Create a new grant tier to fund the development of play-to-earn games

by 0x9982b469910c2ee2ea566dcfcc250cdd34056397 (MrEric)

SUMMARY

An addendum to the Proposal for a Community Grants Framework whereby a new grant tier is added, providing $30k/mo for three months for teams making play-to-earn games.

ABSTRACT

The community grant framework funds small projects resulting in decent user-generated content. However, the initial tiers are insufficient for larger scope projects. Meanwhile, projects like Decentral Games were born out of a larger grant that gave them the resources to create an MVP attracting angel and institutional capital.

This new tier would use the DAO to fund pre-existing teams building play-to-earn games in Decentraland. Many such teams exist, but it's up to the DAO and the community to attract them to the platform through funding, support, and guidance.

MOTIVATION

The most engaging scenes are mid-sized games. Without a clear path for small teams to finance and launch an MVP of their project on Decentraland, the talent will flock to other metaverses.

Due to the success of Axie Infinity, many teams want to build play-to-earn games. Decentraland is well-equipped to host these, with a fully-fledged SDK, a vibrant community, and an integration with Polygon enabling low-cost, near-instant transfers of digital assets.

With a small investment, the Decentraland community could give rise to numerous games of the caliber of WonderMine, Decentral Games, and Ethermon.

SPECIFICATION

The new grant category would consist of:

• $30k USD (in MANA) / month, for 3 months

What are play-to-earn games?

This new tier may only play-to-earn games. The MVPs must:

1. Be an interactive game
2. Feature on-chain assets (fungible and/or non-fungible tokens)
3. Give users the ability to earn on-chain assets by playing the game

After 1.5 months, recipients should provide an MVP: an interactive scene with a functional play-to-earn mechanic. The DAO will review these MVPs, voting on whether or not to execute the third payment.

Mentorship

The Decentraland Foundation could curate a list of mentors who would be able to coach recipients through the grant's duration.

LAND

The Decentraland Foundation could help pair recipients with LAND owners.

Applications

Teams will use an extension of the existing DAO grants form to apply. Additional requirements include:

• 1 page document summarizing the proposed game and its play-to-earn mechanic

This new tier may only be applied for in the last month of each quarter. Applications will only be accepted for one week, once per quarter.

The DAO would vote on each applicant. The three teams receiving the most VP would be selected, with a min of 2 million VP needed.

Schedule

• Q3 2021
• Aug
• Begin accepting applications by 8/26
• Sep
• Applications close 9/2
• Winners announced 9/9
• First payment by 9/13
• Q4 2021
• Oct
• MVP by end of October
• DAO votes to continue funding
• Second payment pending DAO approval
• Nov
• Third payment

Reporting

The DAO Committee and Facilitator would be responsible for monitoring progress, providing public reports every 2 weeks.

BENEFITS

• Attracts talented and experienced teams to Decentraland
• Creates content that will help to boost Decentraland's attractiveness and retention
• Attract capital to invest in Decentraland experiences

• For: Approve the addition of the play-to-earn grant tier
• Against: Reject the addition of the play-to-earn grant tier
• Other: Revise the structure and terms of the play-to-earn tier

Vote on this proposal on the Decentraland DAO