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NewsTranscript
00:00Welcome to a new episode of Game Changers.
00:29I'm Hanan Al-Khavath and this is Paul Dua Lipi.
00:49Activision Blizzard announced that Call of Duty League will provide better financial conditions for e-sports teams to create a more consistent game.
00:57Activision Blizzard says that Call of Duty League will offer better financial terms to e-sports teams to create a more sustainable league.
01:05We saw different conflicts and this happened in the e-sports teams regarding financial issues.
01:12My question for you Paul, after this announcement do you think it's going to motivate them and we will see other companies do the same for example?
01:20Here's the challenge with Call of Duty League and I'll put Overwatch League in the same bucket.
01:25These leagues as e-sports leagues for the most part failed.
01:29They did not succeed to the level that Activision Blizzard hoped that they would succeed.
01:34And a big part of the problem was the way they were structured.
01:37There were many structural issues and a big part of those structural issues was the financial arrangement with the e-sports teams.
01:44Because what Activision Blizzard demanded at the beginning was e-sports teams put up millions and millions of dollars,
01:50pay millions, tens of millions of dollars to Activision Blizzard for the privilege of fielding a team in the Call of Duty League.
01:57And they did this because that worked for League of Legends and it works for traditional sports.
02:01But the problem is Call of Duty League and Overwatch League doesn't have the same media rights, doesn't have the same audience.
02:07All of the context is different.
02:10So this is a correction, it's a major correction.
02:13But I think it may be too little too late.
02:15Look, it's great news for the e-sports teams who are still in Call of Duty League and who are still in Overwatch League.
02:21But the audience has sort of gone away.
02:24The interest in these leagues has sort of gone away.
02:26So while the financial situation may be much improved for those teams and now they can be sustainable for the long term,
02:33hopefully with these new financial terms, I think in the short term there's still going to be a lot of pain.
02:38The good news is now Microsoft's backing all of it.
02:41So maybe they're willing to take a loss on this where Activision Blizzard wasn't.
02:45Time will tell us what will happen in the future.
02:47But now let's see another story.
03:00So there is a story.
03:01Two companies announced two portable Web3 video game consoles.
03:05And they said these devices are the first of their kind.
03:09So how is this gaming console different than the ones in the market?
03:13I'm really curious about it.
03:15No, it's a good question.
03:16And I think we've talked about on this show recently this rise in mobile gaming devices, right?
03:22This is definitely a trend.
03:24And so this plays on that trend.
03:26People want to take the games that they love and play them on the road, play them when they're traveling, play them in the airport, right?
03:32They want mobility.
03:33And the PC gaming world right now is delivering great mobility with the Steam Deck, with the ROG Ally, with the Legion Go, right?
03:40We're seeing a lot of these devices.
03:42Now, the other big trend happening right now is we're seeing a resurgence in Web3 gaming investment.
03:47A lot of the Web3 gaming companies are coming back because crypto is coming back in a certain way.
03:52And so you put these two trends together, this is what you end up with, a Web3 gaming portable device.
03:58Now, unfortunately, I don't think the audience is there for these mobile devices.
04:03So I think that's the first problem.
04:05There's just not enough people playing the Web3 games to justify a mobile device.
04:09I think the second problem is hardware is really difficult.
04:13It's a really difficult business to produce hardware, and it's why we see usually only the very big companies succeed at it.
04:19Unfortunately, I think these will sort of die out at the press release stage.
04:23We may see one or two of these devices, but I have a funny feeling it's not something we're going to be talking about much longer.
04:29And now, Paul, to the story you've been waiting for, Fallout.
04:33Fallout games have seen around 200% increase in players numbers, and this is due to the continued success of the Amazon TV series having the same name.
04:54So we've seen so many video games succeeded more after they did a series or a movie about them.
05:01And this, for example, happened with Sonic when we've seen it in the cinema, and so many extra players joined Sonic and revenues, let's say.
05:09So what do you think about it?
05:11Yeah, it's absolutely a trend we're seeing, this melding of different mediums around gaming, and gaming seeping into TV, seeping into movies.
05:20This Fallout series, like you said, creates this virtuous circle where you get people who play the game want to watch the series,
05:27and then people who watch the series want to go back and play the game.
05:30And so everything gets elevated as a consequence. The IP gets elevated as a consequence.
05:35And the series happens to be pretty good, and the reception has been pretty good, so that helps, obviously.
05:40You know, if the series is no good, it doesn't help.
05:43But from an IP value perspective, this is very powerful.
05:47And this approach of taking IP like Fallout and making games, making TV, making movies, making all kinds of other content around the same IP,
05:57this is the kind of approach and strategy that will win long term, and I guarantee we're going to see a lot, lot more of it.
06:04But as a gamer, would you love to see your favorite game on the screen?
06:08Of course, of course. But then they did the Warcraft movie, and maybe I wanted to see less of it.
06:13But, you know, of course the content has to be good, and as gamers we want to see more of the IP that we love on screen and in other places.
06:21Fallout just so happens to be a very rich universe, and so I think that's why it lends itself well.
06:26And Amazon did a good job with it.
06:28And now, a poll to the $60 million news.
