At the BSV Global Blockchain Convention, CoinGeek’s Becky Liggero Fontana moderated a panel titled “Blockchain: Data Power-Ups and NFTs for eSports & Online Games,” featuring Jerry Chan of FROBOTS.io, Roman Livson of Burkhan World Investments, and Ajaypal Pama from GameFi Ltd. The panel discussed NFTs, esports, online games, and how they all tie into the BSV blockchain.
NFTs with utility
Liggero opens the panel with a discussion on NFTs with utility. She invites Chan to explain the concept of FROBOTS, who outlines the main idea behind FROBOTS—basically to use an NFT to represent a digital entity. Chan explains how FROBOTS are ‘more alive’ than a static image or token. With them, you can train and evolve your entity, allowing it to continue to grow and gain value over time.
Pama then explains the concept of ‘future NFTs.’ He outlines how they’ll give users membership access to play play-to-earn games, earning passive income and rewards rather than simply holding a static token that does nothing.
Livson is investing in a blockchain gaming company. He believes that NFTs will change how games are created, funded, and developed. He sees a future in which players will be involved in creating and developing games.
The need for a scalable, efficient blockchain for gaming
Everyone in the blockchain gaming sector recognizes that there are problems with most blockchains right now. For example, Adam Kling from FYX Gaming has repeatedly outlined how his company hit inbuilt scaling limits on Ethereum. Liggero asks for the panelists’ thoughts on this issue.
Pama begins by highlighting that the biggest problem with Ethereum is the gas fees. He says they are “astronomical compared to BSV.” In his view, Ethereum can’t match up with what they’re trying to do. He explains how the gas fees kill the incentive to keep playing the game; earning $3 on a game with $10 gas fees per transaction is self-defeating. This problem becomes especially pronounced when one considers that many gamers are coming from the Philippines and other APAC countries, where the average salary is much lower than in the West. The gas fees not only make for a worse user experience, but they act as a barrier to entry and price most would-be players out. Pama tells us that he and his team are thinking about creating a bridge to BSV so that users can move between Ethereum and BSV, allowing them to play on both chains.
Describing what investors look for, Livson says that processing has to be near-instantaneous and must be cost-efficient, and these are the main advantages BSV offers. In his portfolio, he has companies in eSports and games with over 50 million users, and his firm is looking closely at BSV.
On grants and funding for developers
Liggero asks the panelists for their opinions on the grants and funding offered by VCs on many other blockchains.
Chan answers first by acknowledging that “it’s a difficult situation” and that it’s hard to say no. However, he says that the danger of big upfront token treasuries is that they take away the developers’ incentives to stay on and create something great.
Pama answers by asking a question of his own: what’s the point of taking the funding if the blockchain you’re developing on can’t scale?
While on the topic of funding, Liggero reminds us that developers can apply for funding from Satoshi Block Dojo—the original BSV startup incubator.
How does blockchain technology improve gaming, and why is BSV the best choice?
Chan answers first this time, explaining that the main reason is that BSV makes economic sense. He underscores that the blockchain has to be cheap so users don’t need to be involved in buying digital currencies. His vision is to subsidize players’ fees, so they have to be cheap enough to do so.
Coming again from an investing angle, Livson explains that ROI increases when customer acquisition costs are low and the user experience is great. It’s more likely to be so when fees are cheap, everything runs smoothly and efficiently.
Pama likes how everything is stored on the BSV blockchain, including data and NFTs. No other blockchains offer this; they typically store data on third-party servers. On-chain data allows for total transparency as every move and interaction is traceable, he says.
Why FROBOTS are the future of Bitcoin
Zooming in on Chan’s project, Liggero asks him to expand on a statement he made that FROBOTS are the future of Bitcoin. He explains that this application will teach people how to code and write something similar to smart contracts while building digital athletes.
“FROBOTS are the first step into a world where everything runs on the Bitcoin blockchain,” he says.
Why is gaming an excellent place to start building on the blockchain?
Wrapping up the panel, Liggero asks for the panelists’ final thoughts on why people often say that gaming is a great place to start building on the blockchain.
Pama says that gaming is heading to the blockchain space anyway. He states that things like skins and weapons will be tradable and that this will allow players to earn from their gaming activity in ways they haven’t been able to before.
Livson says we are witnessing a transition from play-to-win to play-to-earn/play-and-earn. He also believes that we’ll see more promotion of games by streamers and gamers themselves rather than by influencers.
Chan says blockchain technology and gaming can bring about a “play to learn” model. He claims that everybody on the planet can practice and get better, and gamifying coding and computer science is a great way to encourage people to learn these skills.
Watch the BSV Global Blockchain Convention Dubai 2022 Day 1 here:
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