Former YouTube head of gaming, polygon CEO over the value of blockchain integration

Former YouTube head of gaming, polygon CEO over the value of blockchain integration

Ryan Wyatt heard from NFTS for the first time when he noticed a tributary of risk capital of companies and hedge funds in the traditional gaming area last year. Sequoia, Tiger Global and Andreesen Horowitz invested million from dollars in the gaming area in 2021 alone.

Wyatt was head of the gaming area on YouTube for over seven years and said that he had never seen a VC interest in this caliber in the industry. NFTS (not fungible tokens) then quickly attracted his attention for their "long -term" applications in gambling, especially as a possibility to prove "verifiable property".

last month Wyatt came to Polygon Studios as the latest CEO of blockchain startup. Polygon is a "protocol and a framework for building and connecting Ethereum-compatible blockchain networks", so its website . The company had well-known partnerships with NFT artists Beeple, Dolce & Gabbana, Draftkings and OpenSea.

Morgan Chittum from Blockworks spoke with Wyatt about emerging NFT applications, the value of blockchain integration in gaming and what makes a play-to-earl game financially sustainable.

Chittum: How can you think play-to-ear projects and gaming companies make sure that the players remain interested without the money of the player.

Wyatt: blockchain games are still at an early stage, and this is accompanied by natural volatility. If you take an open and free market like this, it brings a lot of good and bad things, but now take a look at the alternative. The alternative is cash in and cash never out.

I think things like the presence of governance tokens and enabling communities to really engage in developer decisions, decisions at macro level and the feeling that users are part of things can be helpful. Over time, this could help to build up the user base and ensure more stability.

chittum: Which other applications for NFTS do you currently inspire the most? Which emerging trends do you notice in the industry?

Wyatt: This will be a big year for music nfts. You now have the option of having an NFT and using it as to whether it is discounts on tickets, meet and greets or whatever, and this artist finally has the autonomy to do this. NFTS create less dependence on large music studios and publishers.

I think the music industry is fundamentally faulty and disadvantage for the artist. So much of the spirit of decentralization and web3 makes users and developers. This is the opposite of many mantras from Web2.

Chittum: Farmville creator Zynga said that this year they will launch a blockchain-based game, but plan to found a separate studio to avoid confusion with the players. Ubisoft also had reports from employees who terminated NFTS in the game because of the possibility of NFTs. Where do you think this potential tension and the desire for separation between the two?

Wyatt: There is a necessary context why you separate the church and state within these companies. Objectively, there is part of the gaming market that wants blockchain games, and there is a part that tries to keep what he loves. I think that's all right.

I think the big mistake in many polarizing conversations that I see is that people think in absolute terms about what blockchain games are.

There are a lot of things that we have to do as an industry in Web3, especially with regard to CO2 footprints and to ensure that we are concerned and the subjects that happen on the NFT market. However, I think that over time we will see that all of these studios will strive to bring a blockchain game onto the market. It will most likely be new intellectual property or a completely new franchise. After all, the studios will be able to operate the entire addressable market of players.

chittum: When did you hear the word nft for the first time? Where were you? What did you get through your head?

Wyatt: It was early last year. I started seeing many developers who collect donations from large risk capital providers. For the first time in the history of the gaming industry, there was a lot of capital for video games from large risk capital companies. There are a few borderline cases for this, but the capital inflow was quite significant. In the past, a large part of the game industry came mostly from other game publishers that financed these studios.

At the same time, Covid also showed how many people spend in digital worlds. Name it the meta person, video games or digital worlds. People spent more time in these immersive digital environments. And then I started to really think about what the implications of it are? What are the advantages and disadvantages? One thing that sparked my really great interest was property. People love peacock hunt and they are very proud to show what they own. You can already see this in video games with skins, but mostly the players don't really have them. The agreements that users have with game developers is a licensing, and in most cases this subject is illiquid. After that I was quite in love with this idea of ​​digital property.

chittum: What can we expect from polygon in the coming year?

Wyatt: You will see how we bring big talents from traditional games and great technology. I can tell you that I won't be the last one who comes by. And I think that includes how many people who are in Web2 are enthusiastic about what the future of web3 can look like.

You will also see some of our technology introductions that we acquired last year, i.e. more developer tools on which you can build up. You will see further partnerships that will continue to emerge from polygon.

This interview was processed for reasons of length and clarity.

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The contribution of former YouTube head of gaming, polygon CEO about the value of blockchain integration is not a financial advice.