We recently had the opportunity to meet with Tor, the CEO of Nakamoto Games, the premier blockchain-based decentralized gaming platform. Nakamoto Games has experienced rapid growth since its launch in October 2021 and has released a steady stream of highly entertaining and interactive gaming titles.
During our discussion, Tor touched on several important trends and developments relative to decentralized gaming in general and Nakamoto Games in particular. Here are some of the observations and insights from our chat.
By now, everyone in blockchain gaming has heard of Nakamoto Games. Can you take us a step back and tell us what the primary driver behind Nakamoto Games was when you founded it?
Global gamers started flocking toward blockchain-based play-to-earn gaming toward the end of 2021. However, at that time, the market did not have the offerings nor the technology to support scalable, high-throughput, massive online gaming experiences that were built on the blockchain. This typically led to the stagnation and eventual downfall of many hyped blockchain gaming ecosystems.
At Nakamoto Games, we identified the need for a cutting-edge gaming platform that would bring broad optionality to the play-to-earn space. We assembled a development team of professionals with decades of collective experience in game development and blockchain technology and Nakamoto Games and all subsequent game releases, features, functions, and campaigns were rolled out in quick succession.
What makes Nakamoto Games different from other companies operating in the highly competitive gaming world?
First, Nakamoto Games allows gamers to tap into multiple gaming options from a single platform – a first for the decentralized gaming sphere. Second, Nakamoto Games has assembled an experienced team with deep industry expertise to ensure that all gaming releases are cutting-edge. Third, a dedicated research team ensures that there is demand for upcoming games before they are developed, and the development team optimizes gameplay and in-game experiences based on gamer expectations. Fourth, with a diverse tech stack in place, Nakamoto Games is committed to innovation and will continue to release gaming options that set the bar for the rest of the industry to follow.
These are some of our unique selling propositions and offerings, but the basic offering of providing highly entertaining free-to-play and play-to-earn titles is what primarily drives user onboarding to our platform.
Can you tell us a little more about that? What are free-to-play games and what are play-to-earn games?
Free-to-play games give players access to all or most of a game’s content without any up-front payment. These games generate revenue via ads and in-game purchases. Play-to-earn games are games in which players are rewarded with tokens for playing games. They can earn by winning competitions, logging in every day, completing campaigns, and performing other in-game actions.
Do you think free-to-play games are the future of Web3?
Well, free-to-play is one aspect of Web3. Web3 is all about the user-owned-and-controlled internet. In free-to-play and play-to-earn games, users can choose the titles they like and earn rewards that are directly deposited into their platform-connected wallets. In this way, free-to-play and blockchain-based decentralized games are giving power back to gamers – a concept that is in line with the values of Web3. But free-to-play is certainly a better way to drive user adoption of Web3.
How is free-to-play gaming better than the alternatives?
What sets free-to-play apart from traditional gaming models is that free-to-play removes the entry barriers that prevent gamers around the world from trying out new, paid-for games. Without users, a growing community, and the social plugins provided on platforms such as Nakamoto Games, new games and releases tend to require vast amounts of publicity and marketing before they can reach critical mass in terms of users. With free-to-play, however, the entry requirements are much lower, and it can be significantly easier to build the user base and community needed to make a new title or release successful.
So, you’re saying that free-to-play can drive mass adoption of Nakamoto Games?
Yes. The free-to-play model is a revolution in modern gaming. Firstly, it does away with the up-front fees demanded by traditional, commercial gaming studios. Second, instead of constantly extracting funds from players for in-game items, powerups, lives, and other items, free-to-play games often reward their players with in-game earnings. By combining free-to-play with the play-to-earn paradigm, Nakamoto Games can drive a new wave of global mass adoption of fun and entertaining blockchain-based games. This also meshes with our Metaverse strategy.
Can you tell us about that? What is the NAKAVERSE? Where did the idea for a Metaverse experience come from?
Even before Nakamoto Games was launched, the management team was enthralled by the idea of a deeply immersive Metaverse gaming environment. Many enterprise-grade corporations had similar ideas, such as Facebook/Meta and others. This is a clear indication of what they foresee in the future of gaming and online collaboration and interaction.
Nakamoto Games shares that vision for the future, and so the NAKAVERSE was built. It closely resembles the real-world economy. In the NAKAVERSE, users can acquire digital land and resources that can then be used to create valuable in-game assets as NFTs that can be sold on the Nakamoto Games marketplace, which is integrated across the entire ecosystem. This creates a vibrant economy for those who create value within the NAKAVERSE, those who trade items, and those who carry out useful services. These services can even be carried out by NAKAVERSE participants who don’t land, which helps create a gaming environment that has opportunities for everybody to work towards accumulating assets. These concepts are extensions of the ideals of decentralization, entertainment, fair play, and lucrative play-to-earn opportunities – everything that Nakamoto Games is about.
In addition to these benefits, we have a lot to offer developers, and that is an additional attraction for indie developers and studios to build on our platform.
How do you support developers, and can developers choose whether their games will be free-to-play?
Yes. Nakamoto Games provides a comprehensive SDK (software developer kit) so that developers and studios can build, design, release, and market their games. The Nakamoto team also provides consultancy services and guidance on project roll-out, release, and monetization. However, the ultimate decision on whether a particular title will be free-to-play, play-to-earn, or a combination of these is up to the developer. Like the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store, Nakamoto Games is the platform that facilitates game development and release, and developers and gamers are encouraged to come together on the platform to design, build, release, and play the games they love.
The news is full of reports of your success. Apart from the development team, who has played a critical role in the development and success of the Nakamoto ecosystem?
Nakamoto Games’ early-stage supporters and community members have been indispensable to the success of the platform. Nakamoto’s early-stage partners provided the resources needed to accelerate the development of the ecosystem, and some of the most respected VCs in the cryptocurrency industry supported the project. New partnerships and collaborations were established that aligned with the platform’s vision, and the Nakamoto Games community has grown phenomenally since the platform’s launch, and it already has almost 450,000 members across Telegram and Twitter.
What new games will Nakamoto Games offer, and what else does Nakamoto Games have in store for 2022?
Nakamoto Games is constantly developing new games, with new titles being released after thorough QA by in-house and testing teams. From the initial release of Duck Hunter to the wildly popular NAKA Strike, Nakamoto Games has built racing, puzzle, action, family, and kid games, and new titles are constantly under design, development, research, prototyping, and user testing prior to officially being released.
For the rest of 2022, a highly ambitious release schedule has been drafted. The goal is to release up to 100 games over the course of the year. A gaming room concept was recently launched. This gaming room allows Nakamoto Games users to coordinate and compete in innovative ways. A marketplace that operates across the ecosystem was also recently launched. For 2022, new games, Metaverse expansion, new user onboarding, lucrative staking opportunities for NAKA token holders, and new partnerships and marketing campaigns are just some of the developments our users and developers can look forward to over the coming weeks and months.
These goals are certainly ambitious! The innovations that Nakamoto Games has introduced to blockchain gaming are revolutionizing the space, and it will be exciting to see the new titles and developments that come from your team. We look forward to seeing them and to speaking again!
Thanks for having me, and yes, we are excited about the projects, campaigns, events, and titles that are upcoming on our platform through Q3 and Q4 2022, and dev updates will be shared across all our official channels.
