Thread by @themoonscholar

In crypto, we are surrounded by exciting announcements every minute of the day.

But we excel when we accurately separate the true signals from the noise.

@terra_money's partnership with @Com2uS / @GAMEVIL is bigger than any of us are imagining.

1/🧵

Most blockchain games are built by crypto natives whose primary background is not in gaming. In my view, these games often succeed not because of their gameplay but in spite of it.

P2E (play-to-earn) mechanics and strong network effects — not the gameplay — draw in users.

2/🧵

I'm not hating on these games; I'm actually a huge @AxieInfinity fan.

But we have to be realistic about what games will attract a sizable % of the world's 2.5B gamers. It'll be the ones that are already entertaining and engaging even without integrating crypto. Why?

3/🧵

Because that game can onboard the majority of gamers who just want to have fun, for whom blockchain is an afterthought, not a focus. Mobile gamers won't switch from @wildrift or @MobileLegendsOL just b/c we promise they'll make a few bucks grinding a new blockchain game.

4/🧵

But if we present them with a game that's just as entertaining as @wildrift and @MobileLegendsOL that just so happens to integrate crypto in a neat, exciting way, then they'll absolutely be excited to give it a shot.

5/🧵

I'm hardly the first to point this out.

@SBF_FTX made headlines for being more bullish on legacy gaming companies introducing crypto into their games than on crypto companies trying to build successful games from the ground up.

6/🧵

https://twitter.com/BloombergLive/status/1456674665305411585?s=20

But why does any of this matter for Terra?

Because @Com2uS / @GAMEVIL are exactly the type of companies that will thrive in blockchain gaming. They are exceptional gaming companies introducing crypto, not random crypto builders trying to quickly learn how to create games.

7/🧵

Just how exceptional are they?

@Com2uS is a multi-billion dollar developer/publisher with tons of mobile games across categories. One of those games, Summoners War, is the #1 grossing game in 86 countries w/ 100M+ downloads and $2B in global sales.

8/🧵

Through this partnership, they'll build on Terra in two key ways.

First, in Q1 2022, they'll launch an NFT marketplace on Terra. Imagine the audience that they can bring to such a marketplace given their unique IP & network of loyal followers/fans/gamers.

9/🧵

Second, they want to create a blockchain game ecosystem and will adapt its current platform, Hive, into an open blockchain platform via a blockchain SDK.

The Hive platform is already built to support over 100M+ active users per year.

10/🧵

It's hard to overstate just how incredible this is. As an open platform, Hive will not only bring @Com2uS / @GAMEVIL games onboard; third-party developers will also be building and releasing their own games on the platform.

11/🧵

In Q1 2022, they will begin showcasing games built on Hive. We'll see internally developed blockchain games (including an MMORPG based on Summoners War) as well as new games from third party developers.

12/🧵

Ultimately, this partnership adds value to $LUNA both directly and indirectly.

Indirectly, it adds value by increasing adoption and onboarding new users.

Directly, it adds value by driving massive demand for UST.

How?

13/🧵

The Hive platform will use Terra to, in the words of the press release, "significantly improve ease and usability for blockchain game developers."

So it's not just one game or even just one company that will use Terra; it's tied into the entire open platform itself.

14/🧵

Even better, the press release notes that "Terra offers features and services for token rewards which is especially significant in play-to-earn (P2E) games, so the strategic partnership is expected to have an even larger impact in the global market."

15/🧵

That line is the most important one of all. The "features and services for token rewards" on Terra inherently involve UST.

So the partnership will indeed increase demand for UST by integrating certain features into the games.

16/🧵

Beyond this, there's no way to know what exact features will be utilized, nor the extent to which UST demand will increase, because we would just be guessing at this point.

17/🧵

But we know enough to be ecstatic, because every UST that's minted is $1 of Luna burned, and we're talking about massive gaming companies building an entire blockchain game ecosystem with an open platform that directly integrates Terra features...

18/🧵

However, when I said at the start that this partnership is bigger than we are imagining, I wasn't just talking about the partnership itself. I was also referring to what this partnership symbolizes: the first (massive) snowball in a forthcoming avalanche.

19/🧵

Before announcing the partnership, @stablekwon said top tier games are coming to Terra, and that this announcement was just the first.

20/🧵

Similarly, @baekkyoumkim, Principal at @hashed_official, played a key role in bringing these gaming companies to Terra, and he left us with this tweet implying that this is only the beginning.

21/🧵

https://twitter.com/baekkyoumkim/status/1461401159462096898?s=20

With all of this in mind, it's fair to say that the show is now underway, but it's far from over.

🧵/🧵