Gaming guilds have an integral role in the blockchain gaming ecosystem. They act as community drivers, on-boarders, educators and so much more.
In the realms of GameFi, where players have unprecedented levels of ownership and earning opportunities, it’s a bit of a minefield. The dynamics of each individual project differs immensely, not to mention the ‘tokenomics’ and how each individual community token works.
Then, there’s the financial barriers to entry. If you want to play, you need to pay in most play-to-earn (P2E) projects. Those games that are free-to-play may have limited scalability unless you’re willing to fork out and invest in some in-game assets (NFTs).
Therefore, gaming guilds are fundamental to the blockchain gaming world, because they resolve all these obstacles and go above and beyond with their respective communities.
Gaming guilds are gamers, first and foremost. The passion is rooted in a love of gaming, but earning is an important development in the space.
Gaming guilds in the P2E space recognise that players can now earn rewards like never before in the past, in return for their dedication to a game and its community.
This remains a monumental paradigm shift in the world of gaming and through the struggles of the COVID-19 pandemic, P2E games provided a source of revenue for players in underdeveloped countries, who were on the financial breadline. The potential of this space can’t be underestimated.
In the case of Play It Forward DAO, they managed to secure a $6 million seed funding round at the beginning of 2022, co-led by Signum Capital, Kyber Ventures, and UOB Venture Management.
With that financial backing, the guild have developed their own Railings University (RU), which has over 3,000 members around Philippines and Indonesia.
A serious gaming guild
PIF DAO started as a humble P2E gaming guild, spearheaded by CEO Cholo Maputol and his high school friends. The guild was designed to help onboard underprivileged players into the Axie Infinity ecosystem. Driven by an ethos of “make play more rewarding”, they’ve continued to grow exponentially.
With the help of some major investment, they have since designed a GameFi ecosystem, which fosters multiple P2E projects and gaming guilds.
Their vision is to be the “de facto gateway for guilds to build and scale their communities while fostering blossoming GameFi talents.”
Railings University (RU) – a blockchain gaming institution
Those applying for RU – scholar applicants – can benefit in potentially life-changing ways. They will be given the assets required to onboard and enter any game of their choice within the PIF DAO ecosystem. However, RU’s approach doesn’t end with financial assistance.
First and foremost, as a Decentralised Autonomous Organisation (DAO), scholars will have a voice in the community and will be given abundant support, both personally and professionally. There are many testimonials that I’ve seen, from scholars of RU, which back this up.
Next, scholars have been hired purely based on their potential and passion. That means you don’t necessarily need to be an expert player to get into the RU ecosystem.
The Team Leaders at RU are willing to work with scholars and develop them as much as they need, as long as they’re willing to contribute to the community and help grow the ecosystem.
Scholars can earn an income from contributing in a few different ways:
- Being a professional P2E player and entering tournaments
- Being a research analyst for RU university
- Being a social media streamer on channels like Tik Tok
Which projects do PIF DAO invest in?
Since the early days of being an Axie Infinity guild, PIF DAO has grown an impressive array of blockchain gaming partners, which span across 8 categories.
Potential scholars will find plenty of variety, such as RPG games, Puzzle, Shooter, and Simulation & Sport. Aside from Axie, some of the games you can play are: MetaGear, Mecha Morphing, Pegaxy, Blockchain Monster Hunt, and Cyball.
For those projects who are looking to partner with PIF DAO, they will need to provide test accounts so that the DAO’s game researchers can analyze its gameplay and economy, including the game’s tokenomics, to assess its sustainability and utility.
Lastly, they will look at the game’s community, which will determine whether there’s consistent, organic demand. During this current market, PIF DAO CEO Cholo Maputol acknowledges that earnings are now volatile. However, he believes that fun and community are the key factors in a P2E project’s survival and ‘stickyness’.
He said: “To drive players into the game and keep them coming back to play, games need to be fun. Players should enjoy the game and the community, regardless of whether they earn a dollar or fifty from playing.’
“Although there is currently less attention in the NFT gaming space, NFT games can still come out on top as long as developers have a “fun-first, profits-second” mindset in creating games.”
The PIF Community Token $PIF
As part of any thriving blockchain gaming ecosystem, there must be a native currency and PIF DAO have launched their $PIF community ERC-20 token.
According to their Whitepaper, the token will accrue over time through ‘NFT Yield Generation’, ‘Treasure Investment Growth’, and ‘Growth Platform Revenues’.
PIF DAO promises a strong utility for their native token, which includes the following:
- Staking program and DAO benefits
- Platform services and tools
- PIF treasury as a play-to-earn index
- DAO governance
- PIF distribution
How to apply for a PIF DAO scholarship
If you’re passionate about gaming and keen on pursuing a potential career in the blockchain gaming space, here’s how to apply for a Railings University scholarship:
- Join the Railings University Discord server
- Go to the candidate-role-picker and select the game you want to apply for
- If you’re selected, an admin will contact you via a private thread. The interview will be conducted via chat.
- Once accepted as a scholar, you will be given the initial assets to play the blockchain game you have chosen.
In summary…
PIF DAO provides unique combination of two distinct services in their ecosystem, the ‘P2E Board’ and the ‘PIF Guild’.
Through the P2E Board, they have a management infrastructure, which allows guilds and players to enjoy a ‘plug and play’ experience in the realm of Web3 and blockchain gaming specifically.
With the support provided, guilds and players can start building their own profile, gaining valuable experience, knowledge and insights for their P2E journey along the way.
With the PIF Guild, a flourishing ecosystem with over 3,000 scholars and 40,000 community members awaits all passionate gamers. With the financial backing that they have, this guild will only continue to grow and onboard more and more players into the world of blockchain gaming.
When you talk about a bridge into the world of Web3 and blockchain gaming, PIF DAO strikes me as a very sturdy structure. With a gaming-centric ethos and a growing infrastructure of support, they represent everything that is positive about Web3 at the moment.
You can see CEO Cholo Maputol as a panelist at the Play2Earn Expo in Bangkok on August 11th, speaking about ‘The Role of Guilds in the P2E Ecosystem’.
