A16z Leads Yield Guild Games $4.6 Million Investment Round

Venture capital firm A16z has led a $4.6 million funding round in Yield Guild Games, a decentralized play guild specialized in play-to-earn universes. The funding round also saw participation from other companies. This investment will allow Yield Guild Games to keep expanding its scholarship program and searching for new opportunities in play-to-earn games.

A16z Invests in Yield Guild Games’ Play-to-Earn Bet

Yield Guild Games, a decentralized gaming guild, announced Thursday it has completed a $4.6 million funding round led by famous venture capital firm A16z. The firm also had the participation of other companies, including Kingsway Capital, Infinity Ventures Crypto, Atelier Ventures, and gaming entrepreneur Gabriel Leydon.

The gaming organization informed that the funding round was completed before the launch of their YTT token on July 27. The deal included a lock-up period for the purchased tokens of two years, and another period of two years more for vesting, signaling that investors are interested in the evolution of the company in the long run. The obtained funds will be used to further expand the reach of Yield Guild Games’ action, allowing it to invest in more NFTs in games like Axie Infinity, one of its biggest focuses.

The guild has made a big bet in the play-to-earn field, a novel gaming style that allows players to own part of their gaming gear, obtaining benefits for their actions.

A16z Considers Gaming the Next Big Market

Arianna Simpson, one of the newest general partners of A16z, considers gaming to be one of the most important investments to be made right now. Simpson told CNBC last month this was a critical market for the venture firm. She stated:

That’s a category where we expect the next hundreds of millions, billions of users to come in through.

Simpson recognizes the strength that emerging markets have to power this kind of endeavor. Regarding the recent investment in Yield Guild Games, she stated:

There is a largely untapped economic opportunity in emerging markets to provide jobs by building a virtual economy in the digital world. The way we define a “job” is quickly evolving because of crypto and gaming.

Yield Guild Games has helped thousands of players to make steady earnings that oftentimes surpass conventional job wages. Its scholarship program provides NFTs for players to participate in these worlds, splitting earnings between investors and players.