52% of gamers believe that the Metaverse will change the gaming industry according to a new Metaverse Awareness Survey by Globant and YouGov. Rudy Koch, Co-founder and SVP of Blockchain at Mythical Games, joins Cheddar News to discuss how the Metaverse is changing the gaming industry, and how gamers feel about advertising in the Metaverse.

Closing Bell

How Gamers Really Feel About the Metaverse

Welcome back to closing bell here on cheddar news now, although it's in the early stages, the metaverse is making its way across industries and there's one industry that's paying close attention to this and that's gaming. In fact more than 50% of gamers believe the metaverse will change the gaming industry more than half now. All of this is according to a new universe awareness survey that reveals gamers thoughts, attitudes and opinions on the metaverse itself, joining us now is Rudy Koch, co founder and S. V. P. Of Blockchain at mythical games. So Rudy, why do gamers believe that the universe will change the gaming industry? Are we talking change for better or change for worse? You know, I mean we've a lot of, so the metaverse, what is it first? I mean it's it's a interconnected virtual world where the physical and the digital world are are are merging. You know, we spend more time in the digital world than we've ever spent before. Our identities live online, our social networks live online, we put a tremendous amount of value in these these in the digital world. And so naturally now we want to own things, we want to buy things in the digital world, We want to buy virtual land and virtual cars and and outfits for our avatars and that's what, you know, currently what the metaverse is panning out to be and these concepts aren't new to games, we've you know, with games like Fortnite where the economy is entirely built on a skins economy. We know that gamers have have really enjoyed expressing themselves in the digital space, buying cool skins and showing them off. So we see the metaverse really as an evolution to what's already happening in games. So are we talking better or for worse? Are we saying that the metaverse when it comes to gaming is just to be a mountain of micro transactions or is it going to be a place where it's more sandbox if people could invest when they want to or spend when they want to, You know, the idea of of of players participating or game is participating in the monetization of games isn't a new concept for years, we've had players who are earning money, streaming on twitch or creating content on youtube. So the metaverse is now a new opportunity for players to to get involved in the monetization of games in a way that they've already been doing so for the better. Absolutely! I mean, I think it's for the better simply because again, this is where the gaming industry has been evolving. These are concepts that already exist in the gaming space, people are buying into digital items, they're expressing themselves, they are playing games where they have an enormous amount of control customizing the experience is that they're involved with. And metaverse is now taking it to a new level um and and and allowing players to get to get to be part of, to benefit from the value that they bring to the gaming industry. Um and I say for the better because you know, this is a chance for players to benefit from the amount of time and energy they devote to games, I mean it's a huge market, there's a lot of time and energy spent in the space and the metaverse is now allowing for them to be part of that now Rudy, you know this where there's money, there's ads and there's advertisers that are really, really intrigued by this. So I'm reading here that gamers are noticing that advertisers are cashing in on the metaverse And there's 35% of respondents said they were comfortable with advertising in the metaverse, While 25% said they were undecided and 40% were uncomfortable. So what are some examples of advertising on the universe and why are these reactions so mixed? You know, I think again, you know, when we talk about the metaverse, we, you know, I I go back to, we're sort of taking what's already happening in this industry a step further. So the idea of ads and games has been around for a long time brands, physical brands have wanted to be in the space, We've seen fashion and music colliding with the gaming industry, we've seen with Fortnite as an example, again, where Travis scott and other artists put created experiences to to promote their brands in this space. The fact of the matter is is that um you know, again, gamers are spending an incredible amount of time in the digital space and that's a place where you can reach today's consumers. Um And what Web three and the metaverse is doing is just creating a wider venue for people to interact with each other and interact with the brands that they love. Um And so we're going to see sort of a new manifestation of what advertising is as a result of the metaverse, but it's not going to introduce something that isn't already happening in the space. So tell me more about Blockchain and how mythical games take advantage of it. Sure. So we call ourselves a next generation game technology company and our focus is to bridge the gap between mass market traditional game game industry and the emerging web three Blockchain, N. F. D. Space. We take a game first approach to building a Web three ecosystem that allows any game to build on on Blockchain. And most recently we announced a sort of a first of a kind partnership with the NFL to bring a Blockchain based NFL game to market. So a lot of really exciting stuff going on. We're heavily entrenched in Web Three were believers and we're excited about what's emerging My I have like 10 seconds life, 10 seconds left. What is the benefits of Web three gaming versus traditional gaming. Like I said, it's a chance for players to benefit from the value they bring to games, they're already buying skins, they're already creating their their digital identities they exist in the consumers exist in the digital world and the physical world just as much. And the Web three and Blockchain is allowing them to own that identity, to own the things that they and benefit from the value they bring to the games industry. I love that Rudy Koch, co founder and S. V. P. Of Blockchain at mythical games Rudy, you were a pleasure and an expert. Thank you so much for coming on.