Real Monday Notes
MW2 Skin Dilemma, Real Member Notes, AI Gaming, and more
Statement:
RE3W was not paid by the following topics to produce, distribute, curate, demonstrate, or advocate for its company. Any paid writing will be marked with a “#AD” or “#Sponsor”.
The Call of Duty Digital Asset Dilemma
In the first week of December, the publisher Activision released the annual Esports org asset pack. Since the launch of the CDL (call of duty league), the current structure that replaced Call of Duty World League, franchised Esports teams release Home/Away digital assets and jerseys that players can wear in the game. Here are a few samples of the kits available in the current call of duty game for $10.00. These assets do sell as many players wear them in both MW2 and the Free to Play Warzone 2 battle royale.
The highest-selling esports pack in the current game is the 100 Thieves kit. See below.
It was so popular in fact that it hit slot 11 in the top steam sales chart for a week. That’s a huge feat. An asset pack in a video game was competing with full video games for sale. So, where’s the issue in this story? Why did this skin sell so well compared to other esports asset packs?
The game is highly competitive and with skill-based matchmaking enabled most competitive shootouts are decided within split-second reactions. Call of Duty players are extremely competitive and are willing to cheat to have a competitive edge against another player. The 100 thieves kit offers a competitive edge against other players even though it is only cosmetic. This year’s Call of Duty game, especially Warzone 2, has darker colors across its multiplayer maps. The maps feature lots of hiding areas and shadows. With an all-black kit, players who buy the 100 thieves kit have a small advantage because another player will have difficulty spotting 100 thieves kit users in shadows and other darker areas. This kit is especially darker compared to the other esports kits.
This is not the first time Activision has encountered the dark outfit Call of Duty issue as it sold another skin in the previous Warzone title. The infamous Roze skin.
See below.
Activision was later forced to edit this skin and is now editing the 100 Thieves skin for their season 1 patch notes. This has infuriated current buyers of the 100 Thieves skin as they feel they were deceived into buying an asset pack. Many are demanding refunds as they purchased the skin for that competitive edge even though that was not the intended use.
It was initially reported that players were not allowed to receive a refund, but that may have since changed. The 100 Thieves esports company is likely not happy.
The popularity of call of duty and its assets presents an interesting dilemma when it comes to thinking about the future of digital assets.
Balancing:
The social value of being a highly competitive player in call of duty has made purchasing certain cosmetic assets something that can become unbalanced based on gameplay. Should Activision leave the game unbalanced in the vein of a final sale, or irritate what are likely high-skill players through balancing?
It’s a tough call on the corporate side and the gameplay side. Putting the corporate hat on, we need to evaluate if high-skill players or “sweats” are also larger purchasers of digital assets. Do they affect the bottom line of the company? This is something Activision definitely thinks about. The answer is likely that high-skill players do not purchase more digital assets because the intent is to win matches and flex on TikTok, not flexing directly in the video game. Once a high-skill player purchases a skin that gives them an edge they are unlikely to wear other digital outfits.
This makes high-skill players a necessary value add in gameplay and demonstration on TikTok, but not direct clients that need full retail attention. Likely, more consumer novice players are purchasing assets. Popular content creators on Twitch and Youtube do make retail players and high-skill players want to purchase more products, but one may be less critical about gameplay or patch notes and buy assets for fun. We do not have any internal Activision data on this, so this is a thought exercise.
The digital asset balancing dilemma will become an increasingly important discussion that we will visit as digital assets become more important in video games.
Report From Real Community Member: Apix
You can follow Apix here; https://twitter.com/apixtwts
60M+ downloads and $30M+ funding. Same Lead investor as @DigiDaigaku
The game studio @MinoGamesInc is entering the web3 space and just created its Twitter profile, so we're super early. Here is every relevant information you need to know:
Mino Games is led by @joshbuckley & @SashaMackinnon Josh is also an early investor in @limitbreak and loves Free-to-Own
The mission of Mino is to become the next Ubisoft, reach millions of players, and build a community around their games.
Important facts:
• $15M funding in 2022 for a "major crypto project"
• 60 million downloads across games
• Last game made $2M in revenue in the first month after release
• Raised $30M in 2019 for user acquisition
• Founded in 2011
• Located in Canada with 100 employees
This year’s funding round was led by @standardcrypto, founded by @AlokVasudev & @adamwgoldberg Standard Crypto has invested in Yuga, Limit Break, Polygon, and more. The amount is not public but it's clear that the purpose is to create a web3-based game.
Now Mino is working on their first major crypto project. All their existing games are focused on collecting characters and items. So you can expect them to make use of digital collectibles for their upcoming project.
All their past games were released on mobile, but the account is following Playstation and XBOX, so they might be launching on a console or across several platforms. They also have a job opening for community moderators on their website for anyone interested!
