Gaming, IP, and the Open Metaverse at WOW Summit Hong Kong 2025: How HK Can Lead the Next Creator-Economy Cycle

Gaming, IP, and the Open Metaverse at WOW Summit Hong Kong 2025: How HK Can Lead the Next Creator-Economy Cycle - Blockchain.News

Animoca-anchored ecosystem, interoperable assets, and virtual property rights—why Asia’s gaming pipeline gives HK a global edge.

At WOW Summit Hong Kong 2025, gaming and creator platforms weren’t side shows—they were part of the main economic story. Across two days at AsiaWorld-Expo (Sept 9–10), the program paired Web3 with AI and spotlighted tokenisation/RWA, but it also brought marquee gaming builders to the same stage as policymakers and banks. That blend—culture + capital + compliance—is why Hong Kong has a credible shot at leading the next creator-economy cycle.

The anchor: an Animoca-centered Web3-gaming hub already based in Hong Kong

Animoca Brands is headquartered in Hong Kong and has spent years investing across Web3 gaming and creator infrastructure (hundreds of portfolio companies). Its co-founder Yat Siu—a Hong Kong Web3 task force appointee—featured among WOW’s headline names alongside The Sandbox’s Sébastien Borget. This isn’t just optics: Animoca continues to back new titles, studios, and IP collaborations in 2025, reinforcing a local flywheel.

Policy tailwind: virtual assets in law, stablecoin licensing live

Hong Kong’s regulatory footing has tightened since 2023. Courts recognized cryptocurrency as “property” capable of being held on trust (Re Gatecoin) and issued further guidance on distributing crypto trust assets in 2025—important precedents for any economy built on digital ownership. Meanwhile, the Stablecoins Ordinance (effective 1 Aug 2025) created a licensing regime under the HKMA—critical rails for in-game settlement, marketplaces, and tokenised IP revenues.

On the market side, the SFC has refined licensing for virtual-asset trading platforms and publishes the status of VATPs—useful for compliant secondary markets where game assets (within the rules) can trade.

Why gaming + IP mattered on the WOW stage

Pre-event materials and press listed HK officials (FSTB, SFC) and gaming leaders (Animoca, The Sandbox) among featured speakers—signalling that creator-economy infrastructure sits inside the broader Web3 agenda, not outside it. Event wrap-ups also noted a dedicated RWA track and 4,000+ attendees from 30+ countries, illustrating institutional and cross-border interest that spills into gaming IP and metaverse tooling.

What gives Hong Kong a comparative advantage

1) IP trading + creator economy policy work in motion

The government has positioned Hong Kong as a regional IP trading centre and, in 2024–2025, consulted on copyright and AI (including possible text-and-data-mining exceptions). For game studios and UGC platforms, clearer IP rules around AI assets and data use reduce friction for creation and remix.

2) Legal clarity on digital property rights

Court decisions confirming crypto as property—and further directions on distribution of crypto held on trust—give creators, marketplaces, and custodians firmer ground when designing asset rights, royalties, and recovery processes. Hong Kong has even piloted tokenised injunctions to freeze on-chain funds, an innovation relevant to combating fraud in creator marketplaces.

3) Institution-grade rails connecting games to finance

With stablecoin licensing live and VATPs under SFC oversight, the pieces exist to support compliant cashflows from game economies—whether that’s fiat-settled marketplace payouts, tokenised fan items, or IP-linked reward programs. The Standard Chartered–Animoca–HKT joint venture (Anchorpoint Financial) to apply for a HK stablecoin licence underscores that blue-chip settlement rails are on the way.

4) A deep Asia gaming pipeline

From mobile-first markets to esports ecosystems, Asia’s studios and publishers are prolific. Animoca’s ongoing investments and partnerships (from metaverse platforms like The Sandbox to new titles and esports tie-ins) funnel IP, capital, and distribution into Hong Kong.

Six buildable plays for the “open metaverse” out of Hong Kong

Interoperable avatar & asset layers for studios
Developer toolkits that help traditional game teams add wallet login, NFT-less “account abstraction” custody, and bridgeable cosmetics across titles—deployed through VATP-integrated marketplaces for compliant trading. Citeable precedent: SFC-listed VATPs and HKMA stablecoin rules for settlement.
IP licensing exchanges for UGC
Smart-contract licensing that tokenises use-rights to characters, music, or art inside game engines, with clear revocation/audit hooks. This aligns with Hong Kong’s IP-trading policy direction and active copyright-and-AI consultations.
Creator-royalty clearing with regulated stablecoins
Payout rails using HK-licensed stablecoins (once live) to settle royalties to creators and studios on weekly cycles, with audit-ready reporting for publishers and labels. The Anchorpoint JV indicates institutional interest in exactly these rails.
Game-asset custody and provenance services
Qualified custody tailored to in-game assets (including off-chain proofs), mapping neatly to Hong Kong’s recognition of digital assets as property and SFC expectations for platforms.
Anti-fraud and rights-enforcement tooling
On-chain evidence kits and, where needed, tokenised injunction implementations to freeze assets tied to scams—directly relevant to UGC marketplaces and secondary sales.
RWA-adjacent fan economies (within the perimeter)
Tokenised access passes or revenue-sharing where permitted by securities law; for most teams, start with utility access and verifiable benefits rather than yield. Note the policy context and cross-border sensitivities (e.g., CSRC guidance affecting some Mainland brokers’ RWA work in HK).

Risks & realities to price in

Licensing & disclosures aren’t optional. If your marketplace touches issuance, custody, or secondary trading, design for SFC/VATP rules and HKMA stablecoin conditions from day one.
Cross-border sensitivity is real. The CSRC’s reported request to some brokers to pause RWA activities in Hong Kong shows that Mainland policy can influence deal flow and narrative. Build with entity separation and conservative communications.
IP and AI law keeps evolving. Hong Kong has completed consultations but is still calibrating copyright-and-AI updates; product roadmaps should anticipate further guidance.

Bottom line: Hong Kong’s “open metaverse” advantages are structural

Few hubs combine (i) tier-one gaming investors/operators (Animoca, The Sandbox), (ii) clearer court-recognized digital property rights, and (iii) live stablecoin/VATP regimes that let creators and studios plug into compliant money flows. WOW Summit HK 2025 made that convergence visible on one stage. For builders and brands, Hong Kong’s metaverse thesis isn’t about speculative land grabs—it’s about interoperable IP, enforceable ownership, and settlement rails that institutions can use.

Sources: WOW Summit Hong Kong 2025 site & speakers; agenda and themes. WOW Summit+2Wow Summit+2, Government/IP policy and AI-copyright consultations. Intellectual Property Department+2Intellectual Property Department+2, Courts on digital assets as “property” and related enforcement innovations. Akin - Akin, an Elite Global Law Firm+2Herbert Smith Freehills+2, Stablecoin licensing regime (HKMA) and passage of the ordinance (May → Aug 2025 in force). Reuters+1, Institutional rails signal: Standard Chartered–Animoca–HKT stablecoin JV. Reuters, Attendance/track recap mentioning RWA and 4,000+ participants. MEXC

Image source: Shutterstock