As we all know by now gaming is a massive industry. Last time heard the annual revenue for games was higher than what Hollywood generates (and it has been several years since hearing the figures). Could do a quick google search and figure out the actual numbers, but willing risk reputation here and keep writing (because would bet anyone anything that the trend has continued). Ok ha’s. Google searched and yes indeed the gaming industry has doubled-up Hollywood’s numbers (as of 2017). Figures for mobile gaming alone is at 50 billion USD in 2018. The global gaming market is set to reach over 115 billion dollars this year.

Instead of becoming dismissive as to the ways the world is changing, let’s embrace those changes (ride that wave ponyboy/girl), and be thankful that reading is becoming even more of a competitive advantage these days.

Just take a look at how the world is adjusting to this phenomena. Literally just saw a commercial on the TV (oldschool sense, antenna) for a major phone company who alluded to gaming becoming an Olympic sport. Would think this notion was pure fantasy or science-fiction, but have been following/researching VeChainThor (and the rest of the blockchain space) for a year now, so am aware of an absolute giant being built right before our eyes.

This is taken from one of Plair’s Medium posts/articles:

Deer Chan, Leader of PandaCute, is attending the Olympic Esports forum held at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland as Hong Kong’s sole eSports representative. The seminar aims to discuss whether eSports will be included in the Olympic games. As a notable team member of Plair, Deer Chan is creating new opportunities for the eSports community.

A few takeaways here. One, think the commercial just saw is what some folks would call “sharp” for knowing the deal. Also sounds to me like gamers may actually be able to go for gold in Tokyo in 2020. A decade (or so) ago if you told me that people were going to watch other people play video games (and that there would be teams competing left and right for tournament money would think you were crazy) — if you tried to tell me that gaming may very well become an Olympic sport would think you were certifiable (No knock on mental health, it’s an important issue — awareness is good).

Is mind-boggling how far gaming has come since Tecmo Bowl, and how rapidly things are progressing in the gaming/streaming industries. With the charismatic and affable visionary Patrick Tang leading the way, can absolutely see where things are headed (no am not claiming to be a soothseer — just take a good look at Plair’s advisory board, investment partners, roadmap, whitepaper, solutions, known partnerships, et cetera).

In Pat’s AMA the Plair CEO emphatically states:

Plair is working with some of the largest gaming partners in the market. We have and are working to build key relationships with partners in every corner of the globe. NGE is one example of a strong partnership we have already announced. NGE is North America’s largest eSports content, events and broadcasting company. Through our partnership we will be able to potentially onboard millions of North American players alone. NGE is not our only partner capable of bringing in additional millions of unique users. Plair will be a disruptive force and our partners are dead set on making this technology a key part of their future. Plair not only making their business models easier to execute but also more profitable.

My jams back in the day were Pitfall, Street Fighter 2, and Contra (up up down down left right left right anyone ?!), but this isn’t about me. This is about a behemoth of an industry that’s only going to get bigger as time moves on, and the one who is legit poised to ultimately capture a significant portion of not only the gaming market, but also another burgeoning market [streaming] in one fell swoop. Making a platform that’s a viable one-stop-shop for both gaming and streaming is not only daunting, but it’s happening. Former marketing director for Twitch Jason Fletcher is on-board with Plair now. Also, Twitch is no longer an option in China. Nature abhors a vacuum y’all. Plair not only has the backing of some of the biggest ballers on the globe (Fenbushi, Draper Dragon, et cetera), and are teaming up with celebrity-gamers like Olympic probable Deer Chan and Jeremy Lin’s two eSports teams VGJ.Thunder (China) and VGJ.Storm (America), but also have confirmed a partnership with Axeso5 in Latin America. Plair will be rolled out into over 7,000 Axeso5 affiliated cybercafés. Axeso5 will market Plair to its registered user base of more than 14 million gamers. The largest publisher in North America NGE (Next Generation Esports) is also on-board. A significant portion of the world is either playing games, or watching content. Whether you rumba, nene, cha-cha-cha, fox-trot, or waltz — Plair is truly aiming to become the 24/7 global dance-party for gamers and streamers.

