Play to earn scholarships, yield guilds, rented NFT characters – all those approaches help new players test out a game and achieve earnings without paying. Scholars lend their skills and time for the game in exchange for playable characters. 

In the play-to-earn gaming world, a scholarship is a way for several people to organize and share in the earnings from a game. The idea originated with axie infinity, where characters were scarce and expensive. Scholarships depend on the game’s economy. With Axie characters, one of the problems was that there was less demand from scholars and less payback. 

What is Play-To-Earn?

Play-to-earn is a new business model where real money can be earned by playing video games centered on cryptocurrency-based assets, known as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). By actively participating in these virtual economies, players can earn rewards such as in-game assets and tokens, which can then be traded or sold on an open market if the player chooses to do so.

This represents an important shift in the gaming world. Traditionally, in-game assets were confined to centralized protocols. Players were prohibited from trading or selling their digital assets external to the platform.

Play-to-earn games have been top-rated in developing countries where local jobs and income-earning opportunities are limited. Still, most people have access to a digital device and an internet connection.

This mini-documentary, titled Play-to-Earn: NFT Gaming in the Philippines, tells the story of a rural community that played the NFT game, Axie Infinity, to earn money during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Players reported that they could earn up to US$400 within their first few weeks of playing, an amount that is two to three times greater than the local minimum wage.

What is a Play-To-Earn Scholarship?

The idea was initially introduced by the Axie Infinity player community. Owners of Axies, the NFT pets required to play the game, would loan their assets to new players who didn’t own any Axies of their own.

With the rising popularity of Axie Infinity, the price to buy the NFT pets needed to play the game has increased significantly. This has created a barrier to entry for some players, especially those new to play-to-earn. Understandably, not all people are willing or able to invest in purchasing their own NFTs upfront.

A play-to-earn scholarship is a popular pathway to onboard newcomers to NFT games. Some guilds provide play-to-earn scholarships to new players as a rewards-sharing model. The guild invests in NFT assets and rents them to new players so they can start playing and earning in-game tokens without having to invest any money upfront.

The recipient of a scholarship is known as a scholar. The only upfront requirement of the scholar is their time spent playing the game, their enthusiasm, and their willingness to learn. The scholar’s earnings are split between the scholar (70%), Yield Guild (10%), and the Community Manager (20%). The Community Manager is responsible for recruiting, training, and mentoring the new player.

Do Other Play To Earn Games Include Scholarships

Once the idea of playing to earn scholarships took off, other games saw organizations that brought together character buyers and investors. Games that resemble Axie Infinity and use playable characters also get added to organizations building yield guilds. 

The advantage of a scholarship is that the guild can pick up more advanced or rare items, opening up more exciting gameplay. It’s not unusual for guilds to support several of the most widely played games. 

How to Join a Guild or Gain a Play-To-Earn Scholarship

Scholarship opportunities or another form of play for rent are available through social media or chats like Discord. 

Twitter is also a source of up-to-date searches, as some play guilds add new games almost daily. 

For Axie Infinity scholarships, the Coingecko info page for Smooth Love Potion (SLP) lists scholarships with the player rate transparently presented. 

What are the Top Play-To-Earn Scholarship Guilds

Yield Guild: This is one of the most widely known and well-financed scholarship organizations. Yield Guild has issued its own YGG native token traded on exchanges and has attracted additional funding from VC sources.

Yield Guild helps by aggregating the games with the best earning opportunities, ensuring a steady income from playing. 

• Liberty Gaming Guild: The main goal of Liberty Gaming Guild is to give access to NFT games that were previously inaccessible due to high initial costs. In addition to Axie Infinity, Liberty offers scholarships for Alien Worlds, League of Kingdoms, The Sandbox, CryptoBlades, and Splinterlands.
• Robo Guild: This play to earn scholarship guild offers total funding to players. Applications are open for Axie Infinity, Illuvium, My Neighbor Alice, and Decentraland.
• Avisa Games Guild: This guild combines a game club and aggregator with a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) to find the best P2E opportunities and redistribute earnings. This guild goes the extra mile with attention to community and a personalized approach to scholars. 
• FTX Exchange also lends support through its own partnership scheme. The market operator moved into NFT and gaming in the past months. 

Tips for Play-To-Earn Scholars

Becoming a scholar requires participation in an online community. The best approach is to be friendly and follow instructions, adding value for all. Guilds and scholarship hubs will usually target specific regions, giving more chances to applicants. Some have preferential conditions for students. 

Scholars, or the receivers of scholarships, have a choice of cashing out their rewards. But some games will not be sustainable with the constant selling of the reward token. The conditions of some scholarships thus have another goal – allowing the scholar to work toward owning their own team of characters. This would circle the tokens back into the game while preserving the value of playable characters.

The scholarship is a relatively low-risk way to test out games and earn income. Scholarships may not guarantee income, but they cut the risk of buying expensive NFT characters.

In Conclusion

Scholarships have helped many people step over the barrier of making a huge initial investment to buy a starter pack, which is necessary to become a member of the most trusted play to earn gaming community. The initiative has also led to the ever-increasing growth of the play-to-earn gaming industry, allowing cash flow through developers, managers, and scholars.