What is IGO (Initial Gaming Offering)? New trend for gaming blockchain

What is IGO?

IGO is the abbreviation for Initial Gaming Offering that is used by gaming projects for raising funds in the crypto world. You might get familiar with terms such as ICO (Initial Coin Offering), IDO (Initial DEX Offering), and IEO (Initial Exchange Offering). They all serve fund-raising purposes but the difference is the subject that raises funds.

What is the purpose of IGO?

Since the play-to-earn trend is getting heated by the growing number of gaming projects on blockchain platforms, the demand for funds is clear. As a result, the term IGO is formed, representing a new step for the fund-raising method in 2021.

Currently, it’s hard for gaming projects to be launched on centralized exchanges (CEXs) like Binance or Gate.io. Those projects are still new and in the development process, therefore the IGO platforms stand out to meet the demand.

Investors who are gamers prefer gaming projects to DeFi projects on the blockchain since they spent time playing and experiencing different video games. Therefore, the IGO platform is a favorable place for gamers to generate profits by participating in IGOs of gaming projects.

Like IDO in the early days, IGO plays an important role in accelerating the blockchain-based gaming industry.

ICO, IEO, IDO and IGO Comparison

There are other fund-raising methods but we will compare the difference between IGO and 3 popular fund-raising ones: ICO, IEO, and IDO.

• ICO (Initial Coin Offering): This is the first fund-raising method in the crypto space without any intermediary or third party. It was popular but the regulators investigated some projects related to this ICO method.
• IEO (Initial Exchange Offering): After ICO, projects use IEO to raise funds via intermediaries or third-party organizations. Binance Launchpad is the most successful IEO platform since it launched multiple projects to raise funds, attract community attention, resulting in the overwhelming ROI (Return On Investment).
• IDO (Initial DEX Offering): IDO was released in 2021 and widely used afterward. Projects use IDO to raise funds on Decentralized Platforms such as UniSwap, PancakeSwap, etc.
• IGO (Initial Gaming Offering): Gaming projects can raise funds by selling their tokens on exchanges, similar to IDO.

Some notable IGO Platforms

GameFi

GameFi is an IGO platform started by a Vietnamese team that previously founded the Red Kite launchpad. It has launched 13 gaming projects that successfully reached the fund target. Furthermore, GameFi has collaborated with some partners to start Ancient8, Yield Guild Game, and some gaming scholarships.

Gamestarter

Gamestarter allows gaming projects to sell their NFTs or tokens to raise funds. It has launched two gaming projects (Demole and Dark Frontiers) to reach fund targets with high ROIs. In the future, the platform will support INO (Initial NFT Offering) which might be the next trend after IGO.

Seedify

In comparison to other IGO platforms, Seedify has a bigger number of gaming projects registered to launch IGO on the platform. To attract more users, Seedify supports a total of 9 tiers for investors to select.

In Oct 2021, Seedify released the plan to upgrade the platform to V2 with many extensions, notably Studio. This will diversify the IGO platform.

Enjinstarter

Enjinstarter is the centralized IGO platform inside the Enjin ecosystem that focuses on launching gaming projects. When launched on the platform, they raise funds from investors as well as gain support from the network and advisory from Enjinstarter.

In Oct 2021, Project DeFina was the first gaming project launched on the platform to successfully raise $100,000.

Binance Launchpad/Launchpool/NFT

Binance Launchpad is a centralized fund-raising platform started by Binance where investors can participate in the token sales of new projects. The most notable gaming project launched on this platform was Axie Infinity which is now leading the blockchain-based gaming market in 2021.

See Also: What is Binance Launchpad? How to buy IEO on Binance.

Binance Launchpool allows users to deposit their tokens (BNB, BUSD, or others) in the launch pool to earn the tokens of new projects. Currently, the Mines Of Dalarnia launch pool is open for users to stake BNB and BUSD to earn DAR tokens which are available for trading on Binance.

See Also: What is Binance Launchpool? How to use Binance Launchpool

Binance NFT is also a fundraising platform that allows projects to sell/auction their NFTs to raise capital from the community. For example, CyBall is a football-themed and NFT-based gaming platform that launched IGO on Binance NFT. Its NFT sale was finished in a few minutes, which is as fast as other launches on Binance NFT.

Binance is the largest centralized exchange in the crypto space with an enormous user base. Every project launched on Binance was carefully researched and selected by the Binance team. Therefore, the competent project compounded with support from the community and Binance has a higher chance of success.

Is IGO a long-term or short-term investment trend?

In general, IGO has a working principle similar to IDO which exposed some downsides in the IDO system and in the post-IDO results. Especially, most gaming projects’ tokens get incredibly high ROI then drastically incline, seemingly difficult to recover.

For example, most tokens of launched projects on GameFi are currently in the downtrend and the price has been divided multiple times after reaching ATH. As you can see, early investors can make huge profits from the projects but if they get out and don’t come along with the game, it will cause negative effects on the community.

⇒ The number of low-quality projects chasing quick profits via IGO can ruin this new gaming sector on the blockchain.

The gaming industry itself is changing very rapidly since new games are released every day. When combined with the crypto world, the fast-changing speed will be double as the blockchain is developing fast in terms of technology and ideas.

⇒ It’s hard for investors to catch up with the trend and the game they play today can be out of date in a few days later.

Since IGO is similar to IDO, it has existing problems such as IDO bot, scam projects,... which disturbs investors. If IGO platforms and gaming projects on blockchain platforms are not able to tackle the problems, gradually, the community might lose trust in IGO then it will be a short-term trend like ICO was.

However, the integration of blockchain into gaming platforms is a great idea that gamers might make a living by playing blockchain-based games. For example, Axie Infinity is leading the gaming market in the crypto space that creates jobs bringing comparative income for some gamers.

The blockchain-based gaming industry is potentially new and the number of new projects is still growing. The demand for raising funds always exists.

⇒ IGO can last as long as the gaming industry thrives.

How to participate in IGOs effectively?

The 20x, 50x, and over 100x of the IGO investment is the best scenario for every participant. Most investors participate in IGOs with high expectations, which might result in the loss of the investment. To avoid potential mistakes, we will note some following key things for consideration:

• Do You Own Research on IGO platforms as well as the launched gaming projects.
• Be responsible for your money and investment since IGO/ICO/IEO/IDO are high-risk investments.
• Some projects will give high returns but some might scam your money/funds.
• Compare Market Cap and FDV (Fully-Diluted Value) of IGO platforms’ tokens that require staking to participate in the IGOs.
• This is NOT financial advice.

Final Thoughts

IGO is an important milestone for the gaming industry based on blockchain technology, showing the intersection between DeFi and Gaming. Those two sections are now rapidly changing and improving day after day. Whether IGO will advance forward more to stand out to be different from IDO.

And that is all you need to know about IGO. I hope you’ve gained the overview and our insights will be useful to you.