Blockchain gaming guilds are a continuation of an ancient tradition that dates back to the beginnings of capitalism in the 14th century. Guilds have always been a group of artisans joined together in a common pursuit of refining and improving their craft. In the gaming industry, blockchain guilds have positioned themselves as key entry points for new players, offering them unique insights into game design, future gameplay, and education around blockchain features of games. Educating and providing tools for new players, and building strong and loyal communities that pursue wider adoption of crypto and Web3 technology are the main objectives of blockchain gaming guilds.
Research on blockchain gaming guilds appears to be thin on the ground. However, the top 25 guilds had a potential base of 900,000 players, according to figures by BreederDAO, while YGG alone has 30,000 scholarships. The fundraising figures are also unclear, but it is estimated that guilds raised over $500 million by 2021. Guilds have carved out a patch for blockchain gaming in the Eastern European market, where Pawel Padziunas, founder of Shadow Legacy Guild, explains that gaming guilds help players understand and navigate the game, and the learning curve for players to understand the longer-term value of Web3 games. He emphasizes that building a community around the game is important and that a purely mercenary approach to gaming is not sustainable.
Kieran Warwick, CEO and co-founder of Illuvium, sees gaming guilds as key facilitators in the Web3 gaming space, making an impact on the onboarding of players, engagement, and education. Karl Blomsterwall, CEO of Nibiru Software, which is responsible for the strategy game Planet IX, believes that ownership of assets within the game is fundamental to the appeal. In Planet IX, there are over 1.7 billion NFTs, and Blomsterwall says that guilds support trading, acting almost like a broker, helping players trade and taking over that process if a player does not want to deal with that activity of play.
Gaming guilds can crowdsource feedback from game developers to help design the mechanics of games. The large pools of players guilds have access to and their invaluable form of market research can incentivize players on a new level. Game developers can share with their players, and this helps players be part of the process of game development. Furthermore, guilds can set up shop within the gameplay itself. In The Bornless, a Web3 horror gaming franchise, there are unique locations called Safe Houses that guilds can hire out to allow players to get acquainted with the game quickly from within the gaming environment. The Bornless names the guilds that they work with “Factions” (of the Order of Solomon), mostly as a branding decision, as the term guilds has gotten some slightly negative connotations in Web3.
In conclusion, the blockchain gaming guilds’ main objective is to educate new players and provide tools to create strong and loyal communities pursuing the wider adoption of crypto and Web3 technology. The guilds can crowdsource feedback from game developers to help them design the mechanics of games, while the large pools of players guilds have access to incentivize players on a new level. Guilds are also setting up shop within the gameplay itself to allow players to get familiarized with the gameplay quickly. Ownership of assets within the game and building a community around the game is critical to the appeal of gaming guilds. Good games are more important than good money, and success is achieved only with a sense of community, a focus on education, and a non-mercenary approach to gaming.
