What is an Initial Game Offering (IGO)?

What is an IGO?

An IGO, short for Initial Game Offering, is a new fundraising method following ICO, IEO, and IDO. It is a major way for blockchain teams to raise funds to support early development. In IGOs, teams will generate tokens and NFTs and sell them to early investors in exchange for funds for further development. Investors can get in-game assets in the early stages, enjoy discounts and get whitelisted access to the game after they go on sale.

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IGOs differ from Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) in that they primarily focus on the gaming industry. Besides, ICOs generally only sell tokens, while IGOs ​​sell both tokens and in-game assets ranging from characters to skins, weapons, items, and mystery boxes. The in-game assets are stored on the blockchain as NFTs.

Advantages of IGOs

The market cap of blockchain games is on the rise globally, which is estimated to reach $3 billion by 2028. To meet the growing demand for blockchain games, many entrepreneurs and companies start to develop them, but some of them lack the necessary startup capital to proceed.

Through IGOs, blockchain gaming startups can quickly raise startup capital. As IGOs are open to all investors, gaming startups no longer need to convince venture capitalists to invest or seek funding from a small group of high-net-worth individuals. Instead, they reach out to their target audiences directly through IGOs. A successful IGO will secure the necessary funding for project teams to complete their projects.

What is the IGO Launchpad?

IGO Launchpads are the crowdfunding platform for IGOs, that is, the platform where games were initially released. Project teams publish information on IGO Launchpads and list tokens and in-game assets for sale. Some of the most popular IGO Launchpads include Enjinstarter, Gamefi, Seedify, etc.

How do IGOs ​​work?

Investors often need to make initial purchases of game assets with their tokens on an IGO platform. Typically, the process consists of the following steps:

● Connect the wallet.

● Select a tier that reflects the value of the investment.

● Determine the IGOs ​​you want to invest in.

Investment rules on different IGO platforms vary:

● 250~100,000 Seedify (SFUND) tokens are required to participate in IGOs on Seedify. There are 9 tiers, and each tier is assigned a weight proportionally.

● GameFi’s IGO system has 4 tiers. Every 20 $GAFI staked will be counted as one lottery ticket, which is the minimum requirement to participate. The chances of getting selected increase as the tier goes up. For example, the “Elite” tier, which requires 100 $GAFI, has five lottery tickets.

● The Enjinstarter ecosystem reserves 75% of IGO tokens for guaranteed allocations. To participate in the guaranteed allocation, a holding of 25,000~500,000 Enjinstarter tokens (EJS) is required, and 25% of the remaining Enjinstarter tokens are available in the community pool.

How to make an investment analysis on IGO projects?

Participating in IGOs is an opportunity to invest in a game project at an early stage. The IGO platform usually conducts basic due diligence on the game projects to be released and filters out those ineligible ones. As investing in blockchain projects is highly risky, investors need to analyze the fundamentals of the project and ROI before making informed investment decisions. It is suggested that investors:

● Visit the project’s official website, Twitter, blog, and other channels to gain a clear understanding of the fundamentals and popularity of the project, the core team members and investors, development progress, etc.

● Understand the rights of holders of tokens and game assets.

● Check if the IGO launchpad offers guaranteed allocation.

● Evaluate the ROI of active IGOs for the platform.

● Understand the number of holders participating in the IGO launchpad, as projects with more holders have higher token valuations.

● Understand the token’s distribution and unlocking details as well as its listing plan on exchanges.

Conclusion

Blockchain games are undergoing rapid growth worldwide. Through IGOs, investors can participate in early investment in gaming projects and get the opportunity to obtain higher returns. However, as IGO investment is highly risky, investors should conduct necessary fundamental and ROI analysis before making the investment.