❌Gaming companies are dead.
✅Entertainment companies are in.
The power of storytelling on all screens.
A thread 🧵
The gaming industry is ever-changing and we are moving in a direction where traditional gaming studios are becoming full-on entertainment houses, bringing their IPs to the mass market beyond gaming.
And it works...
Cyberpunk by @CDPROJEKTRED saw a significant uplift with the release of @edgerunners on September 13th, seemingly reminding people to give the game another chance after its buggy release.
The Witcher 3 saw a new player record 4(!) years after its initial release with the launch of @witchernetflix Season 1 of its Netflix show in December 2019.
Another uplift could be seen with the launch of Season 2, in late 2021.
Riot saw a similar effect with the release of @arcaneshow in November last year. While there are no exact player numbers public, we can assume that the show's success has a big impact on winning back old players and introducing new ones into the universe.
twitter.com/arcaneshow/status/1463608022203207684
Additionally, the main characters of @arcaneshow, sisters Jinx and Vi have skyrocketed in popularity, doubling or even tripling their play rates. The pair sat at 18.38% and 15.4% respectively shortly after the show's release.
Web3 is perfectly positioned to build with this in mind from the get-go.
By working with their community, brands can build entire universes from scratch, offering toolsets and narratives to build an immersive cross-screen experience.
Comics, movies, books, games, you name it!
We can see this happening already happening with @yugalabs who are essentially outsourcing their IP through an engaged community of holders and fans.
twitter.com/XBeyondOfficial/status/1579810404787625984
At @RumbleKongs we are not only building a game but have an entire universe as the backbone, which can be leveraged by us and the community to tell stories. 🏀
For now, we are centering this around the fictional city of Athlos:
rumblekongleague.com/athlos
twitter.com/RumbleKongs/status/1532449261232832526
The team behind @jenkinsthevalet is going beyond their initial BAYC connection and are starting an entire storytelling narrative with their upcoming @azurbala launch.
Putting story and narrative at its center, aiming to build a compelling story and characters from scratch. 🧠
twitter.com/azurbala/status/1583520125671510016
Getting an engaged community behind this approach mitigates the risks to overextend yourself if you are a small team.
What is normally handled by endless internal bottlenecks and departments can be decentralized, through the power of the community.
This is not mandatory, or exclusive. There will always be room for the traditional approach. After all, there are 3bln gamers out there.
However, we will see more and more traditional companies develop their multi-screen approach, and web3 teams starting off with this in mind.
So what can you do?
Playing a part in an exciting universe doesn't need you to be a great storyteller. Find a community & project that resonates with you, and leverage your skills. Coding, editing, memes, anything is possible!
We're literally building the future. 🌱