06:47So, news talk about the Esports World Cup that will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
06:53The total prizes will reach more than $60 million, breaking previous records.
06:58So, Saudi Arabia is really investing in the video game industry. We've been talking about it in the previous episodes of Game Changers.
07:05Yeah, they're breaking their own record here, right? It was $40 million last year.
07:09And now $60 million.
07:10Now it's $60 million. They already had the record, but it's the biggest Esports prize pool of all time, of any Esport, of any event ever.
07:17So, they hold all the titles now. They have all the trophies.
07:22The question I have is, why keep increasing the prize pool? What benefit does it serve?
07:27Do we think more people will watch because the prize pool is bigger?
07:30Do we think more teams will participate because the prize pool is bigger?
07:34You know, I have a theory that at some point, when the prize pool is big enough, you get all the attention and you get all the teams wanting to participate.
07:42Now, is big enough $10 million, $20 million, $30 million? We could probably debate it.
07:47I think at some point, though, making the prize pool bigger and bigger doesn't work, doesn't benefit you anymore, and it's definitely not worth the money.
07:56And you know who realized this? It was Valve with Dota.
08:00Because the Dota prize pools continue to get bigger and bigger.
08:03And at some point they realized, why are we giving all this money away?
08:06People will watch if the prize pool is $10 million or $30 million.
08:09Won't make a difference. People are still excited about it.
08:12And now, Paul, let's continue our chat with our guest for today.
08:18The Sandbox
08:30And to talk more about the world of video games, Sebastian Borge joins us. He is a co-founder of The Sandbox.
08:37Hello, Sebastian. Welcome to Game Changers. How are you?
08:40I'm great. Thank you.
08:42Thank you so much. First of all, let me ask you, why do you think some of the mainstream hype about the word Metaverse has died down?
08:50I think it kind of might have died down in some part of the world, but actually Metaverse and Web3 in general is actually very active in other parts of the world.
08:58And those parts include Asia and actually MENA as well.
09:01We're definitely seeing that at The Sandbox, where now more than 35% of our brands and partners, our audience of creators, of players, and of users who own virtual assets on LANs are actually participating in building and engaging, launching experiences and all sorts of experiences and content on Sandbox.
09:24Speaking of these users, Sebastian, I want to talk about community, especially when it comes to Metaverse. What do you think it takes, or how important is the community to having a successful UGC-driven Metaverse platform?
09:39I think it's essential, and that's why we're so focused on being creator-driven at The Sandbox. We're focused on providing them the right tools to empower anyone to become a creator and let their imagination come to life.
09:51Launching major updates on a regular basis, allowing them to create fun and engaging gameplay, allowing them to define their own rules and all sorts of mechanics that really push the vision of the Metaverse more bigger than just gaming, but really allow them to incorporate culture from music, from fashion, from sports, and also culture from regions of the world, such as here in Dubai, in UAE, and also in broader Saudi Arabia and so on.
10:19Let's talk about the brands that you work with and the brand activations in general in Metaverses. What do you think it takes for a brand activation to be successful in any Metaverse or in The Sandbox specifically, and what recommendations are you giving to brands these days, and have those recommendations changed at all over the last few years?
10:37I think every time we partner with a brand at Sandbox, we try to really provide the same blueprint. It always starts by being part of this virtual map that composes Sandbox, having a virtual land where they're going to publish their experience, announcing it, and creating a neighborhood, allowing other brands and creators to become their virtual neighbor into this new virtual space.
10:59Take the time to be creative, to provide value in the form of information, of education, or even opening yourself to co-creation with your audience so they can do things that they actually can't do in the real world. That's something we shouldn't forget. It has to be fun. It has to make us want to come back and play together or compete together and earn rewards.
11:20Thank you so much for being with us in Game Changers.
11:23Thank you for having me, and see you soon in the Metaverse.
11:26Thank you.
11:27And with that, we have Sebastian Borgé, co-founder of The Sandbox.
11:32We're back with the Q&A segment. We have a question for X. It says, is the trend of remastering classic games here to stay? And 50%, around 50% said yes.
12:01What do you think about it?
12:02I'm surprised at these results, because I don't know why about 45% think it's not here to stay, because we've seen so much of it. And the reality is gamers who grew up with games that they love and have nostalgia around games they love are getting older and want to relive those games. They want to relive that nostalgia.
12:18And we've seen it recently. Final Fantasy VII had a remake. It was very successful. You had a lot of people streaming it, a lot of people playing it. The problem for the people who say no here is remastering classic games is cheap, is highly effective, and caters to the fans, the hardcore fans of those games and those IP.
12:38So I think it's definitely here to stay. We're going to see a lot more of it. And it's much cheaper than making a new game. So no question the yeses here are right. I'm surprised half the people think no.
12:48I really enjoyed this episode. We've seen so many investments. We talked about the $60 million. We talked about gaming succeeded because of series and movies. Do you have any last comment you would like to say?
12:59Yeah, it's interesting because all the stories today at their core, it's a reminder that finance and dollars and cents are still at the core of the gaming industry. It's still driven by money and still driven by a desire to make money. And this is a good reminder of that.
13:13That's why we talk money in gaming.
13:15Absolutely.
13:29Absolutely.