Gaming
How the Metaverse Can Redefine Social Interaction and Online Gaming Communities
By David Kostap, Director of Marketing at Roobet
Community. It’s a powerful force that drives the gaming industry today, and at Roobet, we understand its significance.
As a marketing professional, I recognize the impact of community building in all aspects of life, both online and offline. It’s fascinating how people with shared passions come together, forming bonds and experiencing the joy of connecting over common interests.
Roobet was built by gamers, for gamers, and the evolution of the industry has been tremendous thanks to innovation and technological advancements. From humble beginnings of offline single-player games to the advent of online gaming with chat functions, we are now on the brink of a new era—the Metaverse. This concept of a shared virtual universe presents immense opportunities for the gaming community and industry to forge ahead and make waves.
Statistics show that gaming is a predominantly social activity, with a recent study showing that 78% of players see video games as a means of building relationships with like-minded individuals. This social aspect resonates strongly with Roobet, a company that was founded by a group of friends who initially bonded over playing CS:GO and subsequently ventured into developing products around the skins economy. As the social dimensions of gaming continue to grow through online competitions, streaming, chatrooms, and digital goods trading, so does the desire for the gaming experience to reflect this camaraderie.
Gone are the days when games were dismissed as mere escapism from reality. They are now poised to become an integral part of people’s daily lives, just as casual as meeting friends for dinner or hanging out at a club. Games and the Metaverse provide an alternate space where the limitations of the physical world no longer apply. Users can interact remotely, explore new places within the virtual universe without travel time, and enjoy limitless possibilities.
According to EY’s Gaming Industry Survey 2022, 97% of respondents believe that the gaming industry is at the core of the Metaverse. It’s intriguing to realise that the foundations of the Metaverse are rooted in Massive Multiplayer Online (MMO) worlds like World of Warcraft—spaces that gamers have been exploring for years, building communities and driving technological and ideological advancements.
At Roobet, our mission is to transform digital entertainment. Nothing is off limits as we try to achieve this – and one thing we’ve spent time considering is taking a leap (or, more aptly, a hop) into the Metaverse, keeping our core values of community, innovation, and adventure in mind. As a company that puts gamers at the forefront, we strive to create a safe and inclusive space that prioritises the needs and desires of our community, offering them the best experience possible.
The Metaverse has the potential to provide so many benefits. It provides a platform for multi-user functionality, enabling gameplay, social interactions, and even virtual parties. It unlocks vast opportunities for creativity and self-expression, and it operates in a decentralized manner, ensuring that no single entity has complete control. Most importantly, it introduces the concept of true ownership, where players can trade, earn, or purchase in-game assets that are undoubtedly theirs.
Imagine walking into a Metaverse-based casino, gauging its liveliness, and seeing if your friends are around, just like you would in the physical world. The thrill and serendipity of real-life outings are mirrored in the Metaverse, from planned meetups to unexpected encounters.
This level of peer-to-peer interaction and autonomy surpasses what was previously possible in pre-Metaverse games. The depth of community engagement and interaction offered by the Metaverse is undoubtedly one of its most appealing and pivotal aspects, whether you’re a novice gamer or a seasoned veteran.
Our aim is to provide the Roobet community with opportunities to participate in the Metaverse as intensively or casually as they desire. We could offer extensive personalization features, ensuring individuals can express themselves within the virtual realm, all crypto-backed security of their transactions and progress.
Before we know it, engaging with friends in the Metaverse may become as natural and effortless as our current social interactions. And rest assured, if Roo has anything to say about it, it won’t be a dull experience.
At Roobet, we’re excited about the possibilities the Metaverse holds, and we’re committed to being at the forefront of this dynamic evolution where technology, community, and marketing converge to shape the future of gaming.
Gaming
Midjiwan Supports Reforestation Efforts With New Elyrion Tribe Skin In The Battle Of Polytopia
Midjiwan, the award-winning independent studio behind The Battle of Polytopia, is celebrating Elyrion (∑∫ỹriȱŋ) Tribe Week with a brand-new Midnight (₼idŋighţ) skin and donations to support reforestation.
Tapping into the Elyrion Tribe’s nature magic abilities, every purchase of an Elyrion item in the game will plant one real-world tree from April 22-28 2024. Midjiwan has teamed up with The Canopy Project, an organisation that works with global partners to reforest areas in urgent need of rehabilitation, combining The Battle Of Polytopia’s themes with a desire to make real change in the world. Previous years of Elyrion Tribe Week have resulted in the planting of over 12,000 trees.
The Elyrion Tribe is a mysterious group of elves, dedicated to defending their woodland home with their unique magic and connection with nature. Players using the Elyrion tribe have the ability to enchant animals into Polytaurs and summon powerful Fire Dragons.
Christian Lövstedt, General Manager at Midjiwan, commented:
“This is a hugely exciting partnership, allowing players to support the planet and contribute to reforestation whilst also accessing brilliant new content to use in The Battle Of Polytopia.”
Alongside donating to The Canopy Project, The Battle Of Polytopia also boasts a brand-new skin for the Elyrion Tribe! The Midnight skin allows players to create graves, build crypts, and summon demons in dark forests, all in service of the mysterious Shard of D’Naeh.
