{"id":859,"date":"2025-01-02T22:07:30","date_gmt":"2025-01-02T22:07:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/naujienaplius.lt\/index.php\/2025\/01\/02\/why-yat-siu-believes-2025-will-be-the-year-for-real-blockchain-games\/"},"modified":"2025-01-02T22:07:30","modified_gmt":"2025-01-02T22:07:30","slug":"why-yat-siu-believes-2025-will-be-the-year-for-real-blockchain-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naujienaplius.lt\/index.php\/2025\/01\/02\/why-yat-siu-believes-2025-will-be-the-year-for-real-blockchain-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Yat Siu believes 2025 will be the year for real blockchain games"},"content":{"rendered":" \r\n<br><div>\n\t\t\t\t<p>I don\u2019t know if there is anyone who has made a bigger bet on blockchain games than Yat Siu, executive chairman of Animoca Brands. His company has made 540 investments into Web3 gaming startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And it is no surprise that Siu is bullish on the prospects for blockchain games in 2025. We talked to him for an interview for the outlook for 2025, following up on last year\u2019s conversation about 2024. That optimism starts with Bitcoin\u2019s rise to its $108,000 all-time high and the expected crypto-friendly policies that the Trump administration is likely to implement as Donald Trump takes office in the U.S. on January 20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But Siu is aware that hardcore gamers in the West are often vehemently opposed to Web3 games because they view them as a bunch of scams or think they add little fun or utility to gaming. Overcoming that skepticism is key to making Web3 games successful among mainstream players, Siu said. The topic is still polarizing, and Siu and I spoke about that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>ChainPlay reported that 93% of announced blockchain game projects are dead. On average, GameFi projects have dropped 95% from their all-time high prices. GameFi projects last only four months on average. And 58% of VCs who invested in GameFi lost between 2.5% and 99%. On average, 316 new projects launch each year, but 262 projects disappear, indicating that a significant number struggle to stay afloat for more than a few months. About 88% of projects saw a token price drop of over 90% from their all-time highs (ATH).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Siu points to the arrival of hardcore games like Off the Grid, a popular Web3 battle royale shooter game played by streamer Ninja, as evidence of the arrival of real blockchain games. He also noted the strength of the TON blockchain on the Telegram messaging service, a Web3-friendly platform with 900 million users. TON has been home to hypercasual minigames that are being enjoyed by millions. He believes that Animoca Brands\u2019 products like The Sandbox, Mocaverse, and others will strengthen this trend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Without straying to far into overly partisan views, Siu and I had a deep conversation about the opportunities and challenges facing blockchain gaming in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s an edited transcript of our interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Yat Siu is executive chairman of Animoca Brands.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>GamesBeat: Can you talk about the past year for Animoca and the larger Web3 gaming community?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Yat Siu:<\/strong> It\u2019s funny. 2024 started off strong in Web3 gaming. We had the launch of Pixels. Ronin had a big comeback. Axie Infinity was fueled by that. All the other games that were launching\u2013a whole range of titles came out in Q1. Then there was a general softening of the market. When you look at the overall gaming market, at the start of the year we went all the way up to roughly $30 billion to $33 billion in total market cap. For context, in 2023 it was about half that. It was a doubling of the market value. As we went through the summer, it went down on a macro level. Attention was more focused on other areas, like AI of course, and memecoins, which I\u2019ll get to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally we had a strong revival in Q4. Much of that was focused on what some people in the industry refer to as \u201cdino coins.\u201d One year in the industry is basically 10 years anywhere else. That means projects like Axie Infinity, Sandbox, Decentraland. They\u2019ve all risen in value much more than the games and metaverses that were rising in Q1. Early in the year was more about the new crop. By Q4 it was much more about the old crop, as it were. You had events like Sandbox\u2019s alpha season four, which helped bring attention. But the whole market just went back to the narratives of 2021 and 2022. Who are the original projects that seem undervalued? We should put some attention there. Of course when the market value increases, so does the attention. That whole area just grows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Dream of Digital Ownership, Powered by the Metaverse | Yat Siu | TED\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IPvR43dRmRY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In terms of notable launches, at least in our portfolio, Off the Grid is the one title that everyone\u2019s focused and waiting on. It did very well in its early access launch. If there\u2019s one thing that there\u2019s hope behind, it\u2019s to say, \u201cThis is how we finally bring in the Call of Duty guy.\u201d Bringing the Web2 people to play Web3 It could be Off the Grid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>GamesBeat: That title in particular, it was interesting to see it get popular right out of the gate because it had people like Ninja playing it. But you saw the contrast when those people left. Their deals expired, maybe, and they stopped playing. A lot of the crowd went with them.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Siu:<\/strong> That strategy, using big pro gamers to play games, that\u2019s a strategy that could still work with Off the Grid. Its game quality matches up against the more established, traditional games. A lot of the traditional games still have a strong hold because of the communities attached to them. If you\u2019re a gamer in, say, Fortnite, you\u2019ve built a reputation on Fortnite. Not just a comfort, but a reputation on that network. To transfer and unlock and migrate your reputation from that game to Off the Grid, an entirely new game, means you\u2019re basically doing a restart. There has to be continual, ongoing marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The launch of the token is probably going to be the mechanism to do that. Not only does it provide more capital and incentives, but it also provides the right flywheel for the business to possibly be able to enter into these types of marketing and promotional deals that bring people in. But nobody denies that actually playing the game is something that a traditional gamer finds just as fun, or even more entertaining in some ways, than something like an Axie Infinity, which is a different type of game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/torque-drift.jpg?w=800\" alt=\"Animoca Brands Torque Drift.\" class=\"wp-image-2926442\" srcset=\"https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/torque-drift.