We have prepared for you a translation of an interesting interview with Paul Bettner. Paul is a game industry veteran and is currently working on a web3 project. Paul's track record starts in the 90s and includes such successful games as: Age of Empires, Age of Mythology, halo wars, Words With Friends, work in Zynga And many more.
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In June, the 2022 Playful Studios Paul Bettner announced the news that for about four years they have been working on a new Web3 game, which immediately aroused great interest among the audience. Game team wildcard of Playful Studios did not wait to raise money through a token sale and decided to show the game they had been working on for many years. Even though the game started out more like a Web2 project, Bettner and his wife Kathy Drake Bettner decided to use blockchain technology to reward players for their enthusiasm. Bettner was a crypto skeptic in the past, but he managed to discover the possibilities of Web3 from the other side. Playful Studios attracted $46 million for the game wildcard.
Tell us more about what you have done in the past?
I've been making games for a long time, it's been going on since childhood. Today since wildcard we continue to work on a product that brings people together - this is my main goal. I love the idea of using games and entertainment to bring people together again. From Age of Empires before Words With Friends, I was always looking for the opportunity to create games that bring people together with their idea, making them brothers and sisters in one virtual world. Words With Friends has become one of the best mobile games already played by half a billion people, and I can not help but be proud of this, this is a great achievement.
Is it true that in 2010 you sold Zynga for about $50 million?
We have sold our Zynga a $180 million company in 2010 is a little more than $50 million (Bettner chuckles). But we didn't become known as major shareholders Zynga until the company filed a report to that effect. Our goal was to create favorite games that would bring joy to people.
For example, when we created Words With Friends, we quit working on Age of Empires and Halo's Microsoftto start a mobile game company. At the time, this was unusual because no one thought that mobile games would be successful. Then the iPhone just came out and we played flip games on our phones, such as Solitaire for example. But I thought that mobile games were the future and that they could bring people together in the same way that games on consoles and PCs can. Today I see that web3 is a new stage in the gaming industry and I could not help but take advantage of this.
Has it always been a family affair for you? Or was it just the way things were?
I think so. For the companies I have started, I have always done it with my family. My brother and I started a company Words With Friendswhen I first got married. And now, in wildcardme and my wife and we work together. We are the CEO and she is here in the room. Katie is the director and narrator. Of course, I started working with her from the very beginning of our relationship, and then, when we got married, she became my constant partner in all endeavors.
We see huge potential in games. We simply believe that games can be a key part of what people love and remember for years to come. I think that our company will be able to exist for many years, and we will be able to make many impressive projects for people who love games just as much as we do.
Let's talk about Wildcard. Tell us more about the creation process.
Yes, we have learned from past experience in establishing the company Words With Friends, and realized that we do not want to repeat past mistakes. We founded the parent company Playful about 12 years ago with the idea of creating games using the same model. However, until the last two years, this was only a hypothesis, because we worked on games and continued to work with publishers in a more traditional model. But we also financed our game wildcard from their own funds with the hope that perhaps someone will want to invest in this project. Our dream was to spin off this project as our own subsidiary owned by the parent company.
Finally, we were able to make our dream come true. Last year we attracted P, who invested $46 million in wildcard. They saw the potential of our game and we were able to spin it off as our own subsidiary owned by our parent company.
Wait, that's about 10 times what people usually invest in Website3 games I hear about from time to time. How did it happen?
Yes! Exactly! I call it a miracle (Bettner laughs). We have invested so much time, energy and money into this project. When appeared P, wildcard then 5 years was in development. We risked our capital and capital raised from friends and family members. It was a vital investment for our project.
Usually in the gaming industry, independent developers do not have IP rights. They only develop the game, which then becomes the property of publishers such as Electronic Arts и Activision. But we always wanted to create a game, manage its IP and have flexibility in its development.
Thus we have created wildcard - a game of this magnitude that independent developers usually do not work on. This gave us the opportunity to remain flexible in its development and have full control over the game's IP.
You have described a model for what you do with Wildcard, but your model is completely different from how many others started Website3 companies. The question is where is wrong Web3?
The first question concerns our experience with Web3. First of all, let's define what we mean by the term Web3. This is a broad term that includes blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and smart contracts on platforms like Ethereum, etc. These technologies have created new opportunities for us, including for games.
Moving on to the second question, what's wrong with games over the past few years? One reason is the over-financialization of technology. Cryptography and Web3 certainly have applications in finance and financial protocols, but can also have great potential for games. It could unlock Web3's ability to empower gamers to own game items and have a new sense of belonging to the game and what we create.
