Blockchain gaming guilds are the continuation of an ancient tradition. Guilds have existed since the beginning of capitalism in the four
Blockchain gaming guilds are the continuation of an ancient tradition. Guilds have existed since the beginning of capitalism in the fourteenth century. The most popular European artisan guilds were seven major guilds of Florence known as Arti Maggiori, which helped refine and improve crafts and trades from medicine to banking and weaving.
Can blockchain gaming guilds perform a similar role to help refine and improve games and gameplay? We’re in the middle of rapid experimentation to find out.
Colin Goltra, chief operating officer of Yield Guild Games — a decentralized autonomous organization — says that similar to the ancient guilds, a gaming guild is a group of players who pool their resources and collaborate to achieve greater rewards. They work with valuable in-game digital assets in games developed by decentralized communities.
As the blockchain gaming sector grows rapidly, guilds have positioned themselves as key entry points for new players, offering unique feedback loops with informative insights into game design, future gameplay and education around blockchain features of games.
Gaming guilds onboard new players
Up to date and accurate research on blockchain gaming guilds appears thin on the ground. According to BreederDAO figures, a Philippine-based blockchain gaming startup, the top 25 guilds had a potential base of 900,000 players by the end of 2021, but only 89,935 scholarships were operating. However today, YGG alone has 30,000 scholarships so those numbers are out of date, but it seems safe to say there is likely still a large untapped base out there.
Fundraising figures are also opaque. BreederDAO estimated that guilds raised more than $500 million by 2021, but DappRadar reported that guilds raised more than $320 million by the end of 2022. Adding to the fun, the World Economic Forum released a report at the end of 2022 suggesting the figure was closer to $200 million over the previous couple of years. Either way, the top guilds are well-funded despite significant revenue declines due to the impact of crypto winter. Most of the 24,000 guilds in the market right now are micro guilds of 10–100 players, while only 1% are in macro guilds with more than 1,000 players.
Gaming guilds provide education and tools, starting at the very beginning by equipping noob gamers with an understanding of NFTs and how crypto-enabled platforms work, through to much more advanced strategies on how to profit from gaming. One of the benefits is creating strong and loyal communities that pursue the goal of wider adoption of crypto and Web3 technology.
“In contrast to Web2 games, Web3 gaming communities take on a different character,” explains Goltra. YGG offers a pool of active gamers, and as a leading DAO in the blockchain gaming space, they ultimately want to bring all of their player interactions and data on-chain.
“If you can train a community to interact with on-chain games, playing with digital assets on-chain, then you have created a unique group of gamers that can generate real rewards.”
Shadow Legacy gaming guild
Shadow Legacy Guild has carved out a patch for blockchain gaming in the Eastern European market, which founder Pawel Padziunas says was underserved for a long time. They now have over 6,300 members and 19,000 Discord members, focusing on esports, tapping into players on demand and renting options.
Padziunas believes the player acquisition feature “with early game support, including testing the game, the game economy and promotion of game potential” is a vital component of their guild mechanics.
“The first thing that the guild does is education. They help players to understand and navigate the game,” he says, adding there is a big learning curve for players to understand the longer-term value of Web3 games. Like Goltra, he believes the sense of community is part of the appeal and purpose of guilds.
“Building a community around the game is important for guilds, too, and the gamers need to feel a sense of fun and want to spend time with other players,” he says. Shadow Legacy Guild prioritizes this over the potential financial rewards for players.
“For us, collecting or ownership of assets is not a must. This is a shift to a model where earning is an additional option or a bonus. The focus on education allows guilds to communicate a clear value proposition outside of the financial incentives,” he says.
This is an important point, as a purely mercenary approach to gaming is not sustainable.
“If the game is built around earning, only then it will eventually collapse, as everyone will want to remove everything valuable from the game,” Padziunas says.
Good games are better than good money
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