Presented by AppsFlyer

Web3 games offer new opportunities for developers, but also new challenges. Get started on the right foot with this VB On-Demand event, where industry experts take an in-depth look at the world of Web3 gaming, from what it really means to how it works and more.

Watch on demand now!

Even in the midst of an economic downturn and crypto winter, Web3 is a hot topic. It offers developers new opportunities and the chance to become a pioneer in a whole new market. In this on-demand webinar, a panel of industry experts joined Dean Takahashi, Senior Writer at GamesBeat, to delve into the possibilities that Web3 offers and the unique transformative benefits for gamers and developers.

“Economics and crypto winter aside, we should be looking at Web3 through a very different lens: We’re going to look at the possibilities Web3 brings to games,” says John Liu, Product Manager, AWS Web3 / Blockchain.

The first, of course, is ownership of digital assets that players have actually invested in, whether that be a custom digital skin or a player character. Players now have a more direct input into the value they add to the game. The second is interoperability enabled by Web3, where gaming associations allow users to bring the assets they have invested in across a gaming ecosystem. Because Web3 is built on a public blockchain that uses an interoperable standard, it’s significantly easier to transfer information between games.

But it is still an emerging industry, with a number of challenges.

The main challenges of Web3 games

From the beginning, the big challenge is learning a new set of technologies that will allow developers to build the game, integrate layers, achieve scalability, and more. Philip Devine, CEO of CryptoBlades, notes that when his development team transitioned from Web2 to Web3 in early 2021, they struggled with the lack of a technology stack.

“The common things that were part of our Web2 pipeline and game development strategy weren’t even available or built yet as far as Web3 game development tools go,” says Devine. “Everything from continuous integration and QA testing and things like that is very immature technology right now. We had to spend a lot of our time developing it ourselves, which takes away from time that we could spend on game design and development or improving the user experience.”

From a gaming perspective, gamers will also find themselves with a learning curve with the number of new blockchain primitives they need to learn, such as custodial and non-custodial wallets and private key management. Finally, there is the impact on the in-game economy with the introduction of external forces such as decentralized token exchanges and external marketplaces where players can now sell these digital assets.

User acquisition is another challenge in Web3, especially with the tokenized, for-profit, and play-to-win aspects of the game appearing alongside the old goal of a game, which is just to play for fun, says Alex. Yip, Senior Solutions Architect at AppsFlyer.

“When people start looking at that as another pathway to why they play a game, that changes the complexity of the user journey flow and why they engage,” Yip says. “That also goes for the NFT side of things, where people invest in these games and own a piece of the game. There is a level of community, representation and identity to the items that people buy.”

Going from the Web2 game to the Web3 game requires understanding how to incorporate new features and functions like wallets in a way that doesn’t disrupt gameplay. But as developers wrestle with ways to seamlessly incorporate those items, it’s also important to keep in mind the fact that they irrevocably change the game, adding another level of complexity.

Launch of a Web3 game to the market

There are three macro phases to bringing a Web3 game to market, says Justin Vogel, co-founder of Safari. The first is the development phase, where you don’t have a playable game yet, but are focusing on native Web3 marketing to build the core community, primarily leveraging a non-paid marketing strategy.

Next up is the soft release playbook phase, which is very similar to Web2, where a game prototype is born and goes out into the world for users to play. At this stage, the developer is gathering information about the game’s engagement with those thousands of regular players to understand how the game will perform.

The final step is the monetization phase, where you make sure that the game is profitable. Here, a developer should be able to start testing user acquisition at scale to determine if their specific download metric is hitting its goals.

The most unique part of blockchain user acquisition, the focus on early adoption of players who evangelize their game, is also challenging because it is so early.

“When it comes to early-stage community growth, we’re all figuring it out as we go along,” says Vogel. “A lot of these playbooks are changing every four to six months. Phase one is all about social proof marketing. This is when we’re doing a lot of research on players and developing creatives. The best communities emerge from thoughtful research and investment. There are very few shortcuts.”

Building the Web3 community is not just about how a gaming brand engages with its audience, but also about how a brand facilitates experiences for and among members. As engagement begins, you could be forming incentive structures around allow lists at lower levels, private AMAs at mid-levels for people to interact one-on-one, and highly personalized experiences at higher levels, etc.

“The level of control, involvement and passion that people have with the games will drive the direction of these projects,” says Yip.

To learn more about harnessing the power of community, designing a game and game economy that balances profit and gameplay, and more, don’t miss this VB On-Demand event!

Watch for free, on demand here!

Diary

• What is Web3 and how do Web3 games work?
• How to take advantage of new growth opportunities and solutions
• Best practices for connecting and onboarding users
• Navigating the landscape of fragmented platforms
• Why measurement and attribution are critical from the start

presenters

• Philip DevineCEO, CryptoBlades
• justin vogelCo-founder, Safari
• john liuProduct Manager, AWS Web3 / Blockchain
• Alex YipSenior Solutions Architect, AppsFlyer
• dean takahashihead writer, GamesBeat (moderator)