The question was “Why Web 3 gaming?” In retrospect, I wish I had answered this question differently.
Earlier this week, I was a featured panelist at the Blockchain Network meetup in NYC and this was the first question from the founder David Fung. I knew how to answer the question as I had made the case for Web 3 gaming many times throughout my career however, I never quite considered how I sound to someone outside of the Web 3 space.
I led with the monetary incentive for Web 3 gaming and while it plays well in a room full of crypto natives, I don’t think this is the best answer to win over the masses.
Indeed what made me realize the potential for Web 3 was my background as a gamer and the years of my life spent playing World of Warcraft and League of Legends. The epiphany I had was the understanding that with Web 3 gaming, players could own digital assets and trade them on secondary markets outside the game economy. I.e. people could make money playing video games.
However, I am a marketer by trade and it is important for people in my field to have a more nuanced answer to this simple question.
If I am at a bar and someone outside the crypto industry asks me why they should care about Web 3 gaming, telling them about the financial upside is not enough.
Most people don’t play video games to make money. They play games to have fun.
So what are the non-financial reasons why Web 3 gaming is compelling?
✅Decentralization and Digital Asset Ownership
Decentralization is an important net benefit of Web 3 gaming as it allows players to truly own their in-game assets enabling greater control over gameplay experiences and transparency in how the game actually works.
✅Interoperability of Games
Digital asset ownership enables the interoperability of games where players can take their digital assets from one game to another allowing us to move ever closer to the goal of an open metaverse of games.
✅Novel New Game Play Mechanics
Web 3 integration allows for novel new gameplay mechanics to emerge such as player-owned economies and player-created content resulting in more immersive gameplay experiences where players can influence the game world in a meaningful way.
✅Community-Driven Development
Community-driven development is also a net benefit of Web 3 integration as it enables kickstarting game creation through crowdfunding in exchange for allowing the community to have a say in the direction and development of a game.
While the aforementioned benefits exist to some degree in Web 2, they are mitigated by corporations that have created walled gardens of controlled ecosystems where players have little to no agency.
The integration of Web 3 empowers gamers in a meaningful way and opens up new possibilities in how games of the future will be experienced.
These are the reasons why I am excited about the future of Web 3 gaming and why I transitioned my career to be at the frontier of this new industry.
As always, thank you for reading.
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