We learned many things during this conference, however, a major sentiment that stood out from all the investors was:

Gaming was going to be the thing that brought crypto into the mainstream.

Investors and game developers agree…

Right: Alon Goren of Wavemaker Genesis & co-founder of Crypto Invest Summit. Source

Talk about gaming started early — in the opening remarks. When asked about the types of tokens that he found most interesting, Alon Goren, principal of crypto hedge fund and VC firm Wavemaker Genesis and co-founder of the conference, mentioned security tokens as well as the following:

“Gaming tokens are going to send us into terminal velocity. If you get a million people with crypto wallets, that’s a game changer, huh?”

The large number of past and present game developers at this conference was also interesting.

In a fireside chat on the first day, Gabe Leydon, CEO of MZ (previously Machine Zone) which creates mobile MMOs like Game of War and Mobile Strike that consistently rank in the 5 top-grossing games in the world, said:

“Video games are going to dominate blockchain over the next 20 to 30 years.”

Dave Anthony, founder of Call of Duty, a first-person shooter franchise whose sales topped US $15 billion as of 2016, in a panel called ‘Tokens and Blockchain in Gaming’, predicted:

“Blockchain is going to see a seismic shift with gaming.”

Blockchain, gaming and VR

A prominent area of gaming that was frequently brought up in relation to blockchain technology was virtual reality.

It seemed to be the consensus that the intersection of these technologies would result in a virtuous cycle: True ownership in video games would lead to higher adoption of video games, especially in the field of VR.

In the first fireside chat, Adam Draper, founder of Boost VC, a virtual reality and blockchain fund and accelerator, suggested:

“Crypto is where VR gets adopted. Imagine distributed teams that are actually close-knit thanks to VR.”

Fireside chat with Adam Draper and Tim Draper.

This is something that makes intuitive sense. Currently, the majority of all our waking time is spent in front of a screen. Even socialising now predominantly occurs digitally. This is even more so for the one-third of the population who play video games — who engage and coordinate strategies with their friends within a game.

According to many predictions, the future of all entertainment will be game based. Currently, we access all our online services from a screen. Soon, we will be navigating videos, chats, news, media through a virtual reality headset from within a virtual environment. Judging from the speed at which technology moves, it’s not just a sci-fi fantasy that 10 years from now, everything will be a game.

Creating a new economy

Blockchain for Social Good panel.

Part of what makes true ownership within games so exciting for people was highlighted by Ryan Scott in the ‘Blockchain for Social Good’ panel:

“Blockchain’s ability to democratise assets — to enable true ownership of them — has the ability to make everybody truly rich.”

Rich.

Rich, as in: Nobody can take your assets away from you.

Rich, as in: You rightly get full control over what you’ve spent your money on.

Rich, as in: You get to build your wealth from time that you’ve spent in a game.