Yield Guild Games: 10 Games We’re Invested In
The prospect of earning yield from playing video games is an alluring idea that has expanded to include more than just the traditional esports industry. Especially in areas of the world that are disadvantaged in terms of access to income-earning opportunities, the play-to-earn movement represents not just a lifeline but a revolutionary new model of employment.
As such, blockchain gaming is now a primary force driving cryptocurrency adoption in 2021. YGG is proud to be at the forefront of this movement, with the YGG DAO laying the foundation for a system that positively impacts the lives of millions — potentially even billions — of motivated individuals.
This article takes a look at ten play-to-earn games that Yield Guild Games (YGG) has invested in and formed partnerships with.
All these games have the following in common:
- They focus on NFTs.
- Players own their in-game assets and can operate, loan, trade or sell them.
- The games have a strong yield component so players can generate income.
- They have a guild, team, or league component to incentivize group effort.
By collaborating with these games early on, YGG is investing in the future of the play-to-earn movement while securing privileged access for its player guild for years to come.
League of Kingdoms
Available on both PC and mobile devices, League of Kingdoms is an empire-building simulation game with medieval and fantasy elements.
The game is neatly compartmentalized into non-blockchain and blockchain components, meaning players need not have a background in cryptocurrency to play the game. For those who are interested in the blockchain component, League of Kingdoms sells plots of land as NFTs. Landowners are entitled to a percentage of the stablecoin DAI, which is earned from in-app purchases, based on the relative activity of players on their land.
In addition to the land ownership component, resources accumulated in the game (such as gold, timber, and food) can be tokenized and sold as NFTs on the open market.
In January, YGG acquired a sizeable portion of land in League of Kingdoms in anticipation of its future growth and has since established a full-time presence there. The game is heavy on multiplayer strategy and emphasizes cooperative efforts, making it the perfect candidate for inclusion in the Yield Guild portfolio.
The YGG DAO treasury holds 286 parcels of land in League of Kingdoms.
F1 Delta Time
In this Formula 1 driving simulation game, NFTs are used to represent cars, drivers, car parts, helmets, and other items related to racing.
F1 Delta Time players fine-tune their vehicles, learn the ins-and-outs of handling them, and complete time trials in order to qualify for multiplayer races. Winners of races are rewarded with REVV tokens which can be used to buy game items or sold on the open market.
There is a moderate-to-strong degree of skill involved in shaving off seconds from lap times, which makes all the difference in competition. This aspect, along with the game’s emphasis on racing in teams, are two of the primary motivations for YGG’s decision to invest in F1 Delta Time.
The YGG DAO treasury holds 130 Common Keys and 328 Parts for F1 Delta Time.
The Sandbox
Still largely in beta development, The Sandbox is more geared towards artistic types than most other games mentioned in this article. Like some of the other games, plots of virtual land can be purchased in The Sandbox.
Rather than restricting players to using preexisting game components, creators are encouraged to build their own in-game items from the ground up. They can also export these creations as NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain to use how they wish.
Landowners can do with their plot whatever they see fit — even developing their own games, rules, and reward systems for anyone’s participation or just a select group.
The Sandbox is reinventing the idea of virtual worlds by adding a novel degree of creative flexibility and YGG sees huge potential in establishing an early presence there. With a 62,000-strong membership base, as massive as Yield Guild’s, The Sandbox is one way to let the talents of our guild’s most creative members really shine.
The YGG DAO treasury owns 180 NFTs representing LAND assets in The Sandbox.
Star Atlas
Star Atlas is an ambitious space-themed game that combines a novel array of elements, including exploration, colonization, combat, and decentralized finance (DeFi).
Expected to be in development for at least another year, the game will likely be one of the most advanced of its kind when launched. Players will be able to earn crypto rewards through single-player activities as well as combat competitions, where NFTs are put up for stake and awarded to the victor.
Yield Guild appreciates the amount of effort being put into Star Atlas and believes the game will offer some exciting new ways to earn yield, both passively and actively. As the game also possesses an intricate co-op element, it is a perfect place for the guild to establish a presence upon launch.
The YGG DAO has a strategic partnership with Star Atlas.
Illuvium
With wholly original, high-quality, four-dimensional NFT designs (to date, most other NFT-based games have been based on two-dimensional artwork), Illuvium is a modern role-playing game (RPG) where players collect, breed, and battle characters known as Illuvials.
Players can earn different amounts of $ILV, Illuvium’s in-game currency, by defeating computer opponents. Characters can be upgraded with an assortment of items and stored as NFTs. Illuvium makes use of the Immutable X platform which means players can save on the gas fees associated with NFT transfers on the Ethereum network.