Am happy to see this kind of synergy between Plair and Safe Haven (SHA):

Plair will also be working to integrate our platform with Safe Haven’s wallet platform which runs on VeChain. This will allow Plair to automatically generate wallets for users when they first register as a new user of Plair. We will also be able to confirm transactions and stake tokens simply by inputting a pin number set by the user. By using Safe Haven’s tech users will have a seamless transition into the blockchain world by giving them tools that work similar to current transaction tools that users are already used to working with. Simply put Safe Haven’s tech will ease the transition of blockchain into gaming.

And so it begins. This recent announcement from Plair has induced more fomo (synergistic ecosystem) !

Our team is delighted to announce the long-awaited public sale will soon begin with a launch date of the 31st October 2018*. We have partnered up with* Safe Haven to run our public sale on Safe Haven’s ThorBlock to further support the VeChain ecosystem. ThorBlock is the first communal funding turnkey solution on the VeChainThor Blockchain and it’s the first community created dApp which will be live. We are grateful for Safe Haven’s commitment. Its entire team has offered tremendous support to Plair and great contribution to the community, for they have proven time and time again the ability to execute.

Y’all listen up — so the projected total revenue for global gaming market in 2020 is 143.5 billion USD. We’ve already touched on how massive the global gaming industry has become, so let’s look forward — think the projected figure could very well end up being bigger than that the way things are going with further 5G proliferation/deployment coming into the fold more-so, and recent signals seen in mass media indicate as well (multiple new gamer-based commercials on the TV, collegiate/professional sports teams pretty much all play games in their down-time as a form of bonding, likelihood of eSports becoming an Olympic category in the near future, et cetera).

By offering tangible/real solutions for gamers in a decentralized manner, the Plair platform is more than well positioned to capture a healthy fraction of that market-share. Furthermore, I now legit believe that Plair will become the globally conventional common-place platform for gamers and streamers do their thing in one spot. Don’t look now, but it’s already in motion. For instance the likes of Axeos5 partnership in Latin America is already announced with 14 million users, in 7,000 cybercafes, as well as NGE (Next Generation eSports) who is the largest publisher in North America.

Think the industry is too big ? Why blockchain & games ? How will it work ? Well, after a decent amount of research and time focusing on Plair, am able to tell you this with the utmost confidence: Patrick Tang has thought of everything for gamers, so let’s dive into this newfangled real-world blockchain application built on VeChainThor (and the many solutions/token uses it is set to provide gamers for better understanding). Don’t have to take my word for it though. Simply read all of the Plair Medium post articles, whitepaper, watch Patrick Tang’s AMA, the new The Plair Product Demo , check out the partners/backers/team, and anyone can see the merits and truth about Pat’s genius plan.

First off, no, the gaming industry is not too big — rather the beautiful astronomical numbers are what makes Plair a great move and (one can participate in the public round of the New Token Issuance via Safe Haven’s ThorBlock solution…Safe Haven is also working on integrating a wallet into the platform for tournament use that will be as simple as entering a pin number — ecosystem synergy confirmed), and is indicative of the enormous market for the Plair-platform’s industry-shaping solutions set to become a beautiful behemoth globally.

