TL; DR
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In Dec ’23, Epic Games quietly updated their terms to allow players aged 18 and over to access web3 games through the store – and since then, over 20 web3 games have been launched.
Full story
Imagine you’ve come up with a god-level app idea…
You go to VCs. You show them a demo. They patch it up.
They prepare to throw truckloads of cash at you, but before they sign the check they ask:
‘Where will you launch first? iOS, Android or both?”
You tell them, “Neither. I’m launching my own phone, operating system, and app store.”
Those big checks would go straight into the shredder.
Why? Because distribution matters – and Apple (iOS) and Google (Android) own the global mobile distribution channels. Trying to beat them at this point is a fool’s errand.
(It’s stupid, but it’s true).
These are the problems that virtually every web3 app, platform, and tool is currently facing: There are some great products available, but access to distribution channels is tight.
That’s why we’re getting a little giddy about something we just discovered.
We read about how the web3 game ‘Forgotten Runiverse’ integrates with the Ethereum-based Ronin blockchain before it launched on the Epic Games Store.
Epic Games store…did we miss something??
Turns out we did.
During the holiday season of 2023, Epic Games quietly updated their terms of service to allow players over the age of 18 to access Web3 games through the store.
Since then, more than 20 web3 games have been launched on the platform.
For context:
The reach of the two largest web3 wallets, MetaMask and Phantom, has a combined monthly active user base of 37 million.
(Users who use the platforms primarily for sending/trading cryptocurrencies, not gaming).
Epic Games (the seventh largest gaming company in the world) has 270 million gaming-focused users worldwide (75 million monthly active) – who are now exposed to a growing library of web3 games.
We’d love to see it!