There are thousands of games in the GameFi space, with dozens more launched every week. Part of fuelling the growth of a sustainable ecosystem involves also supporting and backing the best projects around.
Impact Investing
Salad selectively backs game projects that fit our thesis on eventual winners in the space. These are games that will provide opportunities for and empower hundreds of thousands to earn a decent liveable wage. We set the evaluation bar high to effectively distribute capital and resources to best accelerate their growth:
Early access and social credibility are key factors of consideration when we evaluate a new game for our portfolio, but they are not the be-all or end-all. We seek sustainable and scalable models that will survive the merciless onslaught in blockchain gaming as competition intensifies, following an inflow of investors, devs and stakeholders into the space.
We integrate projects into the Salad ecosystem based on our guiding principles:
Sustainable Economy - We evaluate game tokenomics to ensure that they are sustainable in the long run. This includes taking into account factors such as the ability to generate recurring demand from existing players, gamification factors, and new player onboarding rates. In the event of minimal-to-zero treasury intervention, will the game survive?
Reliability & Relentless Operators - We look out for games built by strong & recognised dev teams with an understanding of the GameFi and crypto space. Projects should be headed by crypto and blockchain natives who are experienced and able to execute.
True Inclusivity - All games in Salad’s portfolio should be accessible on basic smartphones, without the need for top-notch equipment or internet connectivity - this ensures that scholars across the globe will be able to run the games smoothly without lag.
Lengthened Play Life - Realistically, to succeed as a game in the conventional sense, it needs to provide hundreds of hours of gameplay that are actually fun. A sharp decrease in engagement over time leads to player attrition and nothing left to fuel in-game commerce and economy.
True Play-To-Earn - The bulk of the rewards generated should only be based on real-time investment in the game. Auto-play mechanisms devalue the earned capital and do not incentivize real human participation and productivity within the game.
Evolving Assets - Owners of in-game assets should be able to find new ways to use and grow their capital or income with the assets. If the in-game tokens and assets don't provide upgradeable aspects or flexibility, it stands to lose value over time due to saturation or lack of utility.
Acceleration & Venture-Building
Apart from pure investment, Salad also provides access to deal flow and advisory to selected partner games in the areas of marketing, product, business development, and fundraising.
Via Salad's ecosystem and network, partner games and projects can access liquidity partners, market makers, blockchain networks, and more. We also support projects with access to our innovations as well as shout-outs on our Academy arm with content and courses.
If your fund also invests directly in games, I’d love to get on a call to trade ideas. Feel free to get in touch with me on telegram @felixsg.