Ask gamers and they’ll tell you that tournaments paying out is a real problem, and Plair has the solution. In Phase 1 (and beyond) both individual gamers and organizations (such as Axeos5/7,000 cybercafes and 14million users) can organize tournaments to stake and win PLA tokens and there are flexible parameters that can be set on https://plair.life/ for today’s popular games such as DOTA/PUBG/Counter Strike/Call of Duty/Fortnite et cetera. Gamers will also be able to complete quests for extra PLA tokens. Not only can gamers create and organize tournaments on a global scale with decentralized streamlined payouts beginning in Phase 1, but people naturally gravitate towards better rewards, which Plair will provide for content creators by paying out more (relative to current options) during Phase 2 (when the Plair streaming product becomes available) in the form of PLA tokens. Viewers of content will be paid in PLA, and donations to famous gamers will be possible as well (this actually happens in the industry). During Phase 1 the folks who stream can simply add their Youtube/Twitch links (bringing more awareness to Plair and making the platform a one-stop-shop out of the gates. PLA tokens will also be rewarded for running decentralized js nodes to verify matches and automatically pay out tournament winners (is flexible, so anyone organizing/creating tournaments can set 2nd prize/3rd prize, number of players, et cetera) as well as a tribunal system if anyone wants to contest the match results. Another solution Plair is providing is coaching. Top gamers can earn PLA tokens by providing coaching sessions which gamers wanting to become better can purchase the coaching service using PLA tokens. There are also innovative measures to prevent smurfing (where experienced players pretend to be beginners) leveling the playing field for all gamers of any skill-level with the help of algorithmic matching and machine learning/AI — all pointing towards Plair being the most comprehensive gamer-friendly platform replete with social tools and the optimal new way to PLA games, stream, view, and interact while empowering everyone.

The Plair Product Demo video Pat recently shared with the community has even more goodness contained therein. Felt great about Plair based on the partnerships, roadmap, backers, whitepaper et cetera already — but wow the product is further along than realized. The graphic design is aesthetically pleasing and the user interface looks great. They have designed the site to provide an excellent user experience as well as providing social interaction methods and tools for gamers in order to build their brands (social media links galore, super user-friendly) or become better gamers via coaching. In Phase 1 there is a basic chat, but the ability to directly challenge friends for matches, and other social tools will be implemented later.

At the 2:30 mark the E-commerce shop is mentioned:

Distribution contracts with multiple gaming hardware companies — Steam credits, Nvidia video cards, gaming rigs, keyboards, mice, and other goods purchasable with PLA tokens. The implications are exciting — adding to the picture painted (along with massive industry partners/team et cetera) that Plair is already being heavily integrated into the massive industry. Also, when watching the Plair Product Demo, one can see something very interesting in the upper-right corner in the video example: [$ 1000 PLA3,000]. Think about that — it clearly isn’t a valuation of the token . Dots connected !

The importance of having both streaming and gaming in one spot cannot be overstated. That’s the stuff. With major titles integrated and industry giants already partnered it’s easy to see why Plair will not only succeed, but thrive as time marches on.

A decentralized gaming and streaming platform that rewards gamers, coaches content creators, viewers, contest verification, tribunal pool system (see Plair whitepaper for further description and accurate nomenclature), publishers, and developers while employing VeChainThor’s MPP (advertisers, affiliates, viewers, organizers can operate freely) and also DDV (think ownership of data to opt-in or out), and VeVid(streamlined payment processing and rewards distribution for users via the PLA utility token while maintaining compliance, and even anonymity) is music to my ears.

Phase 1 — earn PLA from tournaments, verifying matches, and participating in the tribunal system.

Phase 2 — also earn PLA from watching, participating, and lending resources to stream and video solutions.

Phase 3 — players can tap into cloud computing resources to rent, play, and stream video games with the combined computing power of the participants

The combined computing power element is key to phase 3 being feasible on the blockchain. At that point there will be decentralized nodes all contributing to the collective global computing power. There may also be something else that will eventually be in play which may or may not be alluded to in the Plair whitepaper here:

“Many features of the VeChainThor platform are applicable to the development of Plair, some of which are not currently in the public eye.”

https://plair.life/

As many folks who read/research are accustomed to with VeChainThor, there’s an abundance of goodness to be discovered from known information if one takes the time to read and re-read with further context. Cue MEC (Mobile Edge Computing):

