NFT games is the new topic that’s been gaining major momentum in the metaverse/web 3 conversation. The fundamentals of NFT games is that the ownership model of game assets are user owned and transactions are encoded on the blockchain. This creates a utility value for NFTs where it can actually live in an environment where it brings tangible value to people, rather than just being say a jpeg piece of digital art that’s hard to show off. The magic of NFT games shows through the economic opportunities that it creates for people. A simple example is Axie Infinity which is the most popular NFT game right now. In the game, people can buy these axies, which are these adorable pet creatures that you can train to get better and better at battles. As your axie wins more battles, it appreciates in monetary value. Based on the work you do ‘training’ axies, you can make money off of your hard earned work (through the appreciation of that asset). In fact, a huge fraction of the population in the Philippines have started to rely on playing axie infinity as their main source of income.While the Axie example is straightforward, as you can imagine, for more sophisticated games and experiences, the infrastructure to power these transactions gets more complex. In this episode, we will explore the building blocks to help foster the NFT game ecosystem for developers, players, brands, influencers, etc.ABOUT THE GUEST
John Linden is the CEO of Mythical, a next-generation game technology studio creating universal economies driven by player ownership of NFTs with utility. Prior to Mythical, John was the President of Seismic Games (acquired by Niantic Labs), developer of Marvel Strike Force and Magic the Gathering: Valor’s Reach. Prior to Seismic Games, he was a Studio Head at Activision Blizzard on the Call of Duty and Skylanders franchises.
Before entering the games industry, John was the Co-Founder / CTO at Adknowledge and at OpenX and built his own startups, Planet Alumni (acquired by Reunion.com) and Litmus Media (acquired by Think Partnership)SHOW NOTES
[5:50] What are NFT games and how do they make games better for people?
[13:10] Understanding collectables culture
[16:10] Economic engine behind NFT games
[18:00] How to have zero gas fees
[23:15] Developer interest in building game economies on the blockchain
[25:50] Focusing on assets over tokens
[29:10] How can NFT games live on the Apple Store?
[31:10] New roles and jobs that NFT games can create
[36:55] Why are NFT games becoming mainstream now?
