Most of us are aware of Initial Coin Offerings used by blockchain companies for raising early-stage funding. This is done by distributing their blockchain-based tokens to retail investors. Now, a similar trend, known as IGOs, i.e. Initial Game Offerings, has gained popularity in recent times.
Difference between ICO & IGO
Although ICOs have existed in space since 2013, they reached their peak of popularity in 2017. While IGOs might sound similar, they are fundamentally quite different.
ICOs sell tokens to early supporters at a discount price in exchange for funds that the project can use for further development. IGOs not only offer tokens but gaming assets as well which helps the projects raise funds. Additionally, some IGOs also provide rewards in-game. These rewards depend on the participant’s investment—the more significant the investment, the bigger the reward.
Factors to consider before investing in an IGO
The noise on the web can be misleading. Although there is a lot of potential in the IGO model, the space is not all sunshine and rainbows. No investment is without its risks. Before participating and investing in an IGO, one must not skip the recommended due diligence. A few things to keep in mind are:
- Is your allocation guaranteed: Many launchpads allot tokens based on a lottery system. This means an applicant may or may not get an allocation. Although purchasing launchpad tokens usually improves your odds of an allocation.
- Check the holder benefits: It’s crucial to understand the holding benefits of a token provided by the launchpads. One can look at the history of IGOs offered by the launchpad and the investors’ Return On Investment.
- Additionally, read up about the projects you are investing in by checking their socials, website, whitepaper, founders, and roadmap to make an informed decision.
- Confirm if it’s a GameFi project: GameFi projects are those that combine the best of the gaming and the finance world to bring real monetary returns to gamers. These projects often utilize blockchain technology to support their economy and you must research their incentive and tokenomic models before you invest.
One of the most dependable ways of researching an IGO is by learning more about the credibility of a launchpad through its team and community. Being a part of communities with common interests is also a great way to stay updated in the space without much effort.
Launchpads to find IGOs
Launchpads are platforms that facilitate these IGOs. Usually, how this works is that the investor has to purchase the launchpad’s native coin to participate in an IGO. The investors would usually have to lock these in a pool to qualify.
Depending on the algorithm, they would receive either the project tokens or the NFTs required to play the game. Some of the most popular launchpads are GameFi, Enjin, and Seedify. Launchpads blew up in 2021, and this helped them gather a lot of momentum. However, as the hype started to settle down, most of these launchpads witnessed stagnancy because of wildly varying performance. The focus of established launchpads quickly shifted from delivering quality to blatant scaling. Newer launchpads are trying to address the issues of these established platforms. One such platform to be launched is Final Round, created by UniX Gaming – the first gaming guild and DAO to have its own launchpad.
Final Round is primarily an Initial Game Offering (IGO) launchpad that connects highly anticipated blockchain games with an established community for crowdsourced funding, community building, and marketing.
Partnered with some of the biggest launchpads in the industry, Final Round provides the UniX community with the opportunity to invest in the tokens of these titles before they get listed on central exchanges. Although their focus is on IGOs, Final Round can launch projects of all types on multiple chains, allowing the platform to support and launch projects their community finds value in.
Potential future of IGO launchpads
The gaming industry has already grown tremendously and will grow even more with Metaverse and NFTs growing in popularity. Axie Infinity generated a revenue of $1.3 billion in 2021 and has been growing 40-50% month over month. Additionally, GameFi allows people not just to play but also earn at the same time, removing gaming from the category of merely a leisure activity people do for fun.
This shows the gaming industry’s potential and how much growth it will see. IGO launchpads like Final Round & UniX are taking the lead. They will allow more and more projects to develop and reach their full potential And by allowing individual investors and gamers to earn rewards and get an opportunity to get early access to a game, gamers are rewarded for contributing to a game’s success.