Yield Guild Games cuts 35 jobs, shuts YGG Play as crypto gaming wanes

Yield Guild Games will shut down YGG Play, its crypto game publishing arm, and cut 35 jobs after weak demand in the web3 gaming sector pushed the company toward AI data services, the firm said July 7.

"The sunsetting of YGG Play is a heavy decision, but it is a market decision, not a product decision," Gabby Dizon, co-founder of Yield Guild Games, said.

The shutdown will affect 35 workers across different teams. YGG said it would help those employees find new roles and invited companies to contact it for hiring referrals. The company will retire the YGG Play website, launchpad, and community rewards platform. It will also stop marketing support for third-party games. LOL Land and Waifu Sweeper will be taken down, while GIGACHADBAT and Ragnarok Breaker will continue through their own studios.

YGG said the Oct. 10 market crash changed retail trading behavior and reduced the liquidity that many consumer crypto apps need. Bitcoin later fell below $60,000, while several altcoins lost 80% or more from prior levels. The company said YGG Play had shown early traction before conditions worsened — it signed nine games, worked with intellectual property brands such as Pudgy Penguins, launched a publishing platform, and passed $9 million in lifetime revenue by the end of the first quarter of 2026.

Pivot toward AI data services

YGG said it will now move resources into the AI data economy. Its first focus will be a business-to-business pipeline for gaming datasets that can help train AI models. The company said games can produce useful data because players make fast and complex decisions during play. YGG said its global community can help create behavioral datasets by playing games and completing related tasks.

YGG also pointed to its AI Alerts channel, formerly YGG Alerts, as part of the new direction. The company said the channel has already brought in 27,000 applications in its first five days by connecting Filipino workers with remote AI training jobs.

The restructuring extends YGG's operating runway to four years. The company held $20.6 million in its treasury as of the end of the first quarter, including $6.2 million in stablecoins, T-bills, and large-cap tokens.

The move adds to broader job cuts across crypto and gaming. Kraken cut about 150 jobs as AI tools took on a larger role across the exchange. Coinbase, Gemini, and Dune also reduced staff this year while reshaping operations. BitGo cut nearly 15% of its workforce while shifting focus toward security, trading, stablecoins, settlement, and AI infrastructure. The web3 gaming sector has also faced pressure — blockchain gaming activity fell in 2025 as user numbers dropped, funding slowed, and hundreds of gaming apps went inactive.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.