However, there are many projects on Web3 that seem to be solutions to the problem. Some developers use crypto technology to attract investors and then build the game. Instead, our approach was different. First build the game and then attract investors.
We started working on a game called wildcard five or six years ago. Although I knew about bitcoin, I did not pay attention to the Web3 space, I do not hide that this was due to skepticism towards this technology. However, Kathy and I had to create a game that was not only fun, but also interesting for the players. The game connected competitors and the audience in a new way that was not possible before. We started noticing that our players were starting to watch others play our games instead of playing them themselves, which was new and interesting.
So our game wildcard was the result of five or six years of work and inspired by new trends. Many gaming projects and players have previously looked at Twitch as a platform that can help bring attention to the game. However, we began to ask ourselves the question: what if we didn't care if the game was installed or not? We imagined that the entire audience is already a customer, already a player, even if they never install the game. They enjoy watching the game on Twitch just as much as those who play it.
We asked ourselves another question: “What would game development look like if we knew that streaming platforms would become popular?” We started working on this and wanted to look to Twitch and YouTube to build a platform for the future where there is a deep connection between those who play and those who watch.
Then we realized that our conversations were not leading to the desired results, and our idea remained on paper. Unfortunately, Twitch and YouTube weren't available to meet at the level where we thought our vision could be realized. But we still believe in the idea of using games to create a new type of connection between players and viewers.
Typical entrepreneurs involved in Website3 games, they would say that you understood everything exactly the opposite. You have to first announce that you are going to make a game, create a bunch of NFTs, sell them to your audience, and then maybe release a game sometime in the future. This has its advantages, but also many disadvantages.
When we were talking to P, they suggested that we make a AAA class game. We were interested, but asked for twice as much money as they offered to see how our idea would come to fruition. We didn't want to go through the complicated and risky fundraising model often used in Web3, where funds raised through the early sale of game pieces are used to develop the game. We wanted to find the right way to apply new technology related to cryptography and blockchain in games.
We were afraid of what happened with Diablo III, where the developers tried to tie the in-game economy to the real economy and allowed players to trade items from the game, which led to problems and forced them to remove this feature from the game. We didn't want to repeat this mistake that happens when financial aspects come into direct contact with game design. We said Pthat we need time and opportunity to find the best way to use new technology in games. We didn't want to risk losing what we're trying to create.
Other companies and studios may run a risk when they try to do the opposite and link game design to financial aspects, which is wrong in my opinion.
Selling tokens in advance has its pros and cons. One of the benefits of selling tokens is that you don't have to turn to venture capitalists to raise the necessary funds, and you don't have to give up capital in the process. You get your money up front. In addition, you can pre-define your whales.
Guys, do you know what whales are? It's a term that originated from the free-to-play world, and it's not exactly apt. This business model is exemplified by Candy Crush and other games. They make most of their money from the one percent of the audience that spends tens of thousands of dollars every month to buy in-game items. Yes, this is not a joke.
To find a million people willing to pay you whatever you want, you need to reach 100 million people. This was the main catalyst for success. However, such a process is associated with high user acquisition costs.
Frankly, I think that a game design model based on attracting a huge number of users can harm the quality of games. The free mobile games industry uses the term player pinch, which means that players must pay to be able to continue playing. I don't think it affects the enjoyment of the game. I hope that the Web3 platform can avoid this problem and create a new type of interaction between players. Perhaps this will lead to quality games and a healthier monetization model that goes beyond the one percent of players paying for everyone else. Of course, there is a danger that this may not work, but I believe that this is a real possibility.
Selling tokens has its benefits. First, you can find people willing to pay up front and launch a profitable game quite early. For example, the game Million on Mars is a great example. This is a Mars colony simulator with 10000 paying players. That's enough to run a studio of 20 people and earn money from the launch of the game. Who would have thought that it would be possible to work successfully with such a small number of players?
One of the most interesting things for me about making games is the level of audience engagement. I'm not limited to being at the top of the charts as that doesn't reflect the game's true audience. Every time we create a game for a new platform, we strive to bring in everything we love and what has worked in previous games. We want to create games that bring people together and make them happy. However, each platform and audience has its own unique features that we have not encountered before.
When we started working on games for phones, I had to develop a game that could be played in the toilet. Never had to make this kind of game before. We had to meet in two or three minutes, like in an elevator. This was our new feature and we were very interested in making the game as fast as email or text messages. We wanted players to be able to enter, make a move, and exit, all within minutes. It was convenient for us and for our players.
