It’s the most wonderful time of the year, the time to look back and consider what we learned during 2025 and how to make the most of that knowledge in 2026.
In this article we catch up with Yield Guild Games co-founder Gabby Dizon.
What was the most significant trend for blockchain games in 2025?
Gabby Dizon: The biggest trend was the rise of Casual Degen games. These are games that are casual to play and inexpensive to produce, but still have deep economic loops.
Part of the problem over the last few years is that games became so expensive to make that teams had to raise at high valuations, and so they released tokens at high valuations. That hasn’t gone well for a lot of projects.
If you can build games with strong economies that are cheaper to produce, you can bring them out cheaper, keep valuations lower, allow the community to get in early, and make sure anyone can benefit.
How did YGG adapt to these changes?
That’s why we launched the YGG Play Launchpad. When we first released LOL Land, we saw there was real demand for this type of game. We want YGG Play to be the home of Casual Degen games.
How do you think this will change in 2026?
In 2026, we’re really going to see a culling in the market. The projects that last won’t necessarily be the ones that raised the most money. They’ll be the ones that can make products that the crypto market actually wants to use.
We’ve been saying for a very long time that the time is now for crypto applications, and I think the market is finally getting tired of infrastructure projects. So now we’ll see what type of applications will be successful.
What was your favourite blockchain game during 2025?
LOL Land, obviously. Not just because it’s my game. It’s the type of game I personally enjoy playing.
Another favorite is Gigaverse. I kept coming back every day. On the surface, it looks simple, but they built so many gameplay loops on top of it. They also had a really smart approach to monetization, pricing things in USD so players always know what they’re paying. I think that should be the standard going forward.
What’s your New Year’s resolution, and what resolution would you enforce on the industry?
This goes back to the Casual Degen thesis. A lot of people have been building crypto games for non-crypto people, and that doesn’t really make sense. We’re going back to what we believed in from the start. Delivering crypto games for crypto natives.
There’s nothing really to enforce. Developers are already recognizing the value in the Casual Degen category. I just wish the industry would go back to community-based, low-valuation launches, where the community can get in early and grow with the game.
Games like Gigaverse, Cambria, Fishing Frenzy, GIGACHADBAT, Proof of Play Arcade, Waifu Sweeper, and of course, LOL Land, are already showing what that looks like.
Read all our End of Year features via the EOY 2025 tag.
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