If this sounds exciting to you, here is what you can do: → Follow and turn on notifications to not miss updates → I expect them to launch a discord soon, make sure to join that → Follow me for updates That's all the information I have for you, thanks for reading! Follow Apix here: https://twitter.com/apixtwts
Report From Real Community Member: 0xRaiden
You can follow 0xRaiden here; https://twitter.com/0xRaiden
Early Spotlight!
Below, you'll find three projects with under 3,000 Twitter followers. Here's how you can get an edge on them...
1/ @playcambria
- Social-trading metaverse for NFT collectors.
- Plan to release an NFT collection. --> free to mint for allow listed early alpha testers (https://gudq97n8wrd.typeform.com/to/A9DUMr4C) Apply to get the role on their discord, v0.4 and 0.5 are coming in January!
2/ @blade_rite
- Moba x Battle Royale game
-They're currently looking for Alpha Testers --> fill out the form before 25th December to claim the "Alpha Blader" role on their discord. (https://forms.gle/cp93PbFvGMW2PbtM9…) Might help you to secure your whitelist spot later!
3/ @evertwine
Trading Card Game
You can already try it out --> join their discord and react in the channel "early access" to get the Yarnite role It could improve your chances of getting on the whitelist in the future!
Follow 0xRaiden here; https://twitter.com/0xRaiden
Want to Work in Gaming and Digital Assets?
RE3W is developing a contributing writer program for aspiring gaming analysts. We’re early and building a new type of video game data and reporting business. That means we need to be at the forefront of fostering talent in our emerging industry.
This is a great opportunity for aspiring games and asset writers looking for work. Reach out to us if you’d like to participate on our Twitter or LinkedIn or at re3wsocials@gmail.com.
Real Agency Interview Coverage Highlights
Developed by AMGI Studios, My Pet Hooligan is described as an interactive NFT experience based on the Ethereum blockchain. It is a player vs player game developed on Unreal Engine 5. The game is established within its customized Metaverse called “The Rabbit Hole” and features “Zootopia and GTA” inspired three-dimensional characters. These characters are tasked with defending web3 from Metazuckbot, the corporate overlord. Players can purchase one of the 8,888 NFTs out of the genesis collection to enter the metaverse. The NFTs serve as in-game 3D avatars but apparently have more utilities coming soon. AMGI Studios has some well-known names backing it, including Colin Brady - the Chief Creative Officer and Chief Technology Officer. Colin has worked on blockbuster projects such as Game of Thrones, Hunger Games, Toy Story, Spider-Man, and more.
Link to the RealThirdWeb Twitter Spaces recording: https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1DXGyvbaAAZJM?s=20
Highlights:
Moving into Unreal 5.1
Building a next-gen Pixar with new IP rights.
Building services that activate the future of Vtubing and content creation.
Jason Chapman is a Managing Partner at Konvoy Ventures, a venture fund investing in early-stage companies in the video gaming industry. They manage over $150 million and have an extensive portfolio including, but not limited to:
1. Game of Whales (March | 2019)
2. Askott Entertainment (April | 2019)
3. Opera Event (April | 2019)
4. Upcomer (May | 2019)
5. Haste (June | 2019)
6. EQU8 (July | 2019)
7. Muxy (July | 2019)
8. Shapeshift (September | 2019)
9. Edgegap (November | 2019)
10. Origami (January | 2020)
11. Rupie (March | 2020)
12. Lootcakes (March | 2020)
13. GameFam (April | 2020)
14. Dorian (May | 2020)
15. Blerp (July | 2020)
16. Hiber (July | 2020)
17. Bunch (August | 2020)
18. Goss (December | 2020)
19. Carry1st (April | 2021)
20. Quicksave (April | 2021)
21. Axie Infinity (May | 2021)
Link to the RealThirdWeb Twitter Spaces recording:
Highlights:
Thinking about the future of publishing
Content Vs Platform investment
Emerging opportunities
AI Backed Gaming Is Coming Fast
Social media has been ablaze with access to retail AI through Chat GPT, Dall E, and other new tools. Instagram is now littered with Lensa AI with millions of new users. Gaming is next and the startups are near ready to offer services to retail. The next up-and-coming AI startup is called Scenario (https://www.scenario.gg/). Scenario will allow game devs to “create high-quality, style-consistent, proprietary assets for your games”. Here is a video showcasing its mobile accessibility features.
The retail market is not aware of this product yet, but thousands of testers including us have signed up and early access is arriving by the end of this year.
We have played with AI ourselves, such as editing one of our characters.
Scenario is a company worth watching and we can do a deeper dive into AI-backed gaming at a later date.
One of our Real community members, https://twitter.com/wildbookman, has become an AI influencer or chat GPT influencer on TikTok. Check out his content here:
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That wraps up the RE3W newsletter for Monday.
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