Yat Siu and the future of blockchain games
Animoca's chairman still has the vision
I’ve never physically met Animoca Brands’ chairman Yat Siu but episode #124 was the third time I’ve had him on my Blockchain Gaming World podcast, plus I’ve moderated him in various online conferences.
So when I put in a request for Yat to come on the podcast, I knew I’d get a high profile guest, as well as a thoughtful one.
But even with that proviso, I’m struck at the quality of the conversation (his not mine!), which despite current conditions was focused on the reasons we both remain passionate about the blockchain game sector.
It was also significant to better understand Yat’s framing of blockchain gaming’s tenets.
This is a characteristic of Yat’s that I’ve previously noted. Arguing about the conceptual value of the ownership of digital assets isn’t something many people focus on.
But — of course — in a period in which market sentiment is in short supply, it is exactly the stuff we should be talking about.
“There's concern about perceived digitally capitalization in the west, which isn't shared in Asia. But owning assets gives a deeper level of engagement. Trading is only one aspect of ownership,” he says.
Another prominent angle was Yat’s framing of the ongoing cultural and political resistance in the west to crypto values in general (and blockchain gaming specifically), compared to increasing adoption in Asia, notably South Korea and — most recently — Japan.
Even Hong Kong, which we in the west now view through the lens of its declining political freedom, is repositioning itself back into its historic role as the financial intermediary of global markets to China.
As an example, Bitcoin and Ethereum EFTs recently launched on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
More generally, however, our conversation revolved around why giving players ownership rights over open-permissioned assets is such a powerful vision.
“Once you have big ecosystems and millions of users, thirdparties will come and build on them,” Yat explains.
“The biggest riddle to us is western indie developers don't see that this is perfect for indie developers: this is what they should want, it gives them the freedom from the existing platforms.”
Some aspect of this has already been seen in the growth of Minecraft — the best selling game ever — because of its open source foundation and the network effects this unlocks.
Of course, that largesse hasn’t extended to NFTs, which owner Microsoft has banned from Minecraft servers and that point led us to discuss the disruptive potential for NFTs when it comes to established platforms.
“NFTs are an underlying threat for any platform. People sideloading Axie Infinity is an existential threat for Google Play,” Yat argues.
Similarly, he wasn’t enthused by Apple’s new terms and conditions for NFTs. Famously, Apple kicked all Animoca Brands’ mobile games off the App Store during its early days.
“Apple can always change its mind. The only way you can influence Apple is external pressure. We have to ask what’s Google’s position on NFTs?”
Extending the arguement, Yat said he also expected companies which have been squeezed out of what’s become an app store duolopy to attempt to leverage NFTs and blockchain games to create market differentiation, particularly in Asia, where the likes of NTT, Samsung and SK Telecom are already active.
And, again, my broad conclusion from the conversation was to be much more aware that the blockchain game sector could be operating at very different velocities in Asia compared to the west during 2023.
This Substack is sponsored by Hiro Capital: investing in the global game sector
Square Enix Triples Down news
For the third year running, Square Enix’s new years letter — from president Yosuke Matsuda — highlighted blockchain gaming as a key area of interest. Indeed, the company now states that of its three areas of focus in the medium term, blockchain is the one on which it’s “most focused” and to which it’s “devoted aggressive investment and business development efforts”.
This has resulted in multiple projects based on original IP in development — including its forthcoming art collection Symbiogenesis — with more to be unveiled. Square Enix also says it will continue invest globally in blockchain game projects.
To-date, such public announcements have included The Sandbox, Bitcoin payment network Zebedee, Japanese gaming blockchain Oasys, and Japanese F2P mobile developer Gumi, with which it’s working on various projects.
Matsuda’s letter ends with the pronouncement; “Blockchain has been an object of exhilaration and a source of turmoil, but with that in the rearview mirror, we hope that blockchain games will transition to a new stage of growth in 2023.”
Amen to that.
Netmarble Staking news
Netmarble’s blockchain adventures continues with the rollout of staking services for its Marblex blockchain, which is based on Klaytn.
In this way, those using the Marblex mobile wallet can now be rewarded with MBXL, which is a pure cryptocurrency but which is related to the blockchain’s underlying MBX token (down 93% from its all-time high). For the first month, staking rewards of up to 500% are being offered in MBXL.
Next up comes the launch of the platform’s NFT marketplace and Marblership, a tiered membership system based on staking NFTs.
To-date, Marblex is supported as an additional feature in Netmarble’s web2 games such as A3: Still Alive and Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds, while the first NFTs are live from King of Fighters Arena.