Yield Guild Kills Crypto Recreation Publishing Arm, Lays Off 35 in AI Pivot – Decrypt

Yield Guild Video games, a blockchain-based gaming group, introduced Monday that it’s shutting down YGG Play, its publishing arm for crypto-infused informal video games, citing the crypto market downturn alongside broader online game business struggles.

The unit’s closure marks a retreat from a technique the Web3 firm had championed as not too long ago as this 12 months: constructing “informal degen” video games—bite-sized titles laced with crypto incentives—for crypto fanatics who do not contemplate themselves conventional players.

YGG Play launched its personal authentic recreation LOL Land as a proof of idea and had signed 9 further video games, partnered with the Pudgy Penguins NFT model, and debuted a token launchpad, reporting greater than $9 million in lifetime income via the primary quarter of 2026.

Nevertheless, the broader crypto gaming business has struggled in recent times, with quite a few outstanding blockchain-based video games shutting down since early final 12 months and buyers steering away from crypto recreation studios. And that’s not all: crypto costs have additionally plummeted since late final 12 months, with Bitcoin down practically 50% from its October peak, whereas the standard online game business has confronted mass layoffs—together with from Xbox on Monday.

Given the present market atmosphere, the workforce mentioned it made the choice to shutter the publishing division, reduce 35 jobs consequently, and provides Yield Guild extra runway because it pursues an AI-driven pivot.

“Sunsetting YGG Play is a heavy determination, however it’s a market determination, not a product determination,” mentioned Yield Guild co-founder Gabby Dizon, in a press release. “I’m pleased with what this workforce achieved below such powerful situations, and what they constructed is a testomony to their expertise and dedication. Though this enterprise unit is sunsetting, YGG’s imaginative and prescient and mission hasn’t modified. We’re nonetheless totally devoted to utilizing know-how to open up new financial alternatives for folks globally.”

The YGG Play web site, its launchpad, and video games together with LOL Land and Waifu Sweeper might be retired by August 1. Two of the video games on the platform, Gigachatbat and Ragnarok Breaker, will proceed working below their authentic builders, following a transition.

YGG mentioned it’ll redirect its assets towards supplying knowledge for synthetic intelligence coaching, wagering that online game gamers’ decision-making can generate invaluable behavioral datasets for AI builders. The corporate reported a treasury of $20.6 million value of property as of Q1, which it mentioned ought to prolong its working runway to 4 years following the restructuring.

Yield Guild Video games was one of many standout firms of the 2021 play-to-earn growth, as a outstanding group that supported the expansion of monster-battling recreation Axie Infinity through a “scholarship” program—a profit-sharing program that lent out NFT property to gamers in change for a reduce of their in-game token earnings. Yield Guild secured funding from VC big Andreessen Horowitz in August 2021 amid the crypto gaming surge.

After Axie Infinity’s financial collapse in 2022 and the broader decline of the play-to-earn motion, Yield Guild pivoted in 2024 into launching blockchain infrastructure for guilds throughout varied crypto video games, earlier than launching YGG Play in 2025.

Yield Guild’s YGG token is up about 4% on the day at a latest worth of $0.023, however has fallen about 84% within the final 12 months. It stays down 99.8% from its peak worth of $11.17 set in 2021.