’ hopes with asset rents and token drops; the next era demands genuine ecosystem value, sustainable communities, creator economies and real skills. YGG’s emphasis on community over price places it at the front of that shift. Their programmes—GAP, Metaversity and others—are practical expressions of this philosophy.
In summary: while many guilds doubled down on price and assets in the downturn, YGG built its community. It recognised that in bear markets you don’t rely on hype—you rely on people, skills, identity and shared activity. By designing programmes that reward contribution and build capacity, not just asset holdings, YGG is creating something that can survive cycles. Community in a bear market may not deliver immediate riches—but it delivers resilience. And when the next wave arrives, those who built while others paused may lead. YGG appears to be one of them.
