Web3 Gaming Summit 2023: Exploring the Future, Successfully Concluded!

Author: ABGA

On September 11-12, 2023, the Web3 Gaming Summit 2023, an official gaming sub-forum of Token2049, grandly opened, organized by ABGA and DeGame. This summit serves as a convergence point for Web3 gaming enthusiasts and pioneers, gathering numerous leaders, developers, investors, and fans from various Web3 games around the world. It also invited many industry leaders from both Web2 and Web3, with the theme "New Era For Gameplay," aiming to explore the future of Web3 gaming and provide new directions, strategies, and tools for the upcoming industry development.

According to statistics, over 4,000 people registered for the summit, with actual attendance exceeding 4,300, clearly indicating the industry's attention to Web3 gaming and the anticipation for the event's theme, guests, and shared content, making it one of the most popular events over the two days.

The summit officially began at 11:00 AM (UTC+8) on September 11, 2023, at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore: In the morning, Linea, DeGame, and Particle Network organized presentations and panels about the Linea gaming ecosystem, sharing the goals and strategies of the Linea gaming ecosystem with attendees; in the afternoon, ABGA, along with Klaytn, Iskra, and CESS, held the finals of a hackathon, showcasing the top gaming products from the Top 10 teams. Meanwhile, several leaders and experts from both Web2 and Web3 fields were invited to share their insights and thoughts on Web3 gaming. After the exciting presentations and discussions, the winners were announced, followed by a grand award ceremony.

At 9:30 AM (UTC+8) on September 12, the Web3 Gaming Summit 2023 grandly opened, with ABGA's Executive President Kevin Shao delivering a speech and sharing his important insights on the Web3 gaming market. In addition to analyzing the popular blockchains and active games in the current market, Kevin pointed out that full-chain games are thriving, and Web3 game developers will benefit from the emergence of AIGC.

Meanwhile, in an interview with Cointelegraph, Kevin stated that gaming is a great scenario for running AI, which can enhance the efficiency and interactivity of game development. When discussing the current situation and development of the gaming sector, he noted that many games have already achieved cash flow revenue, becoming a popular trend to attract new users. Over the past two years, AAA games have gradually become mainstream. However, developing AAA games is highly challenging and requires significant investment, so the current market is not yet sufficient to support such games.

In addition, the conference featured a series of speeches, including:

• Sébastien, Chief Operating Officer of The Sandbox, discussed how today's Generation Z is embracing NFT and digital asset ownership. To support this growing creator culture, The Sandbox continuously launches new creations, games, and tools, fully supporting the community. Finally, he provided multiple pathways and directions for growth in the creator space.

• Aloysius Chan, CEO of AI Meta Club (AMC), shared his understanding on the topic "Is Blockchain Always Secure?" He pointed out that after reaching the maximum profit point, game companies need to decide whether it's worth implementing expensive detection and encryption tools to prevent hackers. He also added that with the help of artificial intelligence, blockchain technology in Web3 games can be realized without integrating GameFi.

• Hugo Church, Head of Business Development at Brilliantcrypto, first showcased the exciting gaming world of Brilliantcrypto to the attendees. He predicted that, in addition to gamers, NFT enthusiasts would also be interested in owning a gem or jewelry on Brilliantcrypto. He also introduced how to create real value for players through the concept of "Proof of Gaming."

• Kordan Ou, CEO of KryptoGO, pointed out the challenges faced in transitioning from Web2 games to Web3 games, including identity binding, security and integration, and entry barriers, and proposed feasible solutions—enhancing the gaming experience and user retention through stronger blockchain integration, better user experience and accessibility, a sound financial ecosystem, and ongoing community and social engagement.

• Steve Good, CEO and co-founder of Dreams Quest, showcased the company's upcoming open-world action-adventure RPG game "Origins: The Fall of Azoria." Meanwhile, he revealed that to provide better support for the gaming community, Dreams Quest has established a new NFT infrastructure compatible with multiple chains and a new dynamic marketplace.

