Sinjin Discusses MAYG and Future of Gaming

We had the pleasure of sitting down with Sinjin David Jung, founder of MAYG and Peeking Duck Studios, to discuss financial inclusion, sustainable in-game economies, and the challenges of bridging web2 and web3 gaming audiences.

Sinjin has combined his background in esports, fintech, and gaming regulation to build a game studio focused on the long-term potential of web3 gaming. His career, which began in esports in the late 1990s, includes work in government consulting, fintech ventures, and gaming regulation. These experiences have shaped how he approaches game development in an industry where technology and expectations change rapidly.

Sinjin Discusses MAYG and Future of Gaming

The Foundations of MAYG

Sinjin’s decision to establish MAYG was influenced by his long-standing interest in financial inclusion and developmental economics. Before starting the studio, he worked extensively in microfinance, but adoption was difficult because many financial instruments only function effectively at scale. When he came across Axie Infinity, it was not as a gamer but while exploring marketing distribution channels for financial projects. The rapid adoption of that game convinced him that gaming could provide a practical entry point for true financial inclusion.

“I'm extremely lucky because the person who has the studio and is the executive producer are extremely experienced and accomplished in the video game development industry. myself being in tech for the last 25 years has prepared me for how fast the industry evolves. It's very easy to become obsolete in Tech and that's even more true in crypto. I think the danger in crypto though is that sometimes we completely disregard other Industries and the experience and learnings from those Industries in place of something that is able to get speculative attention.”

He saw web3 gaming as an interdisciplinary field where his background in esports, fintech, and gaming regulation could converge. His goal was not simply to create another game but to design systems capable of sustaining an open economy that benefits players while maintaining balanced gameplay.

“For me web3 gaming was the ideal interdisciplinary field where a lot of my experience and desire to create a product that worked on all fronts specifically for things like microfinance and financial inclusion could work.”

Sinjin Discusses MAYG and Future of Gaming

Systemic Approach to Game Development

The development of MAYG has been defined by a deliberate focus on systems rather than short-term narratives. Sinjin emphasizes that many web3 projects have underestimated the scope of building an open economy that includes both in-game activity and secondary markets. He compares the process not to crossing a small pond in a rowboat but to sailing toward a new land with no clear navigation.

“I don't think what we've done is different, rather it's been a lot more involved. I think many web3 gaming projects haven't understood all the implications and all the possible issues and how large the scope really is of creating a holistic system that can handle both an in-game economy and the secondary market as a complete open economy.”

This outlook has led MAYG to prioritize competitive gameplay, the design of sustainable economic systems, and gradual optimization and polish. Instead of emphasizing early visuals or surface-level appeal, the studio has concentrated on balance, fairness, and the long-term durability of its systems. Sinjin notes that managing an open economy requires continuous live operations, where issues are solved in real time using tools and processes developed in advance, rather than patched through iterative fixes.

“If you take an iterated approach to solving open game economy issues then the liabilities of that system may be too great and too late of a fix to save the entire economy. Since September 2021 I have spent every day without exaggeration, working on and refining the systems and tools that could possibly allow us to manage whatever situation that comes up.”

Sinjin Discusses MAYG and Future of Gaming

Balancing Gameplay and Economy

One of the central challenges in building MAYG has been maintaining a balance between competitive gameplay and a sustainable in-game economy. For Sinjin, the game cannot succeed without being fundamentally fair and enjoyable. At the same time, its economic systems must be resilient enough to adapt to unpredictable situations.

“The best analogy I can give here is that an open game economy is something like a marriage and that in a marriage you are committed to one another for better or worse and so you need to be able to manage expectations and also address whatever needs to be solved to move forward to the next stage where there's progress. Whereas if you take an iterative approach which may lead to a pivot, then the solution would be simply to realize that you're incompatible with that person and to start dating a new person.”  

He describes the process as similar to a marriage, where the commitment lies in working through challenges rather than abandoning the system when problems arise. This philosophy has guided MAYG’s design process since 2021, with the team refining tools to ensure that the economy can withstand stress without undermining the value for existing players.

“I think that iterative approach has a place when you're developing the systems to put into the game but when the economy is alive it's a matter of management. To go back to the relationship analogy, you can date as many people as you'd like and get to know yourself better, so you can make the best choice in who you would want to have as a life partner. But once that choice is made it is no longer about compatibility it is more about building something together and simply figuring things out to get to the next step. If you take enough of those steps eventually the track record and the progress will make it sustainable.”