The next game we worked on was Lucky's Tale, a virtual reality game. We didn't have to think about creating a game to play in the toilet, but we faced a new problem - the comfort of the players. The games we made could make people sick. This was a completely new challenge for us that we had not faced before, but we accepted it and tried to create a game that would be comfortable for all of our players.
We have the FTX platform. The idea of making money from the tokens you get for purchases turned out to be a failure.
It is not so easy. When I talk to other game developers, colleagues, and entrepreneurs who also work on games, I ask them what they think of Web3. The answers, I assure you, are different. If you take the time to understand what a distributed ledger is and how it can be applied to video games, you will see what an amazing opportunity it will bring to games. However, combating the negative uses of this technology, especially over-financing, will be a difficult task.
As a result, no one will care if the game uses the blockchain and whether it is a Web3 game. Except for those who, like us, are interested in it. Gamers don't care. It's like saying you should love the game because it uses SQL Server. Nobody needs to take care of it. But if we use this technology in the right way, it will matter to the players how it will change games. How it will connect new connections between different types of audiences. Once this starts, gamers will never want to give up on these features.
Recently, there has been a trend to make free drops of tokens and NFTs in order to attract the attention of the audience, or at least stir up interest in the project while it is in development. What do you think about it?
I think the Web3 audience is not accustomed to waiting as long to create games as necessary. But we have a unique opportunity to get a game that we've been working on for five years, I've done it ten times already and I'll do it again (laughs Bettner). Many other studios and my friends who start this journey know that it can take a long time to create a great game. But people in the cryptocurrency environment are not used to waiting so long, they want to get the result in the near future.
However, there may be a sense of unease or awareness in people. This is related to what we talked about earlier. I don't know what genres will dominate Web3, ranging from casual mobile games to high end AAA games like wildcard. I'm sure our viewer-centric experience will be successful, but I don't know what other games will be popular. When I created the game Words With Friends, could not imagine that such games would become the dominant casual games that people would play. Now, as then, it is difficult to say for sure.
Perhaps there will be mobile games that can be developed faster than wildcard. But I still think that the Web3 community is not used to waiting so long to create their favorite games, but they will have to get used to this thought and be patient.
Microsoft lost $4 billion on the first Xbox, but they managed to release a game that was a hit and a game-changer: Halo. It gave life to Xbox and now, two decades later, the company is finally starting to make good money. When do you think that moment will come for blockchain games? What can become an analogue of Halo for Web3 games?
I think that wildcard may become one of these analogues. We have always tried to be Nintendo where Nintendo has not been, even going back to playing games on the iPhone and Words With Friends. But what if Nintendo invented it? Nintendo has always been very bold and inventive with their games, and when they had the Nintendo DS they kept inventing new types of gaming experiences. They understand that new technological breakthroughs like blockchain can help create new games that can reach people who don't play games at all.
For me, gaming as a spectator sport is a big opportunity, at least in the case of wildcard. That's because you don't have to pick up a controller or sit down at a computer to feel like playing it - you can just tap the screen and watch. When I saw how people watch other people play our games, I thought: This is the new most casual way to enjoy the game. They didn't even install the game! They just watch my game in the window in the corner while they work. This is the next most casual mode that can reach the largest possible audience.
I think that wildcard could be a gaming moment similar to how Halo gave life to the Xbox. New technologies and capabilities are creating new types of gaming experiences that can reach new audiences.
When it comes to how you monetize, how do you decide which is the best? In particular, in space Web3.
For me, the key word is “opportunity”. I'm trying to figure out what's unique and new about this audience that wasn't in other audiences I've worked with. When they come in, they want to know where they can find an opportunity in what we offer. They don't just come to play or have fun, although that was important to the early audience. They come to take the journey and be part of the opportunities we create.
Why blockchain? Why can't you just let people invest in the game at an earlier stage, or sell subscription services that are profitable for a certain number of users?
I like this question because it gets asked a lot, mostly by skeptics, and I think it's a perfectly legitimate question. Before the advent of Web3 and blockchain, there were technologies that could be used to invest in a game at an earlier stage or sell subscription services that are profitable for a certain number of users. My answer, especially now that I've been in this field for a year now, is that it's not so much about technology, but about people who recognize this opportunity and show an interest in this cause. Previously, no one in our audience said, “What if you did this? What if I could own a team? What if I could be part of the value you create in this game?”
What blockchain and Web3 technology do is that they bring to life the awareness of this possibility. They point us in the direction and say: There's something here that people might be interested in, even if they haven't done it before. It's more about the capability than the specific technology. However, now it's not so much about this particular technology, but about a new opportunity that we, as game developers, have not previously focused on and it's time to do it.
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