• Carol Wang, co-founder and CFO of MarsProtocol, discussed the centralization issues of Ethereum. She pointed out that liquid staking currently accounts for 43% of the Ethereum staking market, with Lido dominating with a 74.2% market share. Amazon occupies nearly 60% of Ethereum's node distribution, and node centralization remains one of the biggest challenges facing Ethereum, along with corresponding solutions.

• Lester Li, founder of DeGame, discussed trends and growth strategies in the Web3 gaming industry during the opening remarks and speech in the afternoon summit. He pointed out that the emergence of dedicated blockchain game engines, improved blockchain efficiency, reduced on-chain transaction costs, and the deployment of key technologies such as account abstraction and related EIPs are continuously developing the Web3 gaming infrastructure. He also stated that the Web3 gaming market is rapidly growing, and more traditional games will transition to chain games in the next two years.

• Hara, CEO of Jasmy Labs, detailed the Jasmy platform and its core objectives to the audience. Meanwhile, he revealed that Jasmy has launched a grant program to support the construction of new projects in the community. Jasmy is currently building the Ethereum-based Layer 2 Jasmy Chain to further enhance scalability and continuously provide quality services.

• Jake Liu, CFO of Planet Hares, shared his views on "How to Extend the Lifecycle of Games Through Web3 Mechanisms," pointing out that through well-designed token economics (Play to Earn and decentralized governance), developers can build a Web3 gaming metaverse to enhance the game's lifecycle and suggested designing a dual-token model to prevent governance tokens from being diluted while maintaining the price stability of utility tokens.

• Henry Ferr, CMO of MetaCene, pointed out that Web3 games must be fun to play to compete with mature traditional/Web2 games. He introduced MetaCene and noted that the product aims to integrate Web2 and Web3 features to create an innovative gaming platform catering to the mass market.

• Karen Kao, CMO of BoxTradEx, introduced BoxTradEx, a one-stop Web3 gaming portal offering various games, tournaments, guilds, task systems, as well as token trading and NFT marketplaces. Its Guild ToolBox is a comprehensive solution for managing crypto tokens, NFT assets, adding members, and creating guild activities.

• Jae Kim, BD Director of Luniverse, shared how blockchain games can benefit from multi-chain infrastructure. He introduced that as a node service provider, Luniverse's multi-chain Web3 API allows developers to easily build decentralized applications and deploy them across multiple blockchain networks through a unified interface.

• Yawn, co-founder of STEPN, shared some key learning points for building Web3 games based on STEPN's experience. He pointed out that the next phase of Web3 will be built on hyper-socialization, and the next "holy grail" of gaming will need to address the infinite lifecycle of NFTs and bring the entry barrier down to zero.

• Shukyee, CMO of Polyhedra, shared how the company powers Web3 games through new technology zkBridge. She pointed out that the advantages of zkBridge include trustlessness, security, efficiency, decentralization, scalability, and universality, and it will also be able to connect various Web2 and Web3 systems.

• Sami CHLAGOU, co-founder and CEO of Cross the Ages, shared how the collectible card game "Cross the Ages" continuously provides value to players and pointed out that the transition from Web2 to Web3 in the gaming field will bring significant challenges. Game developers must focus on user experience, keep games simple, and create immersive gaming experiences for the audience.

During the various exciting speeches, the summit specially prepared four roundtable discussions, inviting industry leaders from important Web3 tracks to discuss Web3 gaming. The four roundtables were:

Navigating the Future of Web3 Gaming: From Infrastructure to Community

Hassan Ahemd, National Director of Coinbase in Singapore, pointed out that we are in the first phase of Web3 gaming and believes that the next phase will be dedicated gaming wallets and new NFT standards, but games must first be playable before considering tokenization and monetization.

Lennix Lai, Chief Business Officer of OKX, added that the next phase of development will focus on the infrastructure for casual and hyper-casual games for the masses, and the underlying layer should be more suitable for gaming.

Minh Ho, BD Director of Coin98, pointed out that blockchain is just one component of gaming infrastructure, and Rollup may be a trend, but the key is to bring elements like NFTs into games, as games do not need everything to be on-chain.

