Axie Infinity is a Pokémon-inspired game in a digital universe where players breed, battle and trade cute digital creatures which are non-fungible tokens (NFTs). For winning battles and completing daily tasks, they are rewarded with a token which can be used in-game or traded for money.

Even though the game is still in its early access stage, it has become the number one game on the Ethereum blockchain and has 70,000+ daily active users. 

For those who can’t afford to buy their own Axie NFTs (you need to own three of them to play), or who just want to play the game and earn rewards without any upfront investment, a “scholarship program” is a great way to get started.

Under a Yield Guild Games (YGG) scholarship program, new players - called scholars - get to borrow a team of Axie NFTs from YGG. Then, their earnings are split between YGG, the player and their Community Manager (with the player taking the largest cut).

Becoming a YGG scholar to earn cryptocurrency rewards in Axie Infinity is one thing. Playing the game, becoming good at it, and sharing the opportunity to other people is another. Investing time and effort in these games can teach important life lessons.

This is why YGG’s Community Managers play such an important role in the play-to-earn ecosystem. It is their job to recruit high potential players and train them to be the best they can be. Not just in-game, but also in their day-to-day lives.

In this article, we talk to Community Manager Spraky about three important skills that players will learn and develop through playing Axie. Spraky is a co-founder of Axie University, a scholarship program based in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija. 

YGG teaches cryptocurrency skills

“Smooth Love Potion” (SLP) tokens are earned by playing Axie Infinity in battle or adventure mode. This digital asset serves as a reward for winning battles.

However, converting SLP to cash is not an easy transaction. If you are not tech savvy, you may feel frustrated in the process, as it involves many steps to convert your SLP to ethereum (ETH) via a decentralized crypto exchange, such as Uniswap, before sending your ETH to another cryptocurrency exchange that can convert to your local currency.

Fortunately, some new and innovative services in the Philippines, like those offered by Binance P2P and BloomX, allow players to trade directly between SLP to Philippine pesos (PHP).

BloomX, for example, offers a real-time trading desk where you can exchange your SLP by going to the company’s Facebook page, making a request for an SLP to PHP transaction, and in less than 10 minutes, you have your PHP.  

In any case, YGG’s Community Managers are dedicated to helping scholars learn how to safely and efficiently convert their earnings in Axie Infinity into real money.

“When my friends and I discovered Axie Infinity, and the opportunity to play-to-earn, we thought of those people in our community who lost their jobs because of the pandemic and realized that this opportunity would help supplement their lost income,” said Spraky. “We felt their pain and that’s when my friends and I decided to go full-speed in onboarding scholars with the help of YGG scholarship program.”  

Kuya Gil was one of Spraky’s first scholars. He works as a warehouse keeper for a company in Nueva Ecija, Philippines. After Spraky was able to demonstrate Axie’s earning potential, Gil gave it his best effort.

Gil started playing Axie Infinity in November 2020 and so far, his highest earnings as a scholar is P19,000 (equivalent to almost US$400). Recently, he managed to save enough money to buy his own Axie team, and now, he is expecting a payout of up to P60,000 (US$1200) — which is almost triple what he was previously earning as a scholar. The reason for his increased earnings is that the price of SLP has gone up significantly.

Gil was also introduced to Binance P2P and Uniswap through his Community Manager, Spraky. Now, Gil is able to trade cryptocurrencies such as ETH, Axie Infinity Shards (AXS) and Trilium (TLM) in Binance P2P on his own, which has opened up another income earning and investment opportunities for him. 

Becoming a scholar was the first step to Gil becoming confident with crypto.

Above: Kuya Gil (right) and his son (left) who are both Axie players and scholars.

YGG teaches leadership skills

Once a new scholar has been successfully onboarded to the game, Community Managers will begin sharing their knowledge and experience in game play. They will provide the scholar with access to their Axie team, train them in how to win more battles, and start them on the road of earning SLP.  

The main responsibility of a YGG Community Manager is to make sure that all their scholars play according to the rules and the specific guidelines that the guild has imposed. They also make sure there are more wins than losses in the battle arena, so the player can meet their quota and reach their desired earning potential.

If a scholar falls short of their target, their Community Manager is always open to discuss what they should do to improve their performance.  

“That’s what good leaders do,” explains Spraky. “They help their scholars, they inspire them, and push them to do their best so they can reach their personal goals.”

YGG scholarship programs are geared to empower everyone in the community. They are devoted to enriching lives, in and out of the game universe. With this, they hope to onboard millions (or billions) of players, not only in the Philippines, but worldwide.

YGG teaches recruitment skills

A YGG Community Manager’s main responsibility is to find people who are interested in earning money from play-to-earn games. They are constantly on the lookout for players with a good attitude, who are self-motivated, and willing to grind for up to four hours daily (although top players can hit their targets in just one hour of play per day).

Spraky and his co-founders, Ken Garancho and John Emmanuel Dela Peña, currently manage around 100 scholars in the Philippines. Spraky says it wasn’t hard to find people in their community who wanted to play the game, since so many were negatively affected by the pandemic and job opportunities were scarce. Everywhere, there were people looking for extra money to supplement their daily needs. 

Above: Spraky was motivated to help others in his community by providing scholarships through Axie University.

While there are many people who are willing to do the hard work, the question for scholarship managers is: How to choose the best players?  

Are they willing to learn?

Will they stay committed?

Will they share it with others who need it the most?

YGG understands the importance of continuous learning and supports ongoing training of its Community Managers and their scholars, to build their skills and confidence over time.

To get involved, join the YGG Discord channel where we play, learn and earn together.