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/torque-drift.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/torque-drift.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/torque-drift.jpg?resize=800,450 800w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/torque-drift.jpg?resize=400,225 400w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/torque-drift.jpg?resize=750,422 750w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/torque-drift.jpg?resize=578,325 578w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/torque-drift.jpg?resize=930,523 930w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Animoca Brands Torque Drift.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The other big thematic in gaming, on the hypercasual side, was the Telegram audience opening up because of the TON blockchain. While hundreds of millions of users were created, maybe tens of millions of users went into the blockchain because of it. That is to say, it\u2019s still a win for the industry. It\u2019s just maybe not as big as people had hoped for. They thought that, because of the fact that TON was still subject to a lot of sybil attacks, people farming the token and so on\u2013how many of them were real gamers, as opposed to people who were just trying to extract from the network? But what became relevant, and to me even more important for not just Web3 guys, but traditional gaming companies, indie game developers\u2013you can now leverage the Telegram network through the TON blockchain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a way, you could say that TON has become the open API gateway for the Telegram base. That\u2019s an interesting model. It extends beyond just, \u201cHere\u2019s a distribution channel,\u201d like what Facebook or Apple might have in terms of discovery and APIs. This is actually something you can build on top of, build primitives and tools that can be used by others in an open and permissionless way, in a manner where Telegram can\u2019t stop you. That\u2019s important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s the problem we had in the traditional gaming industry, where these big platforms would say, \u201cWe have an API for you here on Facebook. You can build something!\u201d But when you get too big, like Zynga with FarmVille, they tweak the algorithm \u2013 maybe they tell you, maybe not \u2013 and suddenly your user base shrinks and your whole business model you put forward is at risk. It\u2019s done arbitrarily. It\u2019s not like they consult with you. They just say, \u201cNo, we don\u2019t like that. We have a special announcement. Next week everything is going to change.\u201d That makes it hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With something on blockchain, like with TON, there is an absolute certainty, because you can\u2019t change the blockchain\u2013you can\u2019t change the rules around it. Now you can actually invest in it for the long term. That, to me, is an interesting model. It sets the stage for other platforms around the world to open themselves up in this way, as opposed to, \u201cHere\u2019s API access, but we can change it.\u201d Rather, \u201cHere\u2019s a blockchain layer that we offer for you to access our user base and do stuff with it.\u201d Effectively, that\u2019s what TON has done, and Telegram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>GamesBeat: Do you think there are some things that are permanent and some things that could go away?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Siu:<\/strong> The underlying blockchain is permanent, which means the assets become permanent too. This also means that customers start to migrate much more freely. It\u2019s not just being able to tap into a customer. It\u2019s being able to tap into a customer with a provenance based on what they\u2019ve been playing. Hypothetically, if Epic had a blockchain and everyone built on top of Epic because of the Epic blockchain\u2013not likely to happen, but it\u2019s just a thought experiment. Then I would launch my own game on the Epic blockchain. I could say, \u201cIf you have a Fortnite skin, or if you\u2019ve played Fortnite for three years,\u201d \u2013 because I\u2019d be able to see this \u2013 \u201cI have something free for you. Let me give you an air drop.\u201d Or I could give you utility for your Fortnite assets in my new game. You could use these things in a certain manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"698\" src=\"https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/off-the-grid.jpg?w=800\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2988983\" srcset=\"https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/off-the-grid.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/off-the-grid.jpg?resize=300,175 300w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/off-the-grid.jpg?resize=768,447 768w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/off-the-grid.jpg?resize=800,465 800w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/off-the-grid.jpg?resize=400,233 400w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/off-the-grid.jpg?resize=750,436 750w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/off-the-grid.jpg?resize=578,336 578w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/off-the-grid.jpg?resize=930,541 930w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Off the Grid had a successful launch.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>It becomes a much better way of customer acquisition. The way that Epic would monetize isn\u2019t only through the game revenue. Now they could do transaction fees on the blockchain. They\u2019d get fees from that. That\u2019s more sustainable. It no longer becomes as adversarial. The adversarial aspect\u2013I don\u2019t want someone to take my customer, necessarily. But if I have a way in which I can share revenue through the sharing of my customer, you no longer have an issue. That\u2019s what the blockchain strategy does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s a narrative in Web3 recently around app chains. App chains are going to take off. It\u2019s not like an L1 or L2. It\u2019s the idea that I\u2019m opening up my ecosystem entirely through a blockchain layer, but because it\u2019s blockchain, there are rules that I can\u2019t change. There\u2019s a certainty for you to build on top of. If I have rules in the game that are certain, then I can invest and build around that. The problem is that in Web2, the platforms always change their rules. Imagine someone just changing the terms of your rental agreement every three months. You can\u2019t build a business that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s what\u2019s killing the indies. They have almost no certainty. They\u2019ve come to live in an environment where they almost expect Apple to change the rules. When we started off with Pretty Pet Salon back in the day, we built with a mindset that the rules Apple set were certain. That\u2019s what we thought. We built and we invested on the basis that they wouldn\u2019t change the rules. Then they started to tweak the algorithms around discovery. Apple used to have the App Store rankings. All the players knew how to read the market that way and have discovery. They changed that and kept changing it, until about six years later they just removed it. \u201cWe don\u2019t like that. We want to tell you what you should like.