The Midnight skin re-skins the entire Elyrion Tribe as the Midnight Cult. Everything the Elyrion Tribe is all about – nature, enchantment, and sanctuary – is turned on its head, corrupted into a dark, twisted dystopia of itself.
Midjiwan has already invested €250,000 in solar power projects in rural areas around Africa, and other charitable projects. The studio continues to seek opportunities to combine its in-game creativity with real-world benefits. The Battle of Polytopia is available on Nintendo Switch, the App Store, Google Play, PC, and Tesla cars.
Gaming
Digital Asset Horse Racing Game Stables Appoints Lebnan Nader CEO And Unveils International Expansion Plan
Stables, the Paris-based Web3 Equestrian Fantasy Game, has appointed venture capital veteran Lebnan Nader as Chief Executive Officer.
Lebnan Nader, who had founded and run several gaming and technology businesses, will oversee an international expansion as Stables seeks to add horses and attract owners from outside its French home market.
Launched in January 2023, Stables was born from an ambitious project funded by PMU, the European leader and number 3 worldwide in horse betting, alongside the startup studio 321. The game is designed to bring the excitement of horse racing into the digital realm by combining real data from actual racehorses with an online Web3 gaming experience where horses are represented as tradable non-fungible tokens.
“Stables brings together two of my favorite domains, video gaming and horse racing. Two sectors I’ve been involved in for the past 12 years. The game’s ambitions are high, and that’s what convinced me,” said Lebnan Nader, CEO of Stables. “The teams have done a tremendous job, and we will continue to develop the game, but my priority will be our community, as they are our greatest strength.”
A graduate of HEC Paris with nearly 20 years experience in strategy, product development, and market positioning in the digital sector, Lebnan co-founded an internationally acclaimed video and VR gaming studio, and also co-founded a software company for lottery and betting operators.
PMU’s initial gamble to reach a new audience has paid off as Stables now boasts a community of several thousand engaged players, aged 25 to 40 on average. The community is currently composed of 70% French players and 30% from the rest of the world.
The Stables teams are now expanding the gaming experience by adding new features that will allow any player, even without owning NFTs, to be able to explore Stables for free. A seasonal horse racing system with an in-game leaderboard will be introduced, as well as “The Paddock Gazette,” a feature allowing the analysis of all NFT data and comparing their performances.
The ability to interact with other players and access numerous new horses are among the features currently in development.
“In 2023, Stables succeeded in realizing PMU’s bold vision of diversifying the world of horse racing into Web3 and becoming today’s reference in equestrian fantasy gaming. Contributing alongside its historic partners to the financial support for an accelerated development of Stables represents for the Tezos Foundation a natural progression to the adoption of Tezos. Among other things, the Tezos Foundation always listens to the needs of management teams and economically engages in projects that have adopted its blockchain to be an active participant in their growth stages,” says Jean-Frédéric Mognetti, Executive Director of the Tezos Foundation.
“Convinced of the relevance of the project, it seemed important to involve new investors. We enthusiastically welcome the financial support of the Tezos Foundation, which strengthens a proven technical collaboration that the project has benefited from since its inception,” comments Emmanuelle Malecaze-Doublet, CEO of PMU.
Gaming
Speechless Announces Hybrid License, Giving Actors Greater Control Over Their AI-Generated Voices
New platform will enable voice actors to gain commission on their AI-generated counterparts while also streamlining the development process for studios
Today, Speechless, the voice actor database and asset tool for the games industry, has announced its new Hybrid AI License, combining real voice talent and generative artificial intelligence (AI). This new license will enable game developers to utilize all aspects of modern voice-over production while providing more equitable opportunities for the actors themselves. With the current games landscape increasingly experimenting with the potential of AI, Speechless is offering a solution that takes a greater ethical approach to this technology.
The first complete management system for the games industry, Speechless’ Hybrid AI License easily allows developers to use the full range of voice-over options in one place; from text-to-speech, speech-to-speech and conventional voice recording. Unlike other text-to-speech providers, Speechless’ integrated approach allows developers to access the voice actors behind the AI-generated, text-to-speech options. This license not only enables developers to gain greater creative control over voice production but also gives actors control over their AI-generated voice.
Voice actors will benefit from this license by having their AI-generated voice earn a commission when it is licensed by developers. In addition, developers can utilize text-to-speech options to refine their scripts before bringing on the voice actor for the full recording. Developers can then adjust the voice actor’s recording with its AI counterpart at the later stages of development, removing the need for reshoots and allowing voice actors to move on to new projects.
The potential of Speechless’ License also enables a greater depth of content for side characters and NPCs and streamlines localization in new markets while keeping voice talent involved. With the rise of generative AI in game development, Speechless is establishing the best practice for utilizing the advantages of this technology without excluding the creative talent of voice actors.
This new license is available immediately and follows Speechless’ recent collaboration with audio middleware leader Audiokinetic Wwise.
“We can’t ignore the potential AI has for the games industry but we need to approach this technology ethically; that’s what we aim to achieve when it comes to voice-acting,” the Chief Executive Officer for Speechless, Peo Drangert (pictured), said. “By offering a hybrid license, developers can streamline their processes and experiment with different voice actors at a lower cost. At the same time, voice actors are compensated for their work and the work of their AI-generated voice, have greater opportunities to collaborate with studios and can work more flexibly. AI will continue to grow in the games sector, so we must use it responsibly to ensure a fairer industry.”
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