TL;DR
The Shift: They stopped being a "temp agency" for Axie players. Now they are the "Steam Store" for degen games.
The Cash: Their first game, LOL Land, made $7.5M in hard cash (not token inflation).
The Pump: They used that money to market-buy $3.7M of $YGG.
The Catch: Early VCs bought in at ~$0.03. We are still in their profit zone.
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I haven’t looked at the YGG chart in two years.
To me, it was a dead relic from the 2021 bull run. I remembered them as the guys managing thousands of "scholars" in the Philippines, grinding SLP for pennies. It was a low-margin, messy business model that relied on a game (Axie) staying popular forever. When Axie crashed, I assumed YGG died with it.
I was wrong.
I just read the new Messari report, and it paints a picture of a completely different project. They aren't renting out NFTs anymore. They are running a casino on Abstract Chain.
Here is the only thing you actually need to know: They are profitable, and they are using that profit to pump their own bag.
The Pivot: From "Rentals" to "The House"
The old YGG model was: "We lend you a sword, you give us 30% of what you earn." That sucks because if the token price crashes, everyone earns zero.
The new YGG model (YGG Play) is: "We publish the game. If you lose money or buy items, we take the revenue."
Their first in-house game, LOL Land, is basically a high-stakes board game for degens. It generated $7.5M in revenue in just a few months. That isn't "trading volume" or "GMV." That is actual revenue.
The Buyback Machine
This is the part that separates YGG from 99% of the GameFi garbage on Binance.
Most gaming tokens are inflationary. They print new tokens every day to pay "stakers" or "players." It’s a race to zero.
YGG is doing the opposite. They are taking that $7.5M revenue from LOL Land, going into the open market, and buying back $YGG.
They have already bought back $3.7M worth of tokens (about 24 million $YGG). They are effectively deleting supply every time someone spends money in their games.
The VC Overhang
Before you market buy, look at the tokenomics. This is where the bullish thesis gets messy.
YGG is about 68% unlocked. That sounds fine, but the remaining unlocks are for the team and investors. The report shows that early backers got in between $0.03 and $0.10.
Even at today's prices, those VCs are sitting on a 2x-7x return. When their tokens unlock through 2026, they aren't going to hold for the "community." They are going to sell.
The Verdict
The thesis is simple: YGG is now a bet on "Casual Degen" games on Abstract Chain.
If you think LOL Land and upcoming games like GIGACHADBAT will keep printing revenue, the token is mathematically underpriced because the buybacks will keep eating the supply.
But this isn't a "set and forget" hold. It’s a trade. You are betting that the buyback pressure from game revenue will be stronger than the sell pressure from VCs.
I’m watching the LOL Land player count. As long as degens are playing, YGG is buying. The moment they stop, I’m out.
⚠️Disclaimer: Not financial advice. Just observations.