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Voxel-Games-Program-Image-3.jpg?w=800\" alt=\"The Sandbox is recruiting indies to its Voxel Games Program.\" class=\"wp-image-2973104\" srcset=\"https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Voxel-Games-Program-Image-3.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Voxel-Games-Program-Image-3.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Voxel-Games-Program-Image-3.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Voxel-Games-Program-Image-3.jpg?resize=800,450 800w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Voxel-Games-Program-Image-3.jpg?resize=400,225 400w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Voxel-Games-Program-Image-3.jpg?resize=750,422 750w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Voxel-Games-Program-Image-3.jpg?resize=578,325 578w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Voxel-Games-Program-Image-3.jpg?resize=930,523 930w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Sandbox is recruiting indies to its Voxel Games Program.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>That really hurt the industry. That was very much correlated to the death of the indie industry at large. Apple played a massive role in that. Whether it was intentional or not I don\u2019t know. But either way, they hurt the market. They hurt an open market. Suddenly it was Apple deciding which apps should be viewed, as opposed to the market deciding through top-grossing and top-ranking. That\u2019s also why the KOL industry grew, I think. The App Store was useless for discovery, so developers moved off to other platforms to try to generate interest. That\u2019s been a challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Blockchain is basically a market. Through the transaction systems, I can see what\u2019s most popular. The indicator is of course financial in nature. \u201cOh, many people are buying this asset. Maybe it\u2019s valuable.\u201d That\u2019s what top-grossing charts were on the App Store. People used to find apps they wanted to download based on how much people were spending in them. It was a market indicator. \u201cThis is making millions of dollars a day. Maybe I\u2019ll enjoy it too.\u201d That\u2019s capitalism, right? That\u2019s the part that\u2019s so mystifying about many of the platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I might venture further to say that the whole political narrative, in the U.S. in particular \u2013 these are all U.S. companies \u2013 around the direction of more socialist values, you might say, or some people might say more woke mentalities\u2013however you want to frame that thinking, that thinking has affected product development. The removal of App Store rankings, the removal of top-grossing charts, to me that isn\u2019t simply, \u201cHey, this is better for so-called discovery.\u201d It wasn\u2019t. It did absolutely the opposite. It was more a reflection of a political mindset from the product people behind it. \u201cMoney shouldn\u2019t determine the discovery of something. We should get rid of that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s another camp, which is of course very heavy in blockchain and in the current administration, that says, \u201cHold on, capitalism is a good thing. Free markets give you what you\u2019re looking for. Both in terms of demand and supply and also in a discovery sense. One example is Polymarket. You might not think that\u2019s gaming in the traditional sense, but Polymarket is perhaps the purest expression of how capitalism predicts outcomes. Capitalism is money. People put in money to say, \u201cThis person will win. This prediction will happen.\u201d Prediction markets sway the markets to determine commodity prices or political outcomes by harnessing the wisdom of crowds. We\u2019ve seen that reflected more and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>GamesBeat: When it comes to those second-half trends, what do you see strengthening or losing steam going forward? There\u2019s that trend of\u2013Telegram was great for a while, and then it slowed down a bit. There are other things taking off now. What\u2019s your view on where those trends are going?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Siu:<\/strong> I think 2025 is going to be a massive year for wWeb3 gaming. Bigger than this year, which has seen quite a strong recovery. But the other trend is that TON is going to grow, because they\u2019re the biggest discovery engine in Web3. Also, if you\u2019re not in Web3, if you want to grow your users, the cheapest way to do that is through Telegram. If you leverage the TON blockchain, you\u2019ll grow faster as a result of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s a very simple, practical economic exercise. To me it\u2019s no different than\u2013if a special API opened up from Apple or Facebook to help you get users, how many game companies around the world would say, \u201cNo, I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll tap into that\u201d? I don\u2019t care if blockchain is behind it or not. You\u2019re going to do it because you want to grow your users. That\u2019s basically what TON is. Where TON may have short-term lost some of the narrative, I think that has a lot to do with the sybil attacks, which is being solved. It comes down to reputation and identity. If you have 30 million people signing up, but only five million to six million are real users, you have a problem. You\u2019re rewarding the majority of the users for bot farming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/CrazyKings.jpg?w=800\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2989062\" srcset=\"https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/CrazyKings.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/CrazyKings.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/CrazyKings.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/CrazyKings.jpg?resize=800,450 800w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/CrazyKings.jpg?resize=400,225 400w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/CrazyKings.jpg?resize=750,422 750w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/CrazyKings.jpg?resize=578,325 578w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/CrazyKings.jpg?resize=930,523 930w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Animoca Brands\u2019 Crazy Kings game.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>We go through these cycles all the time. If you remember back in the days of early mobile gaming, we had Tapjoy. People were incentivized to game the rankings. That was one mechanism for it. Then you had click fraud, bots clicking on advertising. The famous screens of the Chinese bot farms that had a thousand phones pretending to click on things. Eventually they solved for that. The point is, we\u2019re going through the same struggles that app discovery had back in 2011, 2012, and 2013. That\u2019s what we\u2019re seeing in blockchain now. As that gets solved\u2013that\u2019s what we\u2019re doing with Mocaverse and Moca ID. Not just to prove that you\u2019re human, but prove that you\u2019re a good human. You have a reputation you can build up. Then we can give you more rewards. That\u2019s all happening, and I think that will ultimately solve for that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Things like Gam3, which now has something like two billion impressions a month, they\u2019re turning themselves into advertising platforms. Again, that cycle is similar. Indie game companies, back in 2012 and 2013, made a lot of money through advertising, because they could. They had mechanisms, whether it was through Tapjoy or Admob, the third-party networks that did that, which were ultimately removed or banned from the platforms, especially Apple. In blockchain that wouldn\u2019t happen. I predict a lot more of these companies coming up, building their traffic, and monetizing it freely, because they don\u2019t have to worry about Apple deciding they don\u2019t like ads, or it looks bad in the UX. That\u2019s the other thing. \u201cYou won\u2019t get featured if you show too many ads, because they say it looks bad for the user experience.