What is the IGO (Initial Gaming Offering)?The New Direction for Fundraising for Gaming Ventures

IGO is an acronym for Initial Game Offer that game projects use to raise funds in the crypto world. You may be familiar with terms like ICO (Initial Coin Offering), IDO (Initial DEX Offer), and IEO (Initial Exchange Offer). They all serve fundraising purposes but the difference is the topic that collects money.

What is the purpose of the IGO?

As the play for profit trend is heating up due to the increasing number of game projects on blockchain platforms, the demand for funds is evident. As a result, the term IGO was formed, marking a new step for the method of raising funds in 2021.

At the moment, it is difficult to launch gaming projects on centralized exchanges (CEXs) like Binance or Gate.io. These projects are still new and are in the process of development, so IGO platforms are emerging to meet the demand.

Game enthusiasts prefer gaming projects over DeFi projects on the blockchain because they have spent time playing and experimenting with different video games. Therefore, the IGO platform is a good place for gamers to make profits by participating in IGO for gaming projects.

Comparison of ICO, IEO, IDO and IGO

There are other ways to raise money but we are going to compare the difference between IGO and 3 popular ways to raise money: ICO, IEO and IDO.

ICO (Initial Coin Offering): This is the number one way to raise funds in the crypto space without any intermediary or third party. It has been popular but the regulators have investigated some projects related to this ICO method.

IEO (Initial Exchange Offering): After an ICO, projects use an IEO to raise funds via third-party intermediaries or organizations. Binance Launchpad is the most successful IEO platform since it launched multiple projects to raise funds and attract the attention of the community, resulting in an overwhelming ROI.

IDO (Initial DEX Offer): IDO was released in 2021 and was widely used thereafter. Projects use IDO to raise funds on decentralized platforms such as UniSwap, PancakeSwap, etc.

IGO (Initial Game Offer): Game projects can raise funds by selling their tokens on exchanges, similar to IDO.

Some notable IGO platforms

GameFi

GameFi is an IGO platformer started by a Vietnamese team that previously founded the Red Kite launchpad. Launched 13 game projects that succeeded in reaching the fund's goal. Moreover, GameFi has teamed up with some partners to start Ancient8, Yield Guild Game and some gaming scholarships.

Gamestarter

Gamestarter allows gaming projects to sell NFTs or tokens to raise funds. I have launched two gaming projects (Demole and Dark Frontiers) to reach funding targets with high ROI. In the future, the platform will support INO (Initial NFT Offering) which may be the next trend after IGO.

Seedify

Compared to other IGO platforms, Seedify has more game projects registered to launch IGO on the platform. To attract more users, Seedify supports a total of 9 levels for investors to choose.

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

Enjinstarter

Enjinstarter is a centralized IGO platform within the Enjin ecosystem focused on launching gaming projects. When they launch on the platform, they raise funds from investors as well as get network support and consulting from Enjinstarter.

Binance Launchpad/Launchpool/NFT

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

The Binance Launchpool allows users to deposit their tokens (BNB, BUSD or others) into the launch pool to earn new project tokens. Currently, the Mines Of Dalarnia launch pool is open for users to participate in BNB and BUSD to earn DAR tokens available for trading on Binance.

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 an NFT-based football-based gaming platform that launched IGO on Binance NFT. The NFT sale was completed 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 a massive user base. Every project launched on Binance has been carefully researched and selected by the Binance team. Therefore, a competent project with the support of the community and Binance has a greater chance of success.

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

In general, IGO has a working principle similar to IDO which revealed some negative aspects in the IDO system and in the post-IDO results. In particular, most gaming project tokens get incredibly high ROI and then drop dramatically, seemingly hard to redeem.

For example, most of the project tokens launched on GameFi are currently in a downtrend and the price has been split multiple times after hitting ATH. You see, early investors can make huge profits from projects but if they go out and don't come with the game, it will cause negative effects on the society.

⇒ The number of low-quality projects seeking to make quick profits via IGO could destroy this new gaming segment 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 changing speed will multiply as the blockchain is rapidly evolving in terms of technology and ideas.

⇒ It is difficult for investors to catch up with the trend and the game they are playing today can become obsolete in a few days.

Since IGO is similar to IDO, it has existing problems such as IDO bot, scam projects,...which annoys investors. If IGO platforms and game projects on blockchain platforms are not able to address the problems, the community may gradually lose faith in IGO, it will be a short-term trend like ICO.

However, incorporating blockchain into gaming platforms is a great idea that players may earn their living by playing blockchain-based games. For example, Axie Infinity leads the gaming market in the crypto space that creates jobs that bring comparable income to some players.

The blockchain-based gaming industry is likely to be new and the number of new projects is still growing. The demand for fundraising is always there.

⇒ IGO can continue as long as the gaming industry continues to thrive.

How do you participate in IGOs ​​effectively?

20x, 50x and 100x of IGO investment is the best case scenario for each participant. Most investors participate in IGOs ​​with high expectations, which can lead to a loss of investment. To avoid potential errors, we will note some of the following main things to consider:

Do you own research on IGO platforms as well as gaming projects launched.

Be responsible for your money and your investment because IGO / ICO / IEO / IDO are high risk investments.

Some projects will give high returns but others may cheat your money/money.

Compare the market cap and FDV (Fully Diluted Value) of IGO tokens that require staking to participate in the IGO.

This is not financial advice.