Sanjay Popli, co-founder of Cryptomind, proposed that the next phase of gaming will not be tokens but game projects related to NFTs, but projects need to overcome three key issues: the inefficiency of game economies, short-term value expansion (many users, but unsustainable), and difficulties in revenue generation.

Which Game Genre is The Best Fit for Blockchain Gaming?

Vera, a special council member of Apecoin DAO, pointed out that from a developer's perspective, understanding the audience and designing token economics for the Web3 gaming community is very important, but maintaining focus and deepening understanding of users is even more critical.

Dreamer, co-founder of Defi Kingdom, noted that the mechanisms of blockchain games are complex and have high entry barriers, making it difficult for new players to start with Web3, and believes that the growing value of digital collectibles may encourage players to enter Web3 gaming.

Lucaz Lee, CEO and co-founder of Affyn, believes that Web3 games have greatly changed the industry landscape, but to encourage adoption, game design must prioritize customer experience.

William Guo, CEO and co-founder of PlayEstates, pointed out that card collecting games and their P2E mechanisms will continue to enjoy a healthy market, but the issue of Web3's inability to scale effectively needs to be addressed through collaboration.

Mary Ma, co-founder and CSO of MixMarvel, holds a more optimistic view of Web3 games. She believes that many emerging Web3 technologies allow users to enjoy Web3 games using social or email records, and she is confident that more Web2 users will eventually adopt Web3 games.

Is There Still Demand From VCs for Web3 Gaming?

Kelvin Koh, co-founder and CIO of The Spartan Group, believes that if tokens are used correctly, developers can expect exponential growth in user base. However, he stated that the current market is relatively pessimistic, so he advises everyone to be more realistic.

Jason, founder of Folio Ventures, pointed out that the customer acquisition cost for games has skyrocketed. He noted that some Web2 games have mistakenly added random Web3 features, which he considers an unfeasible investment approach.

James, head of venture capital at Animoca Ventures, stated that many excellent game developers are joining the Web3 space. His advice for Web3 games seeking funding is to avoid having inflated valuations and to understand the ecosystem.

Wesley, founder of Rootz Labs, pointed out that the ecosystem and stack layers are crucial and shared Rootz Lab's recent investment in a new reputation system. He added that crypto games seeking funding need patience and flexibility and must understand the differences between the crypto community and the gaming industry.

How Public Chains Build and Support Gaming Ecosystem

Alvin Kan, Asia Director of the Sei Foundation, believes that the user experience of Web3 games should be more user-friendly. He looks forward to seeing assets like shared NFTs in games and having a centralized market, which will greatly expand interoperability between games.

Mr. Walter, Web3 Gaming Director of BNB Chain, pointed out that DAOs can help shape games, especially esports games, regarding governance issues. However, he warned that the complete transparency of DAOs means that projects are public and suggested considering adopting a hybrid model where some developer decisions can be made internally.

Hazel Zhang, Investment and Financing Director of AELF, expressed optimism about games and provides venture capital and project funding for games. However, she believes that not all games are suitable for having a DAO.

John Cho, Vice President of Development at Klaytn Foundation, stated that developers need user acquisition support. He envisions that traditional AAA game studios and traditional gamers will transition to the Web3 space, while players and developers focusing on crypto elements will enter GameFi.

In addition to the sharing from industry leaders, ThreeDAO held a creator boot camp launch ceremony at the conference. In the future, over 50 creators will join the creator camp. These creators will be guided by a coaching team composed of Web3 industry leaders as they embark on an exciting Web3 journey.

The Web3 Gaming Summit, co-hosted by ABGA and DeGame, has successfully concluded, leaving participants and the entire industry with important guidance and profound insights shared by numerous industry pioneers and practitioners, reminding us once again of the infinite potential and prospects of the Web3 gaming industry. We thank all participants, speakers, and partners for their joint efforts and contributions, making this summit a feast of knowledge exchange and innovative thinking.

The development of Web3 gaming continues to advance rapidly. ABGA and DeGame hope that this summit can bring a certain impetus to the upcoming industry transformation and look forward to Web3 gaming continuing to bring more surprises and opportunities to players worldwide in the future. Let us look forward to the next summit, where we will gather again to discuss the bright future of Web3 gaming!