\u201d People reacted that way all the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>GamesBeat: For something like Telegram, do you think actual games will take off there, or just very light, casual games? Will you have to point to your games on other platforms?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/G7-Research-Slide01.jpg?w=800\" alt=\"Game7 said that Telegram captured 21% of Web3 game launches in 2024.\" class=\"wp-image-2983965\" srcset=\"https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/G7-Research-Slide01.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/G7-Research-Slide01.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/G7-Research-Slide01.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/G7-Research-Slide01.jpg?resize=800,450 800w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/G7-Research-Slide01.jpg?resize=400,225 400w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/G7-Research-Slide01.jpg?resize=750,422 750w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/G7-Research-Slide01.jpg?resize=578,325 578w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/G7-Research-Slide01.jpg?resize=930,523 930w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Game7 said that Telegram captured 21% of Web3 game launches in 2024.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Siu:<\/strong> Because of its social nature, I\u2019d say that Telegram is in stage one. There\u2019s going to be hypercasual, obviously. But also, if you think about games like where FarmVille was going, it\u2019s entirely possible that these games will become much more sophisticated. Mobile games are no longer super casual. I think you\u2019ll get to the point with Telegram where it will become a major game distribution platform that can rival the app stores, with the type of games that are cross-platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The days where you have a single-platform approach \u2013 Apple versus Google or PlayStation versus Xbox \u2013 I don\u2019t think those days exist anymore. It\u2019s all cross-platform. Similar to how we view the world of chains. We think it\u2019s all cross-chain as well. We don\u2019t think there\u2019s such a thing as one chain that will win over the others. It\u2019s not Immutable versus Ronin. Both of them contribute to the growth of the ecosystem. That\u2019s why we invested in both of them. We feel that\u2019s how the space is going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The other thing we believe will happen in 2025 is that memecoins will launch games of their own, or gaming companies will start using memecoins in their narratives. It\u2019s customer acquisition. It\u2019s a way to bring in users. If you\u2019re a game company, let\u2019s say an indie game company\u2013maybe you\u2019re not even in blockchain, but you want a new customer base. You should probably build something on PENGU, or maybe build something on DOGE, or CHILLGUY. That\u2019s controversial in a way, of course. The creator of CHILLGUY is not interested in CHILLGUY\u2019s token. The point is, the user base that owns those tokens is an addressable customer base. That wasn\u2019t possible before. You couldn\u2019t do that. Now you can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It makes sense for application developers and game developers who are not in Web3 to say, \u201cHere are millions of users spending billions of dollars. How can I get them to use my stuff or buy my stuff?\u201d To me, that\u2019s the pathway to memecoins. They\u2019re just different distribution vectors. L1s and L2s are basically discovery channels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>GamesBeat: What else makes this into a banner year? There are some games coming through the development pipeline.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Siu:<\/strong> Outside of Off the Grid, we have about 160 game investments. Many more of them are coming out in 2025. But let me distinguish the gaming market right now, the categories. In Web3, you have the Web3 gamer, a Web3 native person. The intersection between the people who play Web2 games and the Web3 natives is very small, for now. The person who plays Axie Infinity, who plays Pixels, isn\u2019t the typical player of Call of Duty or Fortnite, or even Roblox or Minecraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It makes logical sense that a Minecraft player would be playing The Sandbox. That\u2019s happening. But the intersection there, it turns out that it\u2019s a lot of people who don\u2019t play games a lot. They started playing games because of The Sandbox or Axie Infinity, because of the narrative and the incentives. I see that as very similar to how mobile games developed. The first wave of mobile gamers weren\u2019t console gamers. You remember when console gamers were shitting all over mobile games. They all said, \u201cWe will never play a mobile game. It\u2019s not a real business. These aren\u2019t real games.\u201d Five years later they were all playing mobile games. All the game developers that were building on console said they would never make a mobile game. They\u2019re all building mobile games today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Why? It\u2019s because a new audience has come through. Then what\u2019s interesting is that the mobile game users, who expanded the market to the 3 billion gamers we have today\u2013a percentage of those, it could be single digits, said, \u201cWhat\u2019s the next level of gaming?\u201d That\u2019s why the PlayStation 4 took off in sales while the PlayStation 3 completely collapsed. The PS3 didn\u2019t have new gamers to sell to. The PS4 had new gamers to sell to because of mobile gaming. Mobile gamers who enjoyed games wanted another level of gaming. They wanted to buy a console. That\u2019s happening in Web3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>GamesBeat: I like the Blockchain Gaming Alliance report that said 52.5% of the people working in Web3 games now are from the existing game industry.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" src=\"https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2024-BGA-Report-Key-Takeaways_Page_01.jpg?w=800\" alt=\"The BGA report has stats on the growth and resilience of blockchain games.\" class=\"wp-image-2987509\" srcset=\"https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2024-BGA-Report-Key-Takeaways_Page_01.