“Abstract — The state-of-the-art mobile edge applications are generating intense traffic and posing rigorous latency requirements to service providers. While resource sharing across multiple service providers can be a way to maximize the utilization of limited resources at the network edge, it requires a centralized repository maintained by all parties for service providers to share status. Moreover, service providers have to trust each other for resource allocation fairness, which is difficult because of potential conflicts of interest. We propose EdgeChain, a blockchain-based architecture to make mobile edge application placement decisions for multiple service providers. We first formulate a stochastic programming problem minimizing the placement cost for mobile edge application placement scenarios. Based on our model, we present a heuristic mobile edge application placement algorithm. As a decentralized public ledger, the blockchain then takes the logic of our algorithm as the smart contract, with the consideration of resources from all mobile edge hosts participating in the system. The algorithm is agreed by all parties and the results will only be accepted by majority of the mining nodes on the blockchain. When a placement decision is made, an edge host meeting the consumer’s latency and budget requirements will be selected at the lowest cost. All placement transactions are stored on the blockchain and are traceable by every mobile edge service provider and application vendor who consumes resources at the mobile edge.”

https://medium.com/@vechainofficial/vechain-introduces-michigan-state-university-as-first-veresearch-participant-and-pioneering-the-mec-c8dec3015914

So Docomo (largest telecommunications/5g company in Japan) and VeChain are already in a partnership program (and would venture to say that Docomo aren’t the only ones who will participate in the MEC breakthrough). As noted in the EdgeChain paper:

“ As the market gets mature, there will be multiple 5G service providers (SPs) provisioning MEC services to cover the same area: bigger wholesale players will invest in infrastructure to actually build mobile edge base stations, while there will also be mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) renting resources from the former. These SPs can collaborate with each other in several ways for better utilization of the resources at the edge: virtual SPs have to place mobile edge (ME) applications on one of the rented edge hosts, preferably with lower cost, regardless of SPs. On the other hand, MEC base stations from different SPs can share resources with each other to process bursting requests. For encouraging SPs to enroll their eligible MEC base stations and hosts in resource sharing, it is common to give incentives to SPs for contributing their resources of the hosts for hosting edge applications. Following the changing demand of end users, certain types of edge applications need to be deployed on, migrated to, or removed from an edge host, in order to meet the service requirement. By deploying the edge applications at the right places, the edge application provider will save costs, while providing high-quality service with low latency to the end users. Meanwhile, the edge host will collect incentives for its resources effectively used.”

https://medium.com/@vechainofficial/vechain-is-chosen-for-the-ntt-docomo-5g-partner-program-3f89c8d95b4

“As partners, participants are able to construct their new services under the environment of 5G before 2020. Utilizing the characteristics of 5G(high-speed/capacity, low-latency, connecting several devices) it is now possible to enhance the quality of our services and create new ones.”

In addition to eSports betting now being a part of the equation along with everything previously outlined — I believe that having multiple 5G SP’s required for new low-latency high-quality services combined with MEC/EdgeChain will be key to achieving Plair’s Phase 3 goals. This is revolutionary. If you’ve paid attention and continually researched what VeChain is doing, then you know that literally everything is being connected by VeChainThor. The synergy, network effects, and plans firmly in place are more than enough proof for me to have zero doubt that all of this will happen (it’s already set just read voraciously in order to digest all of the information in order to see for oneself) and Plair is destined to become the permanent fixture as an industry behemoth and conduit for all gamers across the globe. PLA tokens will be the utility token that essentially transforms into gamer currency, and the plan from CEO Patrick Tang is brilliant. More will be revealed as the Plair visionary notes below. Here’s some pertinent insight from Patrick Tang’s AMA:

“ In your business model, how do you plan to make money and how much are you thinking you can make off a single user? The first thing Plair wants to do as a platform is to see that our users are taken care of. When we take care of our users Plair, as a business, will thrive. We plan on making money at the beginning by taking transaction fees for every tournament that is created. From there we will bring in sponsorship money with sponsors we have already built a relationship through our traditional eSports backgrounds once we get through Phase 1, which is shown in detail on our white paper. Phase 2 will bring in streaming and we will be able to make money off the content and money saved through decentralized computing as well as sponsorships for the content itself. Phase 3 will allow the community to build tools and games to run on Plair’s platform and utilize Plair’s token. Plair will announce our development and execution strategy at a later date for Phase 2& 3. Phase 2 and Phase 3 will have an additional white paper written before we begin development of their milestones. This tactic is used to protect pending intellectual property while we work on other solutions. The lifetime value of a single user has not yet been determined yet as nobody has ever built a platform like Plair. We will build a platform where users will stay put and be able to interact and transact with the Plair token over and over.”

