Investees back YGG after DAO’s proposal to boot gaming guild

Several investees in Yield Guild Games (YGG) have backed the company’s ability to contribute to its portfolio companies after a proposal on the Merit Circle decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) cited the play-to-earn (P2E) gaming startup’s “lack of value” as an investor.

YGG founder Gabby Dizon / Photo credit: Gabby Dizon

DeHorizon, a metaverse game ecosystem, said YGG helped with partnerships and gave suggestions for in-game testing. The company also said YGG’s core team and community joined two rounds of its team battle’s internal test.

“Yield Guild Games is not only an incredible good investor but also a good friend worthy of dedication and trust,” DeHorizon said in a tweet. 

Similarly, AcadArena, a Philippine gaming startup that builds communities and provides scholarships for gamers, said YGG co-founder Gabby Dizon has been an “incredibly valuable mentor and angel” to the company.

Brycent, co-founder of P2E game Loot Squad, has also backed YGG by confirming how Dizon was “instrumental” in helping the company raise its seed round. Dizon was an angel investor in the same fundraise.

The proposal to cut YGG came after the Merit Circle community decided to look into the value-add of their seed investors since its launch. Apart from YGG, investors such as Maven11, Mechanism Capital, and DeFiance Capital have posted individual transparency and accountability posts since then, outlining their value as investors and their vision for Merit Circle’s future.

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In September 2021, YGG entered into a Simple Agreement for Future Tokens (SAFT) with Merit Circle to participate in the latter’s seed investment round. However, the conditions in the SAFT only called for the investment of capital and didn’t cover value-add”services.

While Merit Circle agreed that the value-add was not part of the SAFT agreement, the company said it aims to strike a balance between the DAO’s governance model and the deal with YGG.

“I find the idea of ‘canceling’ SAFTs in the name of ‘being a DAO’ very unprofessional,” said AcadArena co-founder Justin Banusing.