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2024-BGA-Report-Key-Takeaways_Page_01.jpg?resize=300,157 300w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2024-BGA-Report-Key-Takeaways_Page_01.jpg?resize=768,402 768w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2024-BGA-Report-Key-Takeaways_Page_01.jpg?resize=800,419 800w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2024-BGA-Report-Key-Takeaways_Page_01.jpg?resize=400,209 400w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2024-BGA-Report-Key-Takeaways_Page_01.jpg?resize=750,393 750w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2024-BGA-Report-Key-Takeaways_Page_01.jpg?resize=578,302 578w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2024-BGA-Report-Key-Takeaways_Page_01.jpg?resize=930,487 930w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The BGA report has stats on the growth and resilience of blockchain games.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Siu:<\/strong> Right. It\u2019s already happening. It\u2019s absolutely happening. But my point is, Web3 is expanding the gaming pie. If you look at the traditional gaming world today, which includes mobile, what\u2019s the talk? Stagnant. Not growing. It\u2019s sequels. When\u2019s Grand Theft Auto coming out? That audience has been largely tapped out, I would say. It\u2019s not that they don\u2019t spend money, but the growth of the traditional gaming industry is where it was in 2010 and 2011, pre-mobile. Look at the numbers. There\u2019s more than three billion people who play games. About 2.8 billion people do not play games. That audience is growing in developing countries and elsewhere. We\u2019re going from six billion to eight billion people online. There\u2019s a ratio of people playing games and there\u2019s a ratio that aren\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Web3 gamer is coming in through Telegram or blockchain games, whatever. They say, \u201cI like these kinds of games. I\u2019m here for value. I\u2019m here for ownership.\u201d But then they realize that they enjoy this. They\u2019re going to be the drivers that say, \u201cHey, I\u2019ll buy a console game.\u201d They\u2019re expanding the audience. I feel like that\u2019s how you more rapidly onboard the next billion gamers coming from a different direction in a more passive form of gaming, in a way where people can participate more broadly. That, to me, is developing and expanding the market overall. I think we\u2019ll see a lot more of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I see a convergence. The narrative used to be, \u201cAll those people playing Web2 games, they\u2019ll move to Web3. That\u2019s the opportunity.\u201d We thought the same. I would say it\u2019s very different now. Our perspective is that it\u2019s much more about convergence. A Web3 user that doesn\u2019t normally play games will play a lot more games because of Web3. They\u2019re coming into the game industry. They may flow into traditional games. Then Web2 gamers, because of games like Off the Grid, are coming into Web3 as a result. It\u2019s more of a convergence of the two than just one wave going into the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>GamesBeat: As far as the resistance of western gamers to blockchain games, the hardcore people, one thing that\u2019s interesting\u2013there\u2019s a group on, say, Twitter that really hates \u201cwoke\u201d games. They don\u2019t like it when there\u2019s a female hero in a game, things like that. But then something like The Last of Us comes out and everyone plays it. There\u2019s a resistance that gets broken down by something of high quality. I wonder when you think that is going to happen with Web3 games. There\u2019s no question that quality is going to be the thing that gets everyone on board, but how is that resistance weakening among those who don\u2019t like Web3<\/strong> <strong>games?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Siu:<\/strong> I\u2019d make a general guess that the people who don\u2019t like Web3 gaming are also typically\u2013I think I said this last year as well. They\u2019re typically people who are anti-capitalist, for the most part. Their association and relationship with money is complicated, tense, unwelcoming, that kind of thing. That\u2019s why I mentioned last year\u2013I think this is so true, over the past year and going forward. The Asian gamer is much more open toward it, because capitalism has been positive. Asian people generally are much more open to talking about money. For better or for worse, they even evaluate relationships based on money. There\u2019s this famous thing in South Korea, where people will just say, \u201cHow much money do you make?\u201d In the west that would be a rude question. In South Korea, maybe you just don\u2019t meet someone\u2019s requirements, and it\u2019s fine. It\u2019s a totally different relationship with money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/awards.jpg?w=800\" alt=\"The Gam3 Awards picked Off the Grid as Game of the Year for Web3 titles.\" class=\"wp-image-2985077\" srcset=\"https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/awards.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/awards.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/awards.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/awards.jpg?resize=800,450 800w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/awards.jpg?resize=1536,864 1536w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/awards.jpg?resize=400,225 400w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/awards.jpg?resize=750,422 750w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/awards.jpg?resize=578,325 578w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/awards.jpg?resize=930,523 930w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Gam3 Awards picked Off the Grid as Game of the Year for Web3 titles.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>That translates very much into the western narrative of the ones who don\u2019t like that \u2013 or the ones who don\u2019t have that, more specifically \u2013 where this becomes something negative. That has a lot to do with narratives around\u2013hey, this person has money. Is he deserving of that? Or this narrative around, he\u2019s a billionaire, so he must have done something crooked to get there. It\u2019s a classic European narrative, and it\u2019s started to take over parts of the U.S. That\u2019s very much what\u2019s going on in the elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>GamesBeat: Can I challenge you on one thing here? When I think of Democrats and Republicans \u2014 half the U.S. voting one way and half the country going the other. If half the country had these anti-capitalist attitudes and that carried over into hating Web3 games, the other half should like them, right? I wouldn\u2019t think we would see so much resistance. In the case of blockchain games, it feels like more than half really don\u2019t like them.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Siu:<\/strong> My response to this, it\u2019s a bit like Trump in the first election. People voted for him, but they didn\u2019t say they would vote for him. People who feel like they agree with this, but they feel like it\u2019s something they can\u2019t talk about, because the environment around them is so hostile toward it. The noise factor around anti-Web3 gaming in America is greater than the sum of people who are actually partaking in this. That\u2019s what people said about Polymarket as well. Polymarket actually predicted outcomes more accurately than any pollster. A lot of Americans were participating. Maybe they\u2019re not the ones opening saying \u201cYay, Trump!