Yield Guild Games is a DAO-managed gaming collective that orchestrates the efforts of a global network of players in pursuit of token-based rewards via the play-to-earn (P2E) space.  Relevant game titles in the space include Axie Infinity, The Sandbox and Guild of Guardians. Designed to combat the initial cost barriers associated with P2E and the metaverse, Yield Guild Games actively acquires valuable NFTs that are then leased to players through the protocol’s scholarship program.

P2E game formats have proven successful, a trend mainly driven by users’ ability to earn a sustainable token-based income. But the format has resulted in cost barriers that often prevent ordinary users from participating.

Take Axie Infinity, for example. The popular NFT-based game requires that players acquire three Axies before they can start playing. Given the average cost of an Axie is roughly $350, players are looking at perhaps as much as a $1,000 upfront investment to start playing.

Yield Guild Game’s co-founder Gaby Dizon recognized the flaw in the framework and began lending out his own Axies as part of a revenue-sharing model, going back to 2018. Seeing the potential for a GameFi niche built around this concept, Dizon launched Yield Guild Games alongside fellow co-founders Beryl Li and the pseudonymous “Owl of Moistness” two years later in 2020.

The protocol has since grown beyond its Axie-based roots and currently serves as an on-boarding service for a wide-range of blockchain-based P2E game titles. Key to the protocol’s appeal is its “scholarship program,” which leases NFTs to players and provides them with educational/training services. Network SubDAOs as well as community managers dictate which assets go to whom. Those who earn tokenized rewards via the scholarship program are entitled to keep 70% of the funds, while the remaining 30% is split between Yield Guild and its community managers. In addition to Axies and other NFT-based virtual creatures, Yield Guild Game’s scholarship program allows players to lease virtual land on The Sandbox and League of Kingdoms, among other popular titles, protocol documentation explained.

YGG is the native asset of Yield Guild Games. It’s used for governance. It also acts as a means of exchange on the network.

According to Messari, YGG features a unique staking framework in which token holders can invest in specific parts of the guild’s overall revenue stream by way of a series of protocol-managed vaults.

How is the price of YGG determined?

YGG’s price is partially a function of the token’s deflationary nature. According to CoinGecko, only 1 billion YGG were minted at launch; and a smaller slice, just 88 million, are in circulation. Further YGG will be distributed in the form of validator staking rewards. A significant portion of the token’s total supply remains locked and will be released according to a pre-set vesting schedule. 

Why does YGG have value?

Yield Guild Games lowers initial cost barriers associated with P2E platforms; that in itself creates a value proposition, considering the protocol’s revenue sharing model and the limited supply of YGG tokens. Likewise, the protocol maintains a treasury stocked with scarce NFT assets capable of generating cash flow.

What are the main benefits of YGG?