The 'shutdown of a game' is an eternal pain for traditional players, where all investments instantly vanish. In the Web3 world, NFTs grant permanent ownership of assets, but a sharper question arises: if a blockchain game itself loses vitality or even comes to an end, where will the value of the NFTs relying on it be anchored? For Yield Guild Games (YGG), which holds a vast number of game NFTs, this is not only a risk but also a survival question that must be answered.
The cruel reality: the binding of NFT value and game lifecycle
It must be acknowledged that the core value of the vast majority of game NFTs heavily relies on the activity level, economic model, and playability of their native games. When a game 'dies', a 'skin' or 'item' that cannot be used anywhere often sees its market value drop to zero. YGG's early success was deeply tied to Axie Infinity, which made it acutely aware of the risks of such dependency.
YGG's response strategy: transcending asset philosophy that relies on single points
YGG did not sit idly by; it developed a set of combination strategies to cope with the lifecycle risks of assets:
Strategy One: Proactive asset portfolio management and forward-looking investment
YGG views its treasury as a dynamic investment portfolio, rather than a static collection. Its strategy is:
· Extreme diversification: spreading assets across more than 50 games to avoid excessive exposure to a single project.
· Investing in 'platform-type' assets: prioritize investments in assets like virtual land in (The Sandbox). Even if a game built on that land fails, the land itself, as the 'infrastructure' of the metaverse, still has potential for redevelopment and utilization. This is akin to investing in 'land' rather than merely investing in 'buildings above ground.'
· Trend forecasting and proactive rotation: leveraging its community and data advantages to gain early insights into game trends, increasing allocations of emerging potential assets in the treasury, while gradually reducing exposure to declining game assets.
Strategy Two: Transitioning from 'consumable assets' to 'productive assets'
YGG's core model—'scholarship'—is itself a risk mitigation mechanism. An NFT in the hands of YGG is primarily not a speculative item waiting to appreciate, but a productive tool that can be rented out to generate cash flow. Even if the second-hand market price of the NFT is sluggish, as long as it can still generate income in the game (even if the income decreases), it continues to create value for the treasury until its productivity is completely exhausted. This provides the asset with intrinsic value that can traverse market sentiment fluctuations.
Strategy Three: Exploring the possibilities of cross-game value continuity
This is the ultimate answer aimed at the future, and the deep motivation behind YGG's 'dream of interoperability.' YGG is attempting to partially detach the value of assets from their specific forms by constructing cross-game achievement and reputation systems (SBT), abstracting it into players' 'proof of ability' and 'contribution records.'
For example, a player completed a challenging task using an NFT from a game provided by YGG, and this achievement is permanently recorded on the blockchain. Even if that game declines in the future, this achievement may serve as a credential to unlock special content or gain trust in another game later on. The asset itself may be 'dead,' but the reputation and history generated by the asset can achieve immortality and transfer.
Conclusion: From 'owning items' to 'managing ecosystems'
Therefore, regarding the question of 'the end of the game lifecycle, where do NFTs go from here,' YGG's answer is not magic, but a set of realistic combinations: reducing the risk of explosive failures through diversified investments, extracting residual value through a leasing model, and seeking new forms of asset value through the construction of cross-game protocols.
The essence of YGG is not to bet that a certain NFT will appreciate indefinitely, but to manage a vast and resilient digital asset ecosystem. In this ecosystem, the birth, aging, illness, and death of individual games are seen as natural laws, while YGG's treasury and system act like a seasoned gardener, constantly pruning dead branches, nurturing new shoots, and ensuring the vitality of the entire garden. This may be the most rational and constructive way to address the 'death' of digital assets in the Web3 era.
