Animoca Brands may return to F1, but sees blockchain interoperability as a priority
- F1 Delta Time closed earlier this year after its license expired
- Animoca CEO Robby Yung believes the ownership concept of transformative gaming
Animoca Brands says creating a broader Web 3.0 ecosystem where assets can be transferred between multiple platforms is more important than securing licenses for blockchain-based sports betting, but warns the industry is at least three years from this vision becoming a reality.
The company currently runs an officially licensed MotoGP game and has plans to create something similar for Formula E, both of which will co-exist with the wider ‘REVV’ sandbox platform.
However, its first foray into Blockchain-based gaming, F1 Delta Time, was shut down earlier this year after Animoca failed to renew its license with Formula 1. Players still owned the non-fungible token (NFT) they had purchased in-game, but there were some concerns that the values of these items would be significantly lower because they had lost a significant portion of their utility.
Speaking at the Blackbook Motorsport Forum in London, Animoca Brands CEO Robby Yung claimed the fact that players retained ownership of the assets despite the closure was evidence of the benefits of Web 3.0 at work.
“All these assets are still owned by the players and can be used in other platforms such as our REVV games,” he said. “We encourage others to create games that support these assets as players paid an average of US$2,000 in F1 Delta Time.
“The average revenue per user in blockchain games is quite high, and the knee-jerk reaction is that this must be some kind of Ponzi scheme, but it’s not. People spend money very differently when they own assets instead of renting them and can sell them when they’ve had enough – it’s just like renting versus buying a house.”
Yung said greater interoperability will give all NFTs greater value, increase prices and ensure the entire ecosystem can benefit. However, he said it would take time for this ecosystem, technology and consumer demand to evolve.
“We’re where the mobile gaming industry was before Angry Birds,” he continued, likening it to when mobile apps simulating beer drinking were still a novelty. “We’re only two years into mainstream developer adoption of these tools – it’s early.
“[But] look at the traditional gaming industry and it is the largest entertainment industry in the world with $200 million in revenue. I’m bullish and biased, but I see all of this going into blockchain. If we were having this conversation 15 years ago, I’d be talking about “online” games as if they were a new feature – now they’re just part of the plumbing. In ten years or so, blockchain will just be a part of gaming and you won’t need to know what it is.”
For now, Animoca’s focus is on the REVV ecosystem and its ongoing licensed properties. However, he did not discount returning to Formula 1 in the future.
“Maybe [we’ll return to Formula One],” he said. “With branded experiences, it’s always a case of licensing terms and revenue potential.”
