1/ @axieinfinity. It took them 3+ yrs to make their first $10M in revenue and 5 days to make their latest $10M. Runrating $1B+/mo of GMV. 350k DAUs. What is going on here…
3/ People compare @axieinfinity to @PokemonGoApp but other than core meta (cute collectible characters with distinct properties) and battle mechanics, the game hook is entirely different.
4/ @PokemonGoApp is free-to-play (F2P) where players collect (“gotta catchem all”). @axieinfinity is an incredible execution of play-to-earn (P2E), where players earn. There are grinders who earn and spenders who battle, and players doing both.
5/ The most important indicator of longevity is retention, which with a D30 of 90% per @Jihoz_Axie, is worldclass. To maintain high retention over time, the game has to be fun. Otherwise once economy inflation stabilizes, purely speculative players will leave.
6/ How to keep new player retention high over time? Lower player onboarding friction, direct fiat on-ramp, mobile app, deeper meta, live ops (tournaments, events), co-op, guilds, deeper social mechanics, mods/UGC, all of which I’m sure the team is thinking about.
7/ On onboarding friction, I dropped $900 on my first 3 Axies - how many people can afford that before new player growth slows? With 75%+ of revenues coming from breeding, new players are critical, and a player base of tens of millions will also help stabilize game economy.
8/ Fascinating to see @YieldGuild and others solving the cost-to-start problem. Kind of like providing scholarship/loans for school. Players (many in developing countries) also need protection from predatory lenders.
9/ Bottom line, it’s awesome to see the next evolution of post-F2P (more on that here👇) and follow the @axieinfinity phenomenon.
1/ As a gaming + crypto investor, I’ve been thinking about the intersection of the 2 for months. We’ve yet to see a major game or publisher adopt blockchain tech. Yet it’s really intriguing. Why has this been so hard?
2/ First what could crypto in a game look like? In-game digital currency + ICOs, fiat-crypto payments, items exchange, NFT items/skins/land, gold farming marketplace, interoperable NFTs cross-game, decentralized transactions in the metaverse. Why isn’t there broad adoption?
3/ 1. Big publishers are worried about regulatory risk 2. You can do a lot of that without blockchain
3.Inevitable pay-to-win dynamics, not popular in western games. In fact, this may break F2P progression
4.Attracting crypto speculators rather than a loyal gamer community
1/ There’s a lot of chatter on the #grandattrition, where companies are seeing unprecedented rates of employee turnover right now. You are not alone. A lot of drivers for this and thoughts on mitigation... @lightspeedvp
2/ 15mos of covid (and counting) have made people rethink what they want - life, priorities, values, where to live etc. Many have experienced financial hardships but some have amassed unprecedented savings that’s given them real optionality.
3/ Combined with most (tech) companies going hybrid work (for now) means people can apply to jobs anywhere while living anywhere. Plus mega rounds of financing = OPTIONALITY. Tech employees have unprecedented leverage right now.