The Gaming industry will introduce NFT's and Blockchain, but not in the way you think.
Opportunities to capitalize on Web3 Gaming M&A's and Indie Game releases.
4 days ago Jerome Powell made his speech at Jackson Hole about “pain ahead” regarding inflation and stopping the incoming US recession/depression. The market responded badly, with the S&P500 losing $1.25 Trillion in value the following day (we called the drop in our last newsletter’s Technical Analysis section), and BTC following suit by breaking down below $20,000 once again.
Though there is no bull market momentum yet, there’s still plenty of adoption going on of the underlying technology. This newsletter I specifically focus on how the gaming industry and AAA Game studios will introduce blockchain, and what technology they may use to make it fast and easy.
As I look further into gaming, which has been growing exponentially since the pandemic, I see how large of a risk it is for gaming companies to move into Web3. Why do something risky to a game already generating millions in revenue? For example, Ubisoft announced they would be integrating NFT’s and received backlash from their community. Not a great start to integrating technology that actually helps players!
I needed the insights from an insider who knows the approach gaming studios may take to introduce blockchain in a way with fewer risks of hurting their image and bottom line.
So I called up Rudy Koch, the Co-Founder of Mythical Games, who knows an incredible amount about the gaming industry, having been a senior producer at all of World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, and Disney in the past. Damn!
Rudy explains exactly how he see’s gaming studios entering into Web3 through acquisition’s of companies and great games rather than trying to enter Web3 from scratch. Mythical Games has raised over $275M for their platform, and Rudy’s enthusiasm for Web3 gaming is a must hear.
There are tons of great games (with amazing graphics) being built by Web3 companies that will prove out the Play 2 Earn / Play 2 Own economics. The best ones will definitely try be acquired by gaming giants like Activision and Ubisoft. I am watching Mythical Games for their next upcoming release, a game that they’ve partnered with the NFL for, and potential acquisitions down the line.
Looking further into Gaming ecosystems, I could not pass by the giant that is Enjin, a gaming community started in 2009 (before Bitcoin!) that has grown into one of the largest gaming ecosystems in Web3 today.
Enjin also includes the Efinity ecosystem on Polkadot, winning one of the few Parachain slots available, for building NFT gaming industry tools. Enjin’s developer tools like API’s and SDK’s enable traditional games to integrate NFT’s into their gameplay easily.
With NFT’s inside of Web2 games, gamers will no longer have to “grind” for good weapons or rare items and have nothing to show for it. The upcoming release of the Enjin NFT.io marketplace is set to become a central hub where players can exchange their in-game items for real world value.
Efinity is very early on in its growth, as is the Polkadot Parachain ecosystem. There are currently less than 16,000 holders that entered Efinity during the Parachain phase, and the EFI coin currently has a $56 million market cap.
I believe Enjin’s ecosystem will be a leader in Web3 gaming long term, and could grow into the next Activision or Ubisoft. Its peak market cap last year was $4.2 Billion dollars, and it currently sits at around $480 Million, a 10x potential return to former highs.
I speak with Esther Jade about the games already integrated into the Enjin ecosystem, and how investors can capitalize on their growing gaming platform.
Other Crypto & Market News:
Bitcoin network moved its 100 trillionth dollar across the network.
**Avalanche CEO denies claims which came out from Crypto Leaks about a “secret pact” between Ava Labs and former lawyer Kyle Roche of the Roche Freedman LLP firm to file lawsuits against competitive companies like Solana and Dfinity in exchange for 1% of AVAX supply.
The global #cryptocurrency market cap has fallen back under $1 trillion after hitting $3 trillion at the November 2021 peak.
2,600,000 ($3.86 billion) #Ethereum has been burned since the EIP-1559 update
CME launches euro-denominated bitcoin futures.
Singapore's central bank is considering new regulations that would make it more difficult for retail investors to trade #Bitcoin
Former Turkish Crypto exchange Thodex founder arrested in Albania with a potential 40,564 years jail term.
Crypto.com sues a woman in Australia after accidentally refunding her $10 million instead of a $100. She spent it buying a house and now is forced to return the funds.
$10 trillion has been wiped out from the US stock market so far in 2022.
President Biden to forgive $10,000 of federal student debt for individuals making under $125,000.
Technical Analysis:
$BTC:
Bitcoins descending wedge formation it has been in during the last 2 weeks will likely soon come to an end. I expect it to break upwards in the next 5 days and remain in the sideways chop it has been in since the June lows. The Birbicator remains bearish.
$ETH:
The ETH Picture looks very similar to BTC, however it may take a bit longer to break out of its descending wedge. Barring negative political news, I expect ETH to follow the same direction as BTC as it breaks out. It seems the ETH Merge 2.0 hype ended when ETH reached $2000. We will see how ETH responds to the actual merge happening in two weeks time, an act which will make ETH a much more deflationary currency.
Notable gainers this week: ATOM, NEAR, AVAX (rebounding from negative news shown above), and XMR.
That’s all for this edition! Leave a comment or reply if you have any feedback or want to see more or something in next weeks letter.
-Ashton Addison
CEO, Crypto Coin Show