Ready Player DAO (RPD) was valued at $150 million in a new $10.2 million funding round, the latest validation of the play-to-earn gaming model. RPD owns a fleet of high-quality in-game assets represented by NFTs that allow people to access games where they can earn tokens or other NFTs that have real-world value.
RPD is already splitting earnings with more than 3,000 gamers playing Axie Infinity, Geno Pets, Pegaxy, and other games.
“The freedom to transact is the real core value add that blockchain brings,” said Rich Cabrera, Co-Founder of Ready Player DAO.
RPD’s business model rests on three pillars:
- Deployment: It lends that fleet to players that can’t afford them and then splits their earnings. RPD typically lets players keep 70% of whatever they find.
- Content creation: This can be its own revenue center but it also helps build its community, which makes it a powerful ally for new game platforms it invests in. Content includes everything from blogging about how to participate, running tournaments, or sponsoring gaming teams.
- Investment: “Games are looking to bring us to the cap table pretty early on so we can bring our community as well,” Cabrera said. RPD has over 10,000 gamers in its community, many of whom are eager to beta-test a new game.
There were originally 38 members of the DAO when it started with the simple aim of buying some high-end characters for the game Axie Infinity. It added 18 more members with this new round.
(All information was provided by Axios)