What Is Azra Games’ Approach To NFTs In Gaming?
Blockchain gaming firm Azra Video games is taking a distinct strategy to NFTs in Web3 video games, specializing in the gameplay itself fairly than the crypto parts.
In a current interview, Azra Video games founder and CEO Mark Otero mentioned Web3 video games should be so good that individuals undertake it for the gameplay not for NFTs or its in-game tokens.
“Web3 isn’t on the foreground or forefront of the gamers’ expertise,” he mentioned throughout a recent interview with Decrypt. “In actual fact, we should construct a recreation so good folks do not care. They usually should not know they’re taking part in a Web3 recreation.”
Otero added that the Web3 parts of a recreation ought to reveal themselves solely after gamers “fall in love” with it, enhancing the person expertise and bringing extra worth to the sport.
He mentioned this distinctive imaginative and prescient was a part of the explanation Azra acquired funding from enterprise capital companies like Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), NFX, Coinbase Ventures, and Play Ventures.
Otero, a former basic supervisor at world gaming big Digital Arts, based Azra Video games in 2022 with the objective to create video games that incorporate Web3 parts like NFTs and in-game tokens.
The corporate has raised a complete of $25 million so far. Its newest fundraising spherical was in February this 12 months when the corporate raised $10 million at an undisclosed valuation.
On the time, the corporate mentioned it was engaged on a recreation referred to as Legions & Legends. “Legions & Legends is a chance for us to create one thing with a possible new enterprise mannequin for a brand new platform,” Otero mentioned.
Otero is working with fellow entrepreneurs Sonny Mayugba and Travis Boudreaux. The corporate has additionally employed veterans from Capital Video games.
Otero Exhibits Skepticism About Play-to-Earn Video games
Through the current interview, Otero additionally expressed skepticism concerning the idea of paly-to-earn, a blockchain gaming mechanic the place gamers earn crypto tokens as rewards for finishing duties, successful battles, and competing towards different gamers.
He mentioned there are completely different participant sorts. Within the first place, there are conventional gamers who’re searching for leisure worth and are “intrinsically motivated” to play a recreation.
Nonetheless, crypto native gamers have completely different motivations. In line with Otero, these gamers are sometimes “extrinsically motivated,” that means they search to earn cash in return for taking part in a recreation.
“Our philosophy has all the time been gameplay, leisure worth, and enjoyable first. Interval. Why? As a result of that’s sustainable.”
Otero’s assertion comes as blockchain video games have seen a pointy drop within the variety of customers and buying and selling quantity over the previous couple of months.
