Zynga's Founder Justin Waldron

Full Title

Summary

This episode explores the evolution of game monetization and distribution models, from Zynga's early freemium approach to the potential of Open Game Protocol (OGP) to reward players and communities.

The discussion highlights how OGP aims to create a new distribution channel by aligning incentives between game developers, token communities, and players, potentially reducing reliance on traditional advertising.

Key Points

The gaming industry spends an estimated $65 billion annually on user acquisition, a significant portion of which could be reallocated to player rewards to drive more efficient distribution.
Open Game Protocol (OGP) enables communities to launch game ecosystem tokens, allowing them to create reward pools that incentivize both developers for content creation and players for engagement.
The shift from premium game purchases to freemium models faced initial resistance from traditional developers, similar to current skepticism around crypto integrations in gaming, but ultimately expanded the market significantly.
The core experiment of OGP is to see if token communities will actively participate in and contribute to reward pools, incentivizing players and developers in a sustainable way.
OGP aims to create a new distribution channel that is more cost-effective than traditional advertising, potentially offering a better return on investment for developers by rewarding players directly.
The protocol is designed to be plug-and-play, allowing communities and developers to easily integrate tokenized reward systems without being tied to a single token, unlike previous models that could be overly dependent on one cryptocurrency.
The value proposition of crypto in gaming is shifting from focus on cheaper payments to the scarcity and value of distribution channels, as developers seek more efficient ways to reach players.
The integration of games within crypto wallets, offering a "play button," is seen as a natural evolution that adds value and improves user experience, making gaming more accessible and integrated with token economies.
AI's impact on game development is accelerating content creation, reducing production costs, and enabling new forms of games, further emphasizing the importance of distribution channels to make these creations visible and valuable.
The traditional model of web2 game asset ownership has been problematic due to company policy changes and server shutdowns, highlighting the need for more persistent and community-driven gaming ecosystems.
The value of crypto for games lies not just in asset ownership but in creating new, scarcer distribution channels that align the interests of players, developers, and token communities.
The success of games like Hamster Combat on Telegram, which reached 300 million users without traditional advertising, demonstrates the potential of reward-based distribution models.
Open Game Protocol focuses on creating a distribution mechanism rather than trying to reinvent the payment layer, which is already becoming commoditized with low fees.
The ultimate goal is to democratize game creation and reward participation, similar to what has happened with other forms of media, by lowering the barriers to entry and creating sustainable economic models.

Conclusion

Open Game Protocol presents a novel approach to game distribution by rewarding players and incentivizing communities to build token ecosystems around games.

The success of this model hinges on creating genuinely engaging experiences that align the interests of all parties involved, moving beyond speculative financial engineering.

The future of gaming monetization is likely to involve more player-centric reward systems, mirroring the evolution seen in other media industries, driven by technological advancements like AI and new distribution paradigms.