Sébastien Borget (The Sandbox): "We need to focus on attractive gaming experiences".

Is Web3 gaming for all gamers?

The fact that you can own your gaming assets and decide what you do with them is going to become standard. I'm convinced that this will become the norm everywhere. The distinction between so-called Web3 gaming and the rest will tend to disappear. Before long, gamers will come to play and they'll have the freedom to do what they want with what they've earned. Games will become ecosystems in their own right, with their own economies. Each game will be a kind of platform with its contributors.

What innovative business models have arrived with Web3?

Everything is still far from mature, but it's clear that Web3 is bringing innovation where traditional models haven't evolved for years. Play-to-earn, for example, has proved to be an interesting thing from the outset. We're now starting to see platforms that reward users for completing tasks and quests across different games.

I'm also noticing the emergence of "open mints" where early players receive NFTs as a reward for feedback on the game experience. On the other hand, I've noticed that fewer and fewer games are financed by sales of NFTs from the outset. We're seeing that people want to try out the game first before buying anything. This is probably a sign of maturity in the sector, as it's very risky to wait two years between investment and the release of the first gameplay.

Many games using NFTs have nothing decentralised about them. Is their "Web3" layer really useful?

The fact that an asset is on a blockchain does not guarantee unlimited utility, but it does allow a lot of mechanisms to be rethought. For example, a new game can target new potential users based on the NFTs they own. For example, there are games that offer special experiences to people who own Bored Ape NFTs or CryptoPunks. Until now it was impossible to cater for people who had a high level of World of Warcraft, now it's possible to envisage this kind of thing.

What would your users be left with if The Sandbox platform went bankrupt?

There would be several things left: the "lands" which correspond to the plots of land in The Sandbox, the avatars whose 3D models are stored in a decentralised way, as well as the 3D assets made by the creators. What could disappear are the experiences associated with each plot. For the moment, all this is stored on The Sandbox servers. But eventually, we hope that everything will be on the blockchain. The idea is that everything can survive us.

How can a game survive its creators if there is no longer an entity to maintain the servers?

You have to look at experiences like Counterstrike (famous first-person shooter, ed.). I think there's a future where people will be able to set up their own servers.

What's the appetite for Web3 among the giants of traditional gaming?

It's quite substantial. Very early on, the Square-Enix studio invested in several studios and launched titles. There's also Ubisoft, which has formed several partnerships, including one with The Sandbox, but also Bandai-Namco, Habbo Hotel, Kongregate and so on. My perception is that many have an appetite for Web3 and are experimenting without making too much noise. What seems fairly likely is that the giants will create subsidiaries dedicated to Web3 to experiment and not destabilise their historic business.

What are the biggest challenges to improving adoption?

There are a lot of them! Regulation, the market context around tokens, user access, etc. But I think we need to focus above all on attractive gaming experiences. It's not enough to just offer the ownership of gaming assets. Players need more, they want to be able to play and have fun!

What are the best blockchains for gaming?

It depends on a lot of things, such as the type of community that revolves around the blockchain in question, whether there are sufficiently liquid marketplaces, whether the targeted players are on computers or mobiles, etc. Although Ethereum is on many people's minds, it is no longer the only attractive ecosystem. There's ImmutableX, for example, which has positioned itself well in gaming, but also Avalanche or even Sui, which is starting to break through.

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