INDEX / COMMUNITY
Play-to-Earn Adjacent Business Builder (Guild / Scholarship Manager)
Build a business that acquires play-to-earn NFT assets, lends them to players (scholars) in emerging markets, and takes a revenue share of their in-game earnings — a decentralized franchise model for gaming.
▶ WATCH THE SOURCE SEGMENT — From Community Manager to C-Suite | Jiho, Axie Infinity01 THE IDEA
Modeled after Yield Guild Games, this business acquires Axie Infinity NFTs (or equivalent assets in other play-to-earn games) and lends them to players who cannot afford the upfront cost to play. The scholar plays the game, earns tokens, and splits the earnings with the NFT owner/manager per a pre-agreed smart contract split (typically 70/30 or 60/40 in favor of the scholar). The guild manager layer — sitting between asset owner and scholar — charges a management fee or takes a cut, analogous to a franchise operator or staffing agency.
The opportunity is to build the operational infrastructure around this: scholar recruitment and vetting, performance tracking dashboards, payout automation, and community management. As play-to-earn games proliferate, a well-run guild can diversify across multiple game ecosystems. Adjacent revenue streams include coaching services, content creation about scholar performance, and financial services (micro-loans, stable coin conversion for scholars in emerging markets).
02 THE NUMBERS
$20K – $300K
$100K + 400h
$10K + 80h
5/10
4 · DECLINING →
P2E game knowledge, Community management, Smart contract basics, Operations / HR in emerging markets, Financial modeling
03 THE VERDICT
The 2022 Axie collapse demonstrated the existential risk of this model — when a single game's token economy fails, the entire guild business fails simultaneously. Competitors who entered in 2021 with massive funding are now pivoting away from pure guild operations. The model requires significant capital at risk in volatile NFT assets. Unless you have a specific multi-game diversification strategy and deep ecosystem expertise, this is too speculative for a solo or small-team build today.
04 THE FIELD
- Yield Guild Gamesest. 2020DECLINING · ADDED 2026-06-07
CATEGORY PIONEER, SIGNIFICANT DECLINE POST-AXIE CRASH
The original and largest play-to-earn guild, primarily focused on Axie Infinity scholarships.
- Merit Circleest. 2021DECLINING · ADDED 2026-06-07
DAO-GOVERNED GUILD, PIVOTED TOWARD GAMING VC
Play-to-earn guild and DAO that pivoted to broader Web3 gaming investments after Axie downturn.
- Avocado Guildest. 2021DECLINING · ADDED 2026-06-07
REGIONAL PLAYER, PHILIPPINES-FOCUSED
Southeast Asia-focused gaming guild managing scholar programs across multiple P2E games.