6 Questions for Simon Davis of Mighty Bear Video games

Simon Davis is the co-founder and CEO of Mighty Bear Video games, a multiplatform sport developer in Southeast Asia creating accessible multiplayer experiences in Web3.

Davis has spent nearly twenty years working within the gaming trade, however he by no means deliberate to truly work on this subject.

Earlier than crypto, he was knowledgeable guitarist who made ends meet by taking part in in steel bands and canopy bands and by instructing guitar. However after his cash dried up one summer time, he scored a six-week gig as knowledgeable sport tester — and he’s by no means regarded again.

Throughout his time within the gaming trade, Davis has held administration and product lead positions at gaming firms together with King Digital Leisure, Ubisoft, Bigpoint, AKQA, Empire Interactive, and Laughing Jackal. 

In 2017, Davis teamed up with some mates and fellow trade veterans to launch Mighty Bear Video games in Singapore, the place they supposed to deal with creating conventional video games — earlier than pivoting to blockchain in 2022. And in 2023, the agency launched an open beta for Mighty Motion Heroes, its first Web3 gaming title.

Davis, who additionally goes by “Papa Bear,” stated each Mighty Bear worker receives a “bear title.” A few of Papa Bear’s workers embrace “Arty Bear,” “Bear-Abel,” “Excel Bear,” and “Bear McNumbers.”

Why the pivot to blockchain gaming?

I used to be fortunate sufficient to form of get into Bitcoin by chance in 2015, so I’ve been within the area for a number of years. In 2021, I began taking part in with NFTs, and I’m fortunate sufficient to be additionally based mostly in Southeast Asia, so I may see firsthand what was taking place with Axie [Infinity]. I feel, for me, as somebody who lived by way of the transition to free-to-play, it felt very very like a second, form of like when Farmville got here out on Fb. 

I feel that for stay service titles [games like Fortnite, League of Legends and Apex Legends], a dominant enterprise mannequin goes to emerge to revolve round player-owned and operated economies. As a result of I don’t consider you may have digital worlds with out digital property rights, basically.

And I feel that does allow quite a lot of new issues that we’re actually beginning to scratch the floor on. So, I feel that basically was the pull issue.

What format do you suppose serves as the easiest way to draw customers to blockchain gaming?

I feel cell gaming goes to be the dominant platform due to geography. You see this for those who have a look at the charts for the nations which have an awesome slope of curiosity in crypto or Web3. They are usually nations the place present cost rails should not tremendous developed.

Individuals are largely unbanked in locations like Indonesia and Brazil. These markets are mobile-first. Like, individuals within the Philippines and India should not essentially utilizing high-end PCs. 

So, it’s essential go the place the customers are. And it is a little bit of a spicy take, however because of this I’m very bearish on individuals making tremendous HD high-end Web3 video games as a result of it’s simply not the place the markets are at present. So, you see quite a lot of these groups elevating, like, mega bucks to make console-quality titles, but when nobody can play them, then they aren’t going to do very a lot.

What do you suppose the present hurdles are for large-scale blockchain gaming adoption?

Lots of people discuss it when it comes to silver bullets, proper? Like, “Oh, we want one good sport,” or like, “We have to resolve the pockets downside.” I don’t suppose it’s any a type of issues. I really suppose it’s simply quite a lot of lead bullets, quite a lot of small issues that have to occur. 

What I’ve skilled at present continues to be fairly horrible, and scary, like social restoration. And it’s beginning to develop into a factor, however that should develop into lots simpler.

 

I simply suppose, on the whole, it must be as straightforward and as brainless to make use of as a Web2 expertise. And so I feel there’s an inherent battle at present with how individuals take into consideration Web3, you understand. They are saying issues like, “Oh, it’s essential educate the customers,” or, “Practice individuals to carry their personal keys.”

However you understand, my mother doesn’t wish to maintain her personal personal keys. She does all her buying and selling on Crypto.com. We have to make it basically idiot-proof so anybody can do it.

I feel we’re nonetheless fairly a great distance away, however I’m seeing significant enhancements, really. I’m seeing merchandise which can be going to go to market subsequent 12 months that are going to assist lots. 

I don’t understand how outdated you might be, however I’ve simply turned 40 this 12 months. I bear in mind within the 90s establishing a house web connection on dial-up. It took me two days of calling technical help and somebody telling me like configs. I used to be having to go in and alter manually and stuff. And now, you understand, we solved that, proper? After which, the web grew to become a mass market, after which individuals may simply put a CD of their laptop, and it simply labored. I feel we have to get to that stage.

Do you suppose the dangerous rap blockchain/NFT gaming will get is a giant concern? 

It’s humorous as a result of gaming obtained a reasonably dangerous rap within the 90s. You understand, everybody was speaking about how video games have been making youngsters violent. There was a giant ethical panic, similar to there was in music a number of years earlier than.

However I feel that while you begin to get this stuff in individuals’s arms and expertise them, perceptions change. I do suppose quite a lot of the popularity that we’ve in crypto and Web3 is deserved. There are quite a lot of dangerous actors exploiting the dearth of regulation, however the issues that excite me: I’ve seen some video games, for instance, that enable gamers to earn small quantities of Bitcoin, And this form of factor’s retention numbers are very sturdy, just like the preliminary metrics are very promising. And I feel that’s a very nice use case.

Reddit can also be an awesome instance, proper? They put NFTs within the arms of giant numbers of individuals. Lots of people didn’t even understand they have been interacting with NFTs. So then they’d their first style, and yeah — there are some stats which have come up, and never an enormous quantity of them have transacted on-chain.

However I really don’t suppose that’s such a foul factor. If individuals are not dumping the property on day one, I don’t see that as a adverse. So, I feel onboarding by way of stealth is fairly good.

What sort of adoption metrics are you on the lookout for along with your video games?

So, individuals discuss installs and sign-ups — it’s only a self-importance metric. For me, I’m enthusiastic about how many individuals are coming in daily, how recurrently they’re coming again, and what the expansion curve of that appears like initially.

After which as soon as we do the cell launch [of Mighty Action Heroes], which will likely be round August/September, how effectively are we doing on attracting non-crypto-native individuals into the sport as effectively? That will likely be very fascinating, and to see how they play collectively. It’s a unique angle, nevertheless it’s one which I’m fairly bullish on.

What are some concepts or tech upgrades that might assist blockchain gaming?

ERC-6551 tokens. 

Basically, they offer a wise contract account or a wise contract pockets to a 721 [token]. So, you understand, a standard NFT could be a JPG with some metadata connected. However basically, the JPG or the asset, no matter that’s, is then certain to a wise contract. 

And that is fairly cool as a result of it signifies that property can talk instantly with one another. So NFT to NFT, with out utilizing MetaMask. And it is also suitable with different good contract wallets. 

I feel the actually cool factor is that, basically, your asset turns into a pockets and might have its personal logic as effectively. So you possibly can have a base character in a sport because the 6551 token, after which all the garments or the objects or all the pieces that that character has, the form of sub-assets, can change inside, every with its personal logic.

As a sport developer, you begin considering of how your characters may evolve and how one can connect new property with out updating the core.

Then as a dev, I feel it’s actually good for popularity administration as effectively. Like, for those who did a soulbound model, you possibly can have achievements, proof-of-work, proof-of-play, social id. I feel it’s fairly cool. […] It’s safer as a result of it’s not simply an asset inside a pockets like it’s on good contracts with its personal personal key.