\u201d but they showed that in other ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My point is, I think a large swath of Americans very much enjoys Web3 games and wants the opportunity for ownership. The Blockchain Gaming Alliance report showed that year after year, in the fourth year going, the number one thing they cared about was ownership of their digital assets. It wasn\u2019t about the money. This comes down to this other fundamental thing, which is that blockchain is about, do I own my assets? Do I own my stuff? That\u2019s also the Bitcoin ethos, sovereign ownership of money. These are the principles. That doesn\u2019t just spill over to people who care about and understand money. That also spills over to a whole set of people who care about the fact that they have the freedom to own things. This is mine. I\u2019ve earned it. Nobody should be able to take that from me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>GamesBeat: If there\u2019s this fear of coming out and saying you like crypto and you like blockchain games, and this was emphasized by a Democratic administration that said crypto is nothing but a bunch of scams that we have to protect people against, but now you have an administration coming in and saying that crypto is okay within rules we\u2019ll have for this, does that give people permission to go ahead and say that they like this? It\u2019s legal and they\u2019re going to proceed.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Siu:<\/strong> Correct. I agree with that. Also what\u2019s going to happen is that the groups will come out and feel that they\u2019re supported. Right now, if the narrative in the community around you is that this is a scam, so what type of person are you\u2013the second point is that other people will feel empowered to come to you. Then you basically create rallies. There\u2019s a lot of ammunition coming from the previous administration for someone to easily bash on you. All of the anti-crypto guys, anti-Web3 gamers would just point to the SEC and other claims. Look, the government doesn\u2019t like this. This happened. That happened. Frankly, our industry didn\u2019t do us any favors with people like Sam Bankman-Fried. That wasn\u2019t helpful. But that\u2019s the main point. They\u2019ll feel empowered to come out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s something that Asia never really had. That\u2019s why we\u2019ve been able to develop, because we haven\u2019t had that stigma. I think of it as very similar, in a much smaller way, to in-app purchases. In-app purchases weren\u2019t really created or innovated in Asia. It\u2019s just that Asian players were fine with it. Pay to win? Okay. Pay some more money to get ahead? Okay. That\u2019s how it started, before it morphed into the current model. Everyone in the west said, \u201cThat\u2019s not fair.\u201d That changed a lot. One thing I would also say is that in the western game developer\u2019s perspective, from what I can tell they\u2019re definitely more left-leaning than right-leaning. It starts at the core.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>GamesBeat: Where do you think funding is going to go? There\u2019s been a cycle to Web3<\/strong> f<strong>unding. We got through a period of\u2013a desert, I guess. Funding dried up. A lot of companies that got initial funding went out to look for a second or third round and couldn\u2019t get it. A lot of those Web3<\/strong> <strong>game companies died. Now it seems like it\u2019s looser again. Bitcoin is at an all-time high. Where is the available money going to go? Will it go back into Web3 gaming startups? Are we going to get more blockchains doing something more innovative? Or does the money at this point go into something else, like doubling down on the most promising projects?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Mocaverse.jpg?w=800\" alt=\"Animoca Brands' Mocaverse is aimed at interoperability and discovery.\" class=\"wp-image-2989063\" srcset=\"https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Mocaverse.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Mocaverse.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Mocaverse.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Mocaverse.jpg?resize=800,450 800w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Mocaverse.jpg?resize=400,225 400w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Mocaverse.jpg?resize=750,422 750w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Mocaverse.jpg?resize=578,325 578w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Mocaverse.jpg?resize=930,523 930w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Animoca Brands\u2019 Mocaverse is aimed at interoperability and discovery.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Siu:<\/strong> First, on the funding cycle, there\u2019s the VC side, companies like ourselves in the investment space. We hadn\u2019t stopped investing. Most recently I think Messari came out and said we were the most active investor in Web3. They put out a report. They said we did 107 deals. We actually did more, but that\u2019s fine. It\u2019s nice that they\u2019re counting. The point is, people in the industry continue to invest, because those are some of the best opportunities in the space. When funding has supposedly dried up, that\u2019s how we can sometimes get the best deals. That\u2019s how it started off with Sandbox and Axie Infinity, when no one was touching the sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The VC side will open up much more fundamentally. The reason is because the U.S. capital markets will open up. All the U.S. VCs that either wanted to but couldn\u2019t, or maybe didn\u2019t want to enter into crypto yet, under this administration they\u2019ll either have crypto funds or they\u2019ll open up a portion of their funding. Before they said, \u201cYou do crypto? I can\u2019t even talk to you. You have tokens? I can\u2019t talk to you.\u201d That will go away. In the U.S. you have leading companies like Paradigm and a16z and so on. They\u2019ll have competition in the U.S. markets, which will bring in more capital, which will bring in more attention and more competition. This is not just for gaming, but Web3 generally. In a rising market every sector will improve, and gaming is no exception. That\u2019s the macro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the second level, this is where I think the bigger opportunity exists. Web3 is a new wealth class. It\u2019s not people who have made money before. Some did, but most people in crypto, it\u2019s an entirely new wealth class. The people who made money with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana in the early days are not people who work on Wall Street. Quite the opposite. Then they created their own competitive space. They grew to a certain size. It\u2019s an entirely new wealth class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Anichess.jpg?w=800\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2989065\" srcset=\"https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Anichess.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Anichess.