The notion of yet to be revealed methods are reiterated as down-to-earth fearless leader Pat expounds upon Phase 3 highlights:

In your grand vision of the decentralized cloud, are games actually built on the blockchain or will you just propping up structures for players to play games by publishers like Halo or whatever? “ It is both. We fully expect, and are building the tools for, a publishing company and dev team to fully build their games to distribute on Plair in a decentralized fashion. We also want to offer the ability for high performance rigs and server farms to service high-end gaming experience to users on low-end rigs. We will release a later whitepaper to explain this in much more detail in an attempt to protect our pending intellectual property.”

In my mind MEC/Edgechain, based on what the brilliant paper from now VeChain CTO and Chief Scientist Dr. Peter Zhou essentially means in the context of Plair, is that all of the things Plair aims to do in Phase 3 that some naysayers purport can’t be done — will be done. Think am wrong ? Check yo-self. Listen up to this part of the paper which wasn’t quoted in the VeChain Foundation Medium post about MEC/EdgeChain, but nevertheless can be found linked in the article (if one puts a little extra effort into finding and reading):

“The rapid advance of mobile edge computing (MEC) has been the last mile of enabling a shared, low-latency computational environment for multi-vendor mobile edge applications. MEC performs computing offloading, data storage, caching and processing, request distribution and service delivery from the mobile edge to end users [1]. Applications with low latency tolerance, such as augmented reality (AR), video streaming, and online gaming, can deploy their services on the edge hosts at a cost, to achieve lower latency and better user experience” “Applications with low-latency tolerance, such as augmented reality (AR), video streaming, and online gaming…..

https://arxiv.org/pdf/1801.04035.pdf

Bonus thoughts — PICC is now offering Virtual Insurance so it seems like there very well could be synergy between Plair and PICC in the future. This is admittedly speculation (but at the same time obvious to me). Keep in mind that we now know Plair has distribution contracts with multiple hardware providers in the industry, and Pat has already mentioned PLA tokens being used to purchase Nvidia video cards as an example (in addition to being able to buy gaming rigs et cetera) in the eCommerce store on Plair. Steam credits are exciting, and who knows — maybe even non-fungibles come into PLA ?! Gaming rigs are expensive. On Plair anyone will be able to buy gaming rigs with PLA tokens. VeChain ecosystem partner PICC is now set to offer virtual insurance. Doesn’t really sound like speculation to me. PICC is big. All of the signals from the gaming/streaming industry speak volumes. Combine that with insurance being offered by one of VeChainThor’s giant partners, eSports betting integration, a product demo that indicates things are much further along than previously realized, massive partners within the established industry that are seeking to forge a new era, and ecosystem synergy galore — and it goes to eleven !

https://medium.com/@vechainofficial/peoples-insurance-company-of-china-picc-one-of-the-largest-insurer-globally-with-126-billion-2570c60fd7c7

“The launch of PICC’s virtual property insurance product is believed to be the beginning of continued bilateral cooperation between insurers and tech companies “

https://www.the-digital-insurer.com/dia/piccs-virtual-product-insurance/

Any Plair haters now ?! Shouldn’t be, but good luck with that if so ! Am jumping in the ThorBlock PLA pool and y’all are welcome to join !

PS - Plair CEO Patrick Tang just landed 50 million more users via partnership with an entity built by ex-Twitch executives called Bitrep !

This Totient synergy and Comet integration really jolts my jetpack !

Here’s a message from Patrick Tang (and roadmap for Q1):

Here’s the new site for Plair ! :)

PLA on Plair !