Sinjin Discusses MAYG and Future of Gaming

Bringing Web2 Players to Web3

Sinjin is direct about the differences between web2 and web3 audiences. He argues that most web3 users are not traditional gamers but speculators, and that growth depends on attracting players from the established gaming community. In his view, gamers are skeptical of blockchain because of past scams and over-commercialization. They value authenticity and fairness, and will only embrace blockchain if it provides undeniable improvements to ownership, revenue, or scalability.

Rather than presenting blockchain as a feature in itself, Sinjin believes it should be integrated only where it adds visible value. If blockchain functions merely as another payment method, it does not justify the complexity of being categorized as a web3 game.

“I always wanted to give the benefit of the doubt that there was a new player base in web3 but the reality is that most participants in web3 are not players rather they are speculators who are gamers. The harsh reality is that if you want your game to grow you must introduce the game to traditional gamers. Our understanding at this point would be that if there is growth with traditional Gamers then the speculative web 3 gamers will engage in a more collector or asset Speculator role. We don’t believe there is a gap, but two very different markets and wouldn’t consider 95% of web3 players actual gamers for your game.”

Sinjin Discusses MAYG and Future of Gaming

Lessons Across Industries

Sinjin believes traditional studios can learn from the missteps of web3 developers, particularly the risks of overpromising, building communities too early, or focusing too heavily on demos rather than complete development. Conversely, web3 developers must recognize the complexity of building sustainable economies and resist the temptation to rely solely on speculative attention.

For him, the difficulty of web3 game development lies beyond making a fun game but in also designing an integrated system where ownership and economic participation add meaningful value. This, he argues, requires vision, authenticity, and an understanding of both gaming and monetary economics.

“I think what traditional studios can learn is what not to do. They can learn to not develop in the open with an actual real game development build.  I would say a majority of what the industry thinks is good open game development is rather a series of mini demos that actually take away from the real development of getting to launch. They can learn about managing community expectations of not over promising and not creating a community before there is a tangible product that can provide enough gameplay where there is enough content or material that a community can get behind. Ironically though I would say for most established games Studios this is common sense.”

Sinjin Discusses MAYG and Future of Gaming

Launch and Community Building

MAYG is currently in Early Access, with its marketplace expected soon and the in-game token scheduled for release. The studio’s immediate priority is stress-testing the in-game economy to ensure its resilience at scale. Rather than aiming for mass adoption in the short term, Sinjin’s strategy is to build a dedicated base of 1,000 committed players. He believes that a strong core community will naturally encourage growth, as players introduce their friends and expand the ecosystem organically.

Community feedback has been most valuable in refining competitive balance. While development cannot be directed by committee, Sinjin acknowledges that feedback at key stages has been essential to achieving fairness and playability.

“Right now our game is fundamentally in Early Access but the marketplace build will come out at the end of this month and the in-game token will be released by next month. Our only focus is stress testing the in-game economy and making sure all the systems are in place to manage its scale. We are supremely confident in our revenue model to drive the economy but we will take it step by step.”

Sinjin Discusses MAYG and Future of Gaming

The Future of Web3 Gaming

Looking ahead, Sinjin predicts that within the next two years, a small number of breakout web3 games will achieve mainstream adoption and set new standards for the industry. Within three to five years, he expects web3 gaming to be regarded simply as part of gaming’s evolution, provided that blockchain is applied in a way that fundamentally changes ownership, revenue, and scalability.

For MAYG, success is defined not only by adoption numbers or community size but by building a sustainable open economy where players contribute to the growth of the game through what Sinjin calls “user-generated economic engines.” If that system proves robust, adoption and scale will follow naturally.

“It will become just gaming, not because the tech is seamless, but because a game has applied blockchain in a way that fundamentally changes how games operate in terms of ownership, revenue and scaling. If that never happens, then it will stay a meaningless triggering category of failed gaming approaches. It has nothing to do whether it is seamless or not.”

Personal Reflections

Reflecting on his journey, Sinjin notes that if he could begin again, he would not have invested in building blockchain infrastructure, anticipating that venture funding would eventually cover those costs. Outside of his work with MAYG, he continues to play Dota 2 regularly and imagines a future where large-scale battles combine elements of StarCraft: Brood War and EVE Online.