A16z Leads $4.6M Investment in Yield Guild Games

The funding will be used to invest in virtual worlds in the play-to-earn space.

By Tanzeel Akhtar

Aug 19, 2021 at 6:41 p.m. UTC

Updated Sep 14, 2021 at 1:42 p.m. UTC

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Decentralized gaming startup Yield Guild Games (YGG) has raised $4.6 million in a funding round led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), YGG announced Thursday.

Other participating investors included venture capital firm Kingsway Capital, Infinity Ventures Crypto, Atelier Ventures and the gaming entrepreneur Gabriel Leydon.
YGG describes itself as a "play-to-earn gaming guild." It allows gamers to earn tokens through blockchain-based economies.
Funding will be used by YGG to invest in digital assets in the play-to-earn games virtual world and to expand its community of over 48,000 gamers, said the firm in a press release.
“The intersection of crypto and gaming is one of the most exciting areas in tech today,” said Arianna Simpson, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz.
Simpson added YGG is at the center of the growing play-to-earn sector, "where more of the value is retained by the players and community, rather than the gaming platforms."
In August, YGG and cryptocurrency exchange FTX signed a sponsorship deal in which Axie Infinity players from developing countries will receive scholarship funds. The deal with FTX involves YGG loaning non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to players who cannot afford to buy their own, under a revenue-sharing agreement.

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