There is always debate in the industry: do Web3 games and mainstream games have a replacement relationship, or are they parallel worlds?
I believe there is a deep rift between the two.
On one side is the emerging asset ownership paradigm, but it is difficult for users to get started; on the other side is a mature and exquisite entertainment empire, but the economic system is closed.
And Yield Guild Games showed me an interesting answer: it does not make an either-or choice, it tries to be the 'translation layer' that connects the rift.
First, the starting point of this bridge is to solve a very practical pain point: the threshold
The initial halo of Web3 games is also its greatest shackle - the asset threshold. Want to play Axie Infinity?
First, buy three NFTs; this used to be several months' living expenses for many Southeast Asian players.
The ideal is rich, but reality is lean.
YGG's scholarship program is the ingenious breakthrough point of this logic.
It is essentially an NFT leasing agreement that allows players to enter at zero cost, sharing profits from labor.
This is not just a business model; I believe it is an important conceptual translation: it proves to the mainstream world that the economic participation rights of blockchain games can be distributed inclusively. A scholar from the Philippines may earn $180 a month, which exceeds the local average monthly salary. The benefits of digital ownership have been articulated for the first time in the most intuitive 'income' language.
Secondly, the bridge piers are regionalized SubDAOs, not a unified global brand.
If it merely distributes NFTs mechanically, YGG is just a leasing company.
Its true bridging role is reflected in its SubDAO structure.
These regional sub-guilds are like strongholds built on different cultural riverbanks.
YGG SEA, IndiGG, OLA GG... They have local leadership that plans activities and games that cater to local players' tastes. For mainstream game manufacturers wanting to enter new markets, this is like a ready-made, deeply localized player community and marketing network.
YGG completed the most challenging cross-cultural adaptation and community cold start for them.
For example, when collaborating with The9, a company with AAA IP experience, it was through YGG's SubDAO that hundreds of thousands of players were attracted in Southeast Asia.
Third, the reinforcement of the bridge body is upgraded from 'leasing intermediary' to 'asset management platform'.
Early leasing models are easily impacted by the economic collapse of a single game. YGG clearly realized this.
Its treasury now manages thousands of NFTs from over 50 games, becoming a professional digital asset portfolio.
This transformation is significant.
For mainstream game manufacturers who are hesitant, YGG is no longer just a simple 'player onboarding channel', but a potential 'in-game economy partner'.
It demonstrates a methodology for sustainably managing players' own assets and increasing their value. This provides a reliable custody and operational model for mainstream games to cautiously introduce NFT assets.
Fourth, the YGG token is the 'passport' and 'governance certificate' of this bridge.
The YGG token is the hub that coordinates the entire bridge economy.
Holders can stake for rewards, participate in governance voting, and decide which games the guild funds should be directed towards and how to collaborate with mainstream manufacturers. This creates a wonderful feedback loop: the more successful the games connected by the YGG bridge, the higher the treasury income, the greater the appeal of staking YGG, thereby attracting more builders and players to reinforce this bridge.
It aligns the interests of players, investors, and partner companies through a token mechanism.
Fifth, a case: collaboration with The9's 9 Bit platform.
This cooperation is a concentrated embodiment of the bridge's value. The 9 Bit platform wants to integrate the usability of Web2 with the ownership of Web3. What did YGG do?
It sends scholars and community leaders to organize competitions, conduct AMAs, design in-game tasks, and help new users seamlessly engage with wallets, assets, and other Web3 concepts in familiar gaming experiences.
The results speak for themselves:
After two months of cooperation, the daily active users of the 9 Bit platform in Southeast Asia increased by 40%.
The role that YGG plays here is not that of an advertiser, but of an immersive 'Web3 gamified education layer'.
It reduces cognitive dissonance.
Sixth, I believe the value of a bridge lies in carrying 'two-way traffic'.
This bridge not only delivers global players to Web3 games, but more importantly, it is translating and delivering the core ideas of Web3 (ownership, governance) to the vast mainstream gaming world in a low-pressure, fun way.
It shows mainstream manufacturers that combining with Web3 doesn't have to be a radical revolution; it can also be a gradual innovation that enhances user stickiness and creates new revenue models.
So, my conclusion is:
YGG may be defining a new industry role: it is neither a game developer nor a simple publisher. It serves as an envoy, translator, and infrastructure contractor between Web3 and mainstream gaming civilizations. Before the two truly merge or become borderless, this bridge itself may become an indispensable and highly valuable ecological niche.
@Yield Guild Games #YGGPlay $YGG
