How a crypto skeptic is making Web3’s most anticipated game | Paul Bettner

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Back in June 2022, Paul Bettner’s Playful Studios made a splash with a different kind of Web3 game. Instead of raising money first through a token sale and perhaps never delivering a game, Bettner’s team in the company’s Wildcard Alliance division unveiled a game they had been working on for years.

It started out as a traditional Web2 game, but the more they studied blockchain games, Bettner and his cofounder Katy Drake Bettner (they’re married) found that they could use elements of blockchain, such as player ownership, to reward players for their enthusiasm. It’s funny that Bettner came up with this plan, as he was a self-avowed crypto skeptic and suspicious of blockchain games.

McKinney, Texas-based Playful raised $46 million and it showed off a playable Wildcard Alliance game, where players duel with each other esports style and try to take the enemy’s goal in combat that resembles a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) title. The title is meant to be accessible to onboard “the next billion gamers” to Web3 with ease, accessibility, and fun at the forefront. And it is meant to be just as fun to watch as to play.

I talked with Bettner about this — and his belief that blockchain games can be combined with triple-A values — at the recent SXSW gaming event in Austin. Our session was entitled, “How a Crypto Skeptic Built Web3’s Most Anticipated Game.”

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Here’s an edited transcript of our fireside chat.

GamesBeat: Paul, could tell us