Like YGG, Illuvium is currently transitioning to DAO status, meaning its future will be put in the hands of its players and holders of $ILV. The competitive battle aspect is one of the most important to Yield Guild. This is where the guild’s effort in equipping characters for battle can lead to big payouts to be shared by all.
The YGG DAO has made an early-stage investment in Illuvium.
ZED RUN
ZED RUN is a virtual horse racing game set against a futuristic cyber world backdrop. Players register their own virtual stable and purchase racehorse NFTs. Horses possess different characteristics and can be bred, resulting in new combinations of genetics for offspring. Players pay entry fees into races, with the placing horse owners winning a cut of the proceeds.
ZED RUN is based on the Polygon network (formerly known as Matic), which means game-related transactions are close to free and settled near instantly.
The developers of the game seek to democratize its ownership and intend to continually evolve based on player feedback, which puts ZED RUN in alignment with YGG’s philosophy of taking a player-first approach in development.
YGG is currently building a team of players that will own a stable of racehorses in ZED RUN to race and breed. Over the longer term, YGG plans to set up a subDAO dedicated to ZED RUN.
The YGG DAO treasury currently holds 118 Zed Run horses.
Guild of Guardians
Unlike many of the other games in this list, Guild of Guardians is a purely mobile-based game, built using Immutable X (as with Illuvium).
The game is described as a multiplayer fantasy action RPG, where players work in teams to compete for rewards. Expected to be released sometime in 2022, teasers for the game showcase its amazing graphics, which will put it on par with the best of any mobile game currently available.
Yield Guild has already purchased an ultra-rare Mythic Guild NFT within Guild of Guardians that allows the owner to create a guild with up to 50 elite members — the largest of its kind in the game.
YGG also purchased 50 Adventurers Guild, allowing YGG to cater for up to 1,000 of its own guild members to play the game.
In summary, the YGG DAO treasury owns 1 Mythic Guild, 50 Adventurers Guild, and 70 Legendary Heroes in Guild of Guardians.
Ember Sword
A mixture of fantasy, exploration, and strategy-based gameplay, Ember Sword describes itself as “the ultimate sandbox MMORPG,” combining advanced gameplay mechanics with the latest in smart contract developments.
In-game items are referred to as “cosmetics” and assigned to players in the form of NFTs. Ember Sword’s in-game currency is Embers, a token that can be earned passively through land ownership or through completing missions and killing monsters.
While the game itself is still in development, Yield Guild has already acquired significant property in Ember Sword and is encouraged by the high degree of flexibility it will offer players and landowners. This gives the game promising potential to create new andsignificant forms of economic activity for the metaverse.
The YGG DAO treasury holds 16 NFTs (16 city plots) representing land parcels in Ember Sword.
Splinterlands
Splinterlands is a turn-based digital trading card game in a similar vein as Magic the Gathering or Yu-Gi-Oh.
Purchased in digital packs, these NFT cards can be traded on the open market. Players collect cards, assemble their decks, and battle for prizes, pitting their monsters against each other, aided in combat by magic and special abilities.
The game is playable on both PCs and mobile devices, and across three different blockchains (Ethereum, TRON, and WAX).
Having been in the works since 2018, Splinterlands has already onboarded over 250,000 players, demonstrating its product to be not only functional but popular. YGG has invested in several categories of Splinterlands digital assets, which include card packs, land upon which resources can be generated and sold, and upgrades to facilitate reward earnings.
The game also features a guild component through which players can work together for bigger rewards, which makes it a perfect addition to the activities of YGG DAO.
The YGG DAO treasury holds a total of 6,252 Splinterlands Regions and Untamed packs.
Axie Infinity
The game that kick-started YGG’s journey into play-to-earn, Axie Infinity is a player-versus-player (or player-versus-computer) Pokémon-esque game where players breed and battle digital pets known as Axies.
Teams of three Axies are pitted in battle against one another, with rewards going to the victor. Rewards come in the form of SLP, an Ethereum token required if gamers wish to breed their Axies. The Axies themselves are NFTs with varying degrees of uniqueness; some of the rarest Axies have fetched hundreds of thousands of dollars in open NFT markets.
In August 2021, Axie Infinity celebrated a milestone when it reached over 1 million Daily Active Users, making it the biggest blockchain-integrated game in the world.
As the beginnings of YGG are heavily rooted in the game, Axie Infinity will be the dominant source of income for the YGG DAO in its early stages. Yield Guild members have already earned over 64 million SLP tokens to date, at a cumulative value of approximately $9.97 million.
The YGG DAO treasury holds 26,000 Axies, worth an estimated $3.9 million. This is in addition to 235 parcels of Axie Infinity land, worth around $2.3 million.
To learn more about Yield Guild, read the YGG whitepaper here. Join the YGG Discord or follow us on Twitter for future updates.
