Reinventing game distribution with HyperPlay
Open not closed platforms
It’s par for the course in blockchain that you end up interviewing people in video calls when they’re represented by an avatar or won’t even switch on their camera.
In the case of HyperPlay’s JacobC, the fact I didn’t know his full name seemed odd but ultimately irrelevant in the big scheme of things.
A self confessed “old school Bitcoiner”, he worked at Consensys on industry-leading wallet MetaMask, before launching HyperPlay in 2023, which as well as being a game store for web3 PC games — including support for MacOS and Linux — also acts as an aggregator, as users can access their Epic Games Store and GoG libraries.
Deep MetaMask integration is another major feature, with HyperPlay using the wallet as its monetization and meta-reputation layer. It will build on the latter with the launch of quests and achievements across the games it support later in 2024.
Other stretch goals include potential support for mobile games — APKs, I guess — as well as integration with some other game stores. Square Enix just announced a strategic investment into HyperPlay too.
So, despite his lack of a public surname, there’s plenty to consider in the episode. We also bond over our shared love of Pirate Nation.
More generally, though, my view is that competing with the likes of Valve, Apple and Google when it comes to distribution is going to be
pretty difficultimpossibe, but that isn’t to say HyperPlay can’t have an impact.
Indeed, as discussed, it will be interesting to see how much of HyperPlay’s value-add ends up revolving around game distribution per se — which is something of a commodity business — and how much will be about the other incentives and motivations that only open platforms (using blockchain) can enable.
As ever, you can read the transcript at BlockchainGamer.biz and listen via the Fountain mobile app and get paid in Bitcoin for the pleasure.
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Calendar
Shrapnel launches its STX2 test — 20th March
IMX token unlock (2.5%) — 20th March
PORTAL staking opens — 21st March
Nyan Heroes’ early access starts — 26th March
PRIME token unlock (4.65%) — 30th March
NFT NYC 2024 — 3rd-5th April
Autonomous Anonymous fully onchain game event — 16-18th April
Next Project Awakening playtest — 21st May
Saga Publishing news
Emerging L1 blockchain Saga has announced Saga Origins, what it labels a “full service game publishing division”, that will offer partnerships with influencers, sponsored user acquisition campaigns, community building, and other promotional support for titles launching on the Saga blockchain. Its mainnet is expected to go live in April.
Saga claims 335 projects — which seems like an awful lot; I wonder about the quality! — in its Innovator program of which 80% are games. Titles formally announced to-date include action game Rogue Nation and metaverse play Another World.
Once More With Feeling news
Swedish game developer Antler Interactive has announced its second blockchain title, a “community-driven” AI-heavy fantasy RPG called Cloudborn (not to be confused with Fableborne, Spellborne or The Bornless).
It’s currently also working on Animal Crossing-inspired RPG My Neighbour Alice, which was one of the first web3 games to launch assets in 2021 and is deployed on the Chromia blockchain.
Additional Links
Arbitrum-based L3 Xai has signed a partnership with PC gaming promo outfit the Media Indie Exchange.
Blastlers combines full onchain PVP + Telegram + Blast L2. Very degen.
Battle Bears Heroes won the Very Big Indie Pitch at PG Connects at GDC 2024. Well done, Ben Vu!
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