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Anichess.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Anichess.jpg?resize=800,450 800w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Anichess.jpg?resize=400,225 400w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Anichess.jpg?resize=750,422 750w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Anichess.jpg?resize=578,325 578w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Anichess.jpg?resize=930,523 930w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Animoca Brands\u2019 Anichess.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>That entirely new wealth class has flavors very similar, in the way the flywheel works, to how Silicon Valley developed. People in Web3, when they make some money, tend to reinvest most of it back into Web3. Think of it as like an angel funding environment. The angel funding environment in Web3 has been growing explosively. A lot of it has gone into memecoins and other things like that, but that capital comes from there. When you see the cycle\u2013when Bitcoin hits $100,000-plus, if you look at the Bitcoin dominance, it always stays around 55-56%. It\u2019s slightly above 50. It\u2019s never 70% or something like that. They take a profit in Bitcoin and then they put it back into altcoins. We see this macro the whole time. Bitcoin goes up, plateaus a bit, and then altcoins are on the rise, like the SAND token.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For that reason, 2025 will be a big year for altcoins, just the macro. It comes not from the institution, but from the retail. \u201cI made money here. Where do I put it?\u201d Launchpads, token projects, these are all ways in which Web3 gaming companies can raise. Of course, you have to be much more mindful. In 2021 a lot of projects went through that same cycle that weren\u2019t real projects. People are getting smarter, but you have to do your research. That\u2019s one side. The second side is about playing inside these games and making value because of higher token prices, participation, and buying assets inside the games. That will increase as well. We see NFT sales becoming much higher. Gaming asset sales are going higher. The revenue inside those games will increase as a result as well. If you have excess purchasing power, you\u2019ll spend. The Pudgy Penguin airdrop aside, before that every NFT project was rising in value. The NFT sales are already at over a $1 billion monthly run rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>GamesBeat: The whales are back in the games too.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Siu:<\/strong> Well, it\u2019s not just the whales. The people who you might not necessarily classify as whales in the traditional sense have now made money too. They\u2019re coming back to the space and having fun and playing games and so on. The funding cycles are better because the users are making more money. It\u2019s not just funding and VC. It\u2019s consumers. Remember, in Web3 your customer is an owner. Your customer isn\u2019t just a user to extract from. He becomes a part of the ecosystem. Every player has an investor-like relationship. I don\u2019t mean that they have equity, but they have a stake in you. They\u2019re stakeholders. They\u2019re invested in your success, and therefore you\u2019re responsible to them as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This, by the way, is very hard for a game studio that isn\u2019t capitalist-minded. Web3 is a capitalist framework. If you\u2019re not thinking like a capitalist, you\u2019re going to have a hard time. A lot of Web2 to Web3 gaming projects that have failed come from the mindset of not thinking about the value in capitalism. Because gaming\u2013you\u2019re building your own economy. A lot of them also think, \u201cI\u2019m a game designer. I know something about the economy.\u201d I\u2019m afraid most of them don\u2019t, in fact. You make good games that have good rules inside the game, that have aspects that are economical, but it has nothing to do with economics. That\u2019s the struggle as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1201\" src=\"https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/The-Sandbox-Map-May-1.jpg?w=600\" alt=\"The Sandbox map is getting crowded.\" class=\"wp-image-2959195\" srcset=\"https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/The-Sandbox-Map-May-1.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/The-Sandbox-Map-May-1.jpg?resize=300,300 300w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/The-Sandbox-Map-May-1.jpg?resize=768,769 768w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/The-Sandbox-Map-May-1.jpg?resize=600,600 600w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/The-Sandbox-Map-May-1.jpg?resize=52,52 52w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/The-Sandbox-Map-May-1.jpg?resize=160,160 160w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/The-Sandbox-Map-May-1.jpg?resize=400,400 400w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/The-Sandbox-Map-May-1.jpg?resize=750,751 750w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/The-Sandbox-Map-May-1.jpg?resize=578,578 578w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/The-Sandbox-Map-May-1.jpg?resize=930,931 930w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Sandbox map is getting crowded.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>You have people in the field that believe they know this, because virtual currency feels like money. It\u2019s not money at all. That\u2019s the other thing. There\u2019s a correlation between\u2013hey, I have an in-game currency, so I\u2019ll just do a token. That\u2019s absolutely not true. It\u2019s much more complex than that. But that\u2019s the first instinct people have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>GamesBeat: Do you think that things will get so good in 2025 that we\u2019ll see things like IPOs for game companies? Can Web3 game companies in particular participate in that?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Siu:<\/strong> I think so. I don\u2019t know whether 2025 will be the year in which a lot of Web3 game companies IPO, but it will be the year in which\u20132026 is the more realistic time frame. It takes about a year or more to go public. Right now you see a lot of IPO plays beginning. Companies are saying, we buy Bitcoin. MicroStrategy knockoffs. You see versions of that beginning already, all over the world. That opens up this pathway of, \u201cWait, the public story, the crypto story, that seems to work financially.\u201d You have that activity. I\u2019m expecting SPACs to start doing crypto narratives very soon as well. That\u2019s probably what will happen in 2025, just as a catch-up. 2025 will see public companies, but more in that area because of the readiness around them. Then Web3 gaming studios will go public as well as a result of their financial results and so on. That will happen between 2025 and 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>GamesBeat: I saw you did another interview with someone who asked a lot about your stablecoin investments. What are some projects that reflect your beliefs about these wider predictions?