Arbitrum’s proposal to unlock 225M ARB for gaming boost sparks debate

Arbitrum’s
recent
proposal
to
release
225
million
ARB
tokens,
valued
at
approximately
$250
million,
for
its
Gaming
Catalyst
Program
(GCP)
has
stirred
controversy
among
its
community
members.
Critics
argue
that
the
proposed
budget
is
excessive.

Ryan
Graham,
an
analyst
at
Messari,
said
he
initially
supported
the
proposal
but
reversed
his
position
due
to
discrepancies
in
the
requested
funds
and
a
lack
of
justification
for
the
program’s
cost
almost
tripling
from
the
initial
$10
million
to
$25
million.

Some
community
members
have
also
expressed
concerns
about
excessive
upfront
funding.
One
member
suggested
that
incremental
funding
would
allow
for
better
accountability
and
the
effective
use
of
funds.

Another
member
said
in
a
post
on
X
that
the
money
might
be
wasted
on
low-quality,
“click-to-earn”
projects,
which
they
view
as
less
valuable
and
impactful.

However,
some
crypto
members
voiced
support
for
the
GCP
proposal.
Jason
Hitchcock,
the
founder
and
General
Partner
of
Four
Moons,
claimed
that
creating
games
requires
substantial
financial
investment.

According
to
him,
the
proposed
funds
are
reasonable
to
attract
talented
game
developers,
support
game
studios,
as
well
as
foster
a
robust
gaming
ecosystem
on
Arbitrum.
His
post
was
reposted
by
Dan
Peng,
Arbitrum’s
core
contributor
and
the
proposal’s
author.

Seeing
a
lot
CT
accounts
knock
the
250m
gaming
ecosystem
fund
for
arbitrum

Consider:
Games
are
not
cheap
to
make
You
need
a
big
experienced
team
The
infra
is
expensive
You
need
something
to
offer
studios
to
incentivize
studios
to
derisk
the
decision
to
build
on
your
chain…

https://t.co/waKa4lhsxp

—
Jason
Hitchcock
(@JasonHitchcock)

May
31,
2024

As
noted
in
the

proposal,
Arbitrum
has
seen
considerable
success
in
decentralized
finance
but
lags
behind
competitors
like
Immutable
X,
Ronin,
or
Solana
in
gaming.
The
GCP
intends
to
establish
a
team
to
support
game
industry
developers
with
technical
and
strategic
resources.

The
proposed
allocation
includes
160
million
ARB
for
developers,
40
million
ARB
for
bounty
and
rewards,
and
25
million
ARB
for
operating
costs.

At
the
time
of
writing,
over
81%
of
votes
favor
the
proposal,
which
is
likely
to
pass
by
June
8.