The plan allocates 225 million ARB tokens to be distributed over a three-year period, with a market value of around $215 million. The Ethereum rollup-based layer-2 network Arbitrum’s development team, the Arbitrum Foundation, has committed a significant portion of its resources to nurturing the gaming industry’s growth within its ecosystem.
The goal of the recently established Gaming Catalyst Program (GCP) is to promote growth and engagement in the gaming community by rapidly increasing awareness and usage of Arbitrum, Orbit, and Stylus among gamers. The proposal was initially introduced in March and officially approved on June 7 with more than 75% of the vote in favor.
To encourage game development on its blockchain, the program had sought approval from the Arbitrum DAO to set aside 200 million ARB tokens over two years. Notable proponents of the plan included Treasure DAO, a gaming-focused group, L2Beat, and Wintermute. Despite opposition from Blockworks Research and Camelot DAO, the proposal ultimately received approval.
Treasure DAO expressed their support for the initiative in a celebratory post on the social media platform X, stating, “Arbitrum is the home of gaming — let’s make some magic happen.” A significant portion of the budget will be dedicated to publishers, while startups and early-stage developers can apply for grants of up to half a million ARB tokens, equivalent to approximately $483,000 at current values.
On the other hand, developers with more experience may seek investments that include a value-sharing component, such as shares, tokens, or similar arrangements. The remaining funds will be used for operational expenses and infrastructure-related bounties to support the growth and prosperity of the ecosystem.