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Siu:<\/strong> Outside of massive investing, as we continue to do so, our involvement in things like Pudgy Penguins and Magic Eden and so on\u2013these are just recent examples. For Mocaverse and Moca ID, from a gaming perspective, the way you can think of it is we\u2019re building a decentralized Steam. What\u2019s the most valuable thing in Steam? It\u2019s not the stable of games. It\u2019s the user identity and access to it. With an ID and reputation system, we\u2019re already allowing everyone to tap into that base. That\u2019s your ID, but it\u2019s public. I know what games you like. I know how much money you\u2019ve spent on stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The reason I think about zero knowledge proof is that I can attest to my reputation without revealing to you who I am. I can still use a new wallet, but I can attest it through our ID system. I know that he\u2019s a good gamer and I should work with him. Likewise, you can reduce reputation. Moca ID is important for us. We have more than 540 portfolio companies. More than two-thirds of them have not yet launched a token, which is essentially a way for them to do user acquisition. The struggle is that we don\u2019t want them to basically airdrop 80% of them to bots. That would be terrible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is another thing that maybe people in the Web2 gaming industry don\u2019t fully understand. When you tokenize anything, in this case gaming assets, what you\u2019re really doing is opening up your network, your gaming network in this case, to a wider audience outside of gaming as well, to build and compose on top of it. You\u2019re sharing your network. That\u2019s what this is. A lot of people don\u2019t understand that part. Once you open up your network, you create more network effects. Whether this is a TON Telegram example, L1 or L2, or Ronin and Axie Infinity, or even Mocaverse, when the token is out there, you\u2019re bringing attention from people who are not necessarily playing your game, but it gives you noise. It gives you attention. It gives you a memetic quality. People talk about it and know about it. It\u2019s marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/TheSandbox.jpg?w=800\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2989064\" srcset=\"https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/TheSandbox.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/TheSandbox.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/TheSandbox.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/TheSandbox.jpg?resize=800,450 800w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/TheSandbox.jpg?resize=400,225 400w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/TheSandbox.jpg?resize=750,422 750w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/TheSandbox.jpg?resize=578,325 578w, https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/TheSandbox.jpg?resize=930,523 930w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Animoca Brands\u2019 The Sandbox.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>We want people to understand that and help them launch that way, but we want to make sure you give the value of that network to actual people who contribute value to the network. A network effect is not valuable when people are only there to extract and leave. Then you just have a wasteland. That happened to a lot of Web3 games. It was a wasteland for that reason, because it wasn\u2019t real people playing. It was just bots extracting value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s where the next cycle will come. Mocaverse plays a big part in that on the identity and reputation side. Then we have our own specific gaming initiatives, like Anichess. We\u2019re working with Chess.com and Magnus Carlsen and those guys to build one of the biggest games in the world in a blockchain type of way, where you can open it up with public tournaments and sharing of revenue and so forth. That\u2019s another area that becomes exciting. With Cosmic Royale and some of our racing games, it\u2019s all part of our thesis around how we think the space will grow. We\u2019re big investors in TON. We were early backers of that ecosystem back in 2023. We feel that can help distribution. We encourage everyone to use that. You can not just grow the ecosystem, but grow your user base. It\u2019s the cheapest way you can do that. We continue to back and invest on that thesis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019re going to add hundreds of millions of new users into Web3 in 2025 because of all the games that are launching. I think we\u2019ll see record high on-chain activity. I also think 2025 will be the year we see a shift much more strongly into DeFi activities versus centralized exchanges. That\u2019s important, because that will drive more activity on chain. The more DeFi, the better it is for Web3 gaming. The more centralized, if it\u2019s more about traditional exchanges, that\u2019s not good for Web3 gaming. Web3 gaming primitives are on-chain, not off-chain. As that will rise, as we expect will happen, then Web3 gaming will grow alongside it. I\u2019m super bullish about 2025, if you hadn\u2019t noticed.<\/p>\n<div id=\"boilerplate_2660155\" class=\"post-boilerplate boilerplate-after\"><div class=\"Boilerplate__newsletter-container vb\">\n<div class=\"Boilerplate__newsletter-main\">\n<p><strong>Daily insights on business use cases with VB Daily<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"copy\">If you want to impress your boss, VB Daily has you covered. We give you the inside scoop on what companies are doing with generative AI, from regulatory shifts to practical deployments, so you can share insights for maximum ROI.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Form__newsletter-legal\">Read our Privacy Policy<\/p>\n<p class=\"Form__success\" id=\"boilerplateNewsletterConfirmation\">\n\t\t\t\t\tThanks for subscribing. Check out more VB newsletters here.\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"Form__error\">An error occured.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"image-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vb-news\/brand\/img\/vb-daily-phone.png\" alt=\"\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n<br>\r\n<br><a href=\"https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/games\/why-yat-siu-believes-2025-will-be-the-year-for-real-blockchain-games\/\">Source link <\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I don\u2019t know if there is anyone who has made a bigger bet on blockchain games than Yat Siu, executive&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":860,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[167],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technologijos"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naujienaplius.lt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naujienaplius.lt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naujienaplius.lt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naujienaplius.lt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naujienaplius.lt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naujienaplius.lt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naujienaplius.lt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naujienaplius.lt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naujienaplius.lt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naujienaplius.lt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}