By Kendrick Villaruel, Co-Founder and Senior Developer, NinetySix Studios

ALT+TAB Festival 2026 became a milestone weekend for NinetySix Studios, from sharing indie game development lessons on stage to seeing Langit Lupa played in front of a live crowd.

Some weekends feel bigger after you come home from them.

For us, ALT+TAB Festival 2026 was one of those weekends. On June 20, 2026, we joined the festival at SMX Convention Center in Pasay City for a day that became more than another event on the calendar. It became a weekend of firsts for me, for GM, for the team, and for Langit Lupa: Office Wars.

It was my first time being invited as a panelist. It was one of our first times sharing more of the NinetySix story in front of a wider crowd. It was the first time our game was played on stage. It was also the first time we finally met some of our streamer and writer friends in person after only seeing each other online.

By the end of the day, I felt tired in the best way. The kind of tired that tells you something important happened.

My First Time as a Panelist

One of the biggest personal milestones for me was being invited to speak as part of PRESS START: Reimagining the Future of Game Development.

I shared pieces of my journey as a developer and founder, especially the lessons I wish I had understood earlier: build proof, find mentors, ship small games, work with teams, and stay close to communities where opportunities can happen.

Game development can look mysterious from the outside, but the path becomes more real when you see it as a chain of small steps. Make something. Upload it. Let people play it. Meet people who can sharpen your standards. Join teams. Keep improving. Repeat.

That was the heart of what I wanted to say. Talent matters, but proof, mentors, shipping, teamwork, and community are what keep turning curiosity into a real path.

Seeing Langit Lupa on Stage

Langit Lupa: Office Wars is our online multiplayer party game inspired by Filipino childhood games, reimagined inside a stylized office setting. For a long time, it has been something we built, tested, fixed, and talked about inside our own development world.

At ALT+TAB, it became something people could see and react to in a much bigger room.

For the first time, our game was played on stage. That moment felt surreal. There is a different feeling when something that lived for so long inside Unity, builds, task boards, and late-night fixes suddenly becomes a shared experience in front of people.

Thank you to PC Express for making that stage moment possible.

See the stage moment on Facebook

Meeting Friends in Person

ALT+TAB also reminded me how much of game development happens outside the code.

We met streamer friends, writer friends, and people who had supported or talked about the game online. Some of them we were meeting in person for the first time. That made the event feel less like a formal showcase and more like a community finally occupying the same physical space.

There is something special about watching people recognize the game, talk about it, and bring their own energy into the room. It makes the work feel more alive. It also makes the responsibility feel clearer: if people are willing to show up, we have to keep showing up too.

More Moments from ALT+TAB

• Facebook post from Calypso Lair
• Facebook post from Kendrick Villaruel
• Facebook post from Vampire Empress
• Facebook post from Kendrick Villaruel
• Facebook post from Kendrick Villaruel
• YouTube Short: Filipino Childhood Games Become a Video Game!

Presenting with GM

Another first: GM and I got to go on stage together to talk more about Langit Lupa.

I already knew she understood the game deeply, but watching her present it reminded me how natural she is in front of people. The game became easier to explain with her beside me. It also felt more true to the story of NinetySix, because Langit Lupa has always been a team effort, and she has been there through so much of it.

Watch the Langit Lupa presentation on YouTube

I also joined a fireside chat during the event. It was my first time casually having a conversation on stage, and honestly, it was a different kind of challenge from giving a prepared talk. You have to listen, respond, and trust that your real experience is enough.

Watch the fireside chat on YouTube

Thank You, ALT+TAB

We are grateful to Gridlock Games Studio for inviting us and for creating a space where Filipino developers, creators, players, and technology communities could meet each other.

Thank you to PC Express for helping bring Langit Lupa to the stage. Thank you to the Department of Science and Technology and the ecosystem builders who continue to make rooms like this possible for Filipino game development. Thank you to the streamer and writer friends who came, posted, recorded, played, and supported us. Thank you to our mentors and friends who have kept pushing us to become better.

Most of all, thank you to the NinetySix team.

Events like ALT+TAB matter because they turn the work into something visible. They remind us that games are not only made in private. They are made for players, shaped by communities, and strengthened by the people who believe enough to show up.

For NinetySix Studios, this weekend gave us more motivation to keep building Langit Lupa: Office Wars and to keep sharing the journey as the game grows.

Follow Langit Lupa and NinetySix Studios for more updates. We are just getting started.