We are rapidly entering an era where the Web2 industry begins to merge with Web3. It’s true that in many ways Web3 is still just a fledgling movement just getting started. By now, the vast majority of the world’s businesses, applications, and services are satisfied with Web2.

However, there are those who have come to recognize that Web3, blockchain and decentralization are no longer radical new technology concepts, but are steadily gaining ground and are here to stay. The assumption is that over the next 10-15 years, most industries will embrace Web3, just as they embraced the Internet when it first emerged in the 1990s.

It’s a view that is becoming increasingly popular, and with it many companies that were established in the Web2 era are now moving quickly to explore the many benefits that Web3 can offer.

One of the biggest names that announced that it will explore the concepts of Web3 was Ubisoft, one of the largest video game developers in the world. In December 2021, Ubisoft announced a blockchain-based offering known as Quartz that allowed players of its popular Ghost Recon franchise to purchase non-fungible tokens (NFTs) called Digits.

Ubisoft’s digits were essentially custom in-game items that players could acquire and then use to adorn their avatars in Ghost Recon. The company was testing the waters, so to speak, meaning that NFT-based items had no real impact on gameplay. They simply made it possible for player characters to stand out from the crowd, and items could be resold on third-party NFT marketplaces.

Unfortunately for Ubisoft, the idea didn’t have the positive reception the company had hoped for. Most Ghost Recon players were enthusiastic about the move, with hundreds posting reviews on online forums and sites like Twitter, criticizing the idea. Nonetheless, Ubisoft clearly believes strongly in the potential of the blockchain and went ahead with the plan anyway, launching its NFTs on the eco-friendly Tezos blockchain that has a much lower carbon footprint than Ethereum and Bitcoin.

Web2 invests in Web3

While Ubisoft’s first baby steps towards Web3 were criticized, several tech companies have made the switch differently and have already seen great benefits. One of the best examples might be Everyrealm, a fintech company that started with a real estate investing app that was later acquired by Republic.

Everyrealm’s founders drew on their real estate investment experience to find the perfect niche for their specialized skills in the emerging metaverse space. For those who have been living in a cave recently, the metavese is an all-encompassing term for decentralized virtual worlds that can be accessed using virtual reality and augmented reality headsets. Some of the most popular metaverses include The Sandbox, Decentraland, and Horizon World from Meta Platforms, Facebook’s parent company.

Having sold its original product, Everyrealm shifted its focus to invest in so-called digital land in some of the most popular metaverses. His modus operandi is to buy tracts of “virtual land” and “Land NFT” and then develop that real estate on behalf of clients looking to establish themselves in Web3. Everyrealm now owns land in 27 metaverses and owns over 3500 Land NFTs. It then develops this land, creating metaverse communities for clients, offering navigation aids to help them find the ideal virtual space. It even monetizes these virtual spaces by creating special events and games and charging users for access. Their income is derived from multiple sources, including rentals, sales, access cards, tickets, memberships, retail sales of NFTs and digital products, and even educational content.

Most recently, Everyrealm has expanded its presence on Web3 with the release of Hometopia, a metaverse-based house-building game aimed at adults that’s comparable to The SIMS or Roblox.

Everyrealm isn’t the only startup applying legacy skills to the Web3 industry. Snapmuse.io is the creator of a unique platform that leverages NFTs to allow fans to become partners with their favorite YouTubers and social media influencers.

The problem that Snapmuse.io is trying to solve is that most YouTubers are struggling to get funds to promote themselves and develop their products. This is because most financial institutions do not consider being a “YouTuber” to be a job, but rather a hobby. They won’t loan a YouTuber money, which means creators’ only option is to sell the rights to their content or keep producing new content to maintain a revenue stream.

Snapmuse.io offers YouTubers an alternative option, allowing them to create NFT collections and sell them to their fans. Blockchain-hosted NFTs give the holder the rights to a specified portion of the YouTuber’s ad revenue earnings. This way, fans can buy an NFT (which provides funds for the creator) and earn an ongoing income that can potentially increase as the creator becomes more popular. It means that fans become more than just consumers: they have the opportunity to become true partners of their favorite YouTubers and participate in their success. As such, these superfans are incentivized to do everything they can to help their new creators/partners succeed, similar to how traditional investors will do everything in their power to help grow Web2 startups. that they support.

Leading Applications and Talent Accelerate Web3 Change

Web3 is more than just an investment opportunity for companies whose roots go back to Web2. For Sweat Economy, Web3 provided an opportunity to truly revolutionize their fitness app and bring a lot of additional value to their users.

Sweat Economy launched in 2016 and quickly emerged as one of the most popular fitness apps on mobile, growing its user base to over 120 million before its transition to Web3 last year. Leveraging its huge user base, Sweat Economy embraced a new concept called “move to win”, creating a token-based economy that allows its users to earn cryptocurrency rewards for doing what they already did – working out using their app. Sweat Economy users not only get fit, but can now earn SWEAT Tokens that can be redeemed for rewards, just for getting up and moving.

The transition has been a great success in part due to its ease of use. For existing users, getting into Web3 was as easy as clicking yes on a push notification. Sweat Economy updated its app to give every user instant access to a Sweat wallet containing the tokens they earn from working out, from where they can access online stores and make purchases with those digital assets. Once users created their wallet, they became eligible for an airdrop of free SWEAT tokens, instantly bringing them into the Web3 ecosystem.

These early transitions to Web3 have not gone unnoticed in the broader tech industry, and many professionals have embarked on it themselves, resigning from roles at legacy firms to take advantage of the new opportunities offered by startups in the blockchain space.

Dozens of notable Web2 executives have joined crypto-focused startups in recent months. One of the biggest names to do so was former Google executive Ryan Watt, who stepped down as YouTube’s senior managing director and global head of gaming to become CEO of scaling platform Ethereum Polygon. Others include former Facebook chief marketing officer Sherice Torres, who recently joined USD Coin creator Circle, and Pravjit Tiwana, who resigned from Amazon Web Services to join cryptocurrency exchange Gemini.

In the case of the newly formed blockchain game studio N3twork Studios, most of its executive leadership team comes from the Web2 game industry. The company was founded last year to focus on Web3 games after Forte acquired its predecessor N3twork Inc. Its leaders include president Matt Richetti, who previously worked for EA and Zynga, among other related companies. Additionally, its executive producer Julius Hong is another EA veteran, while founder Neil Young is also the CEO of Games Industry at Forte. However, N3twork Studios’ biggest boast is that it has over 70 developers on its books who found their place in the legacy gaming industry. In other words, you have a great team of experienced developers at your disposal, which puts you in a perfect position to create the first blockbuster titles for the nascent blockchain gaming space. They are currently preparing for the release of a personal gaming RPG, Legendary: Heroes Unchained.

There is no way back

Web3 is still starting but there is no going back. It promises to enable a major shift from centralized apps and services to a decentralized, permissionless model in which everyone has a stake. By leveraging tokenized incentives, Web3 will create decentralized protocols accessible to all, delivering greater value, transparency, and more privacy than ever before. possible with Web2.

Both legacy tech companies and talent are beginning to recognize this trend and the positive benefits it will bring. Although Web3 is still far from mass adoption, it is past the point of no return. Web3 still has its critics, of course, but we must remember that many people looked down on the Internet when it first emerged and didn’t see the value. Yet these days, almost every successful company has a strong Internet presence, and the same will be said about the next iteration of the Web 20 years from now.