What Bear Market? YGG Goes Big on Gaming NFTs with Token Launch

Defying the funk that’s gripped the broader crypto market, Yield Guild Games (YGG) announced today that it will release its YGG token on July 27 on Sushiswap’s MISO launchpad.

The move comes as NFTs are increasingly being utilized in gaming. Launched in October 2020, YGG is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that invests in NFTs; specifically those used in virtual worlds and blockchain-based games such as Axie Infinity, The Sandbox and League of Kingdoms. The project aims to bring new players to the Metaverse by giving them a way to share in the potential upside of the platforms they use.

Profit-sharing Model

Play-to-earn games like Axie Infinity have seen explosive growth over the last year, becoming a major source of income in developing nations. YGG is betting that the future of work lies in the virtual economy and looks to bridge DeFi concepts like yield farming and distributed ownership to blockchain gaming.

YGG invests in virtual land and other NFT assets that it rents out to players in exchange for a share of their in-game rewards. This profit-sharing model, called “Scholarships’, allows new users to start playing and earning while minimizing their up-front cost of participation.

“Yield Guild has awarded 2,000 scholarships till date to onboard new players based in developing countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Venezuela, Brazil and India,” the project said. “Collectively, these scholars have earned over 17 million Smooth Love Potions (SLP), the in-game reward token in Axie Infinity, converting to a value of over USD $2 million.”

Funding Round

The YGG token entitles holders to fractional ownership of the guild’s NFT portfolio, in addition to the right to vote on proposals and a share of the profits.

YGG raised $1.325m in March 2021 in a seed round led by Delphi Digital. This was followed by a $4M Series A funding round just last week led by e-sports fund BITKRAFT.

The YGG token will have a total supply of 1 billion, with 45% allocated to community programs, including new user acquisition and staking rewards for YGG token holders.

The majority of tokens allocated to the team and investors are locked for a minimum of one year, with linear vesting thereafter. More details can be found in the project’s whitepaper.