Singapore — Singapore-based global GameFi platform, Digital Entertainment Asset (DEA), has struck a partnership with the Japanese-affiliated Cambodian football club Angkor Tiger FC.

Angkor Tiger FC will participate in DEA’s play-to-earn ecosystem as a ‘gaming guild’ as part of this partnership. To that extent, the football club will purchase NFTs of digital assets and in-game items on DEA’s gaming platform ‘PlayMining’ by utilising the investment funds of the club’s sponsors. Within the DEA ecosystem, gaming guilds are organisations that invest in NFTs of the platform’s Play-to-Earn games and generate revenue from the games by playing them in an organized manner.

Naohito Yoshida, CEO of DEA, said, that the business models DEA is working on under ‘PlayMining,’ such as GameFi and Play to Earn, are not only a fusion of gaming and fintech but also aimed at solving sustainable social issues and helping people around the world to achieve their goals.

“We are committed to ensuring that the efforts of DEA and Angkor Tiger FC will contribute to creating jobs and improving people’s livelihood in Cambodia,” Yoshida said.

Akihiro Kato, Angkor Tiger FC’s owner, is optimistic that this partnership will help strengthen the Cambodian economy and the club simultaneously. He added that their aim is to be more than just a football club.

“In our hometown of Siem Reap, usually a vibrant tourist destination, many people have lost their jobs because of the Corona pandemic. As we were thinking about what we could do as a club besides soccer, we met Mr Yoshida and decided to start the Tiger Guild project because we saw the possibility of improving the livelihood of our supporters and the people of Siem Reap. I would like to team up with DEA to create a new form of club management for the next era,” Kato said.

Through this partnership with DEA, the Cambodian football club aims to help create new income streams in Cambodia by leveraging DEA’s diverse range of play-to-earn games. Additionally, the football club has also insisted that supporters who earn rewards by participating in the play-to-earn games deposit their winnings for club-related activities, which will accelerate the stimulation of Angkor Tiger FC’s economic zone.