BCGW #126 | Why Japanese game companies are going blockchain w/ Oasys

In episode #132 Jon Jordan talks to Laguna Games' CEO Aron Beierschmitt about the first year of running its resource farming game Crypto Unicorns, including the launch of new more accessible mobile-first experiences such as Unicorn Party and the Fall Guys-esque Rainbow Rumble. Full article here 0:46 The first year of running Crypto Unicorns 2:00 Launching at the peak of the bull 4:00 We have runway until the end of 2024 6:21 The inspiration for those cute Crypto Unicorns 7:40 Why we pivoted from mobile F2P 10:40 We're seeing great success on Facebook marketing (c.5% CTR) 12:35 Average playtime is 1 hour a day across 5 sessions. DAU/MAU ratio is 67% 14:35 Success of the RBW marketplace for P2P trading: $10M in volume to-date from 2,300 MAUs 18:50 New game experiences in development 24:55 The transition to a non-profit org for the DAO, including the Crypto Unicorns' IP 27:08 New games in development -- Match-3 vs autobattler vote and Unicorn Party 30:12 Still uncertainty around app store distribution 31:24 Our focus has been to build extreme depth into our economy to monetize high LTV players 32:11 Our ARPU is +$400, our D7 retention is 75%, D180 is 38% 34:20 New game Rainbow Rumble -- Fall Guys with Unicorns 39:05 It's very hard to build a sustainable ecosystem in this space

In BCGW #131, Jon Jordan talks to Azra Games' CEO Mark Otero about Legions & Legends, his forthcoming 9th hero collection RPG; notably covering why Otero thinks blockchain and true ownership are important, and why he describes the game as being a "web3-sensitive" title, which will also have a "token of fun". 1:30 Legions & Legends will be your 9th RPG so what does blockchain add to the mix? 2:30 The value of true ownership of game assets 4:00 How can blockchain make the game experience stronger? 6:15 The influence of D&D in Mark's history 7:29 How blockchain plays into new features for collectible games 9:38 The vital important of camera system in a game with small and large characters 14:00 Why did you launch The Hopeful PFP collection? 16:33 Why Legions & Legends is a "web3-sensitive" game 18:50 We will never do anything within our game that corrupts the entertainment value 28:00 To-date we've seen some interesting but ultimately unsustainable business models 28:50 I think more people are now talking about fun in blockchain games 29:49 What are your thoughts about having an in-game token? 30:25 Explaining Legions & Legends' token of fun Read Jon's daily Substack at GamesTX.

Jon Jordan talks to Lior.eth from Mutant Cartel and Alex Paley from Faraway Games on their collaboration Serum City, a forthcoming citybuilding game that uses both Bored and Mutant Apes and Mutant Cartel's own NFTs to create new narratives and experiences. We particularly discuss the concept and actualities of NFT interoperability.

Jon Jordan talks to Sky Mavis co-founder Jeff Zirlin about the blossoming of the Ronin blockchain, both in terms of its decentralization, as well as the announcement of the first non-Sky Mavis games that will launch on it.

Jon Jordan talks to Immutable president and co-founder Robbie Ferguson about what its new partnership with Polygon means and how he sees the blockchain game sector developing in 2023.

Jon Jordan talks to Mystic Moose CEO Mike Levine about the forthcoming launch of auto chess battler game Mojo Melee, as well as its wider Planet Mojo ecosystem.

Jon Jordan talks to Daiki Moriyama and Ryo Matsubara from  Oasys about how the gaming blockchain is leveraging the growing interesting in web3 from Japanese game companies ranging from Sega and Square Enix to Gumi and Bandai Namco. 

Jon Jordan talks to Magic Eden's chief gaming officer Chris Akhavan about his journey into blockchain gaming and how he hopes Magic Eden will accelerate market adoption. 

We start the year in style as Jon Jordan talks to Animoca Brands' chairman Yat Siu about the aftermath of 2022's crypto crash and where the blockchain game sector goes next as we head into 2023. 

Jon Jordan discusses what happened in the blockchain game sector during 2022 with David Amor (Playmint) and Will Luton (Village Studio)