Blockchaingamer
- Tech start-up Freeverse emerges from an analysis of the economics of the videogame sector, where users are not the true owners of their in-game purchases.
- Freeverse is working with blockchain technology to create a new economic system scalable to all videogame genres.
Barcelona-based start-up Freeverse was launched to address the true ownership gap of the rapidly evolving games industry. While the majority of industry players look to repeatedly use the same design and monetization systems in their games, Freeverse is developing new revenue models that can be applied to disrupt the sector. This research has led to open questions regarding the concept of ‘digital ownership’ – questions that are yet to be resolved in today’s games. “Currently, when you buy a game, you only own a license to certain unique content, which you are not able to transfer to others,” says Freeverse CEO Alun Evans.
Solutions frequently arrive from other technology fields; for similar problems, many sectors are now looking to the blockchain ecosystem, which directly addresses demands for a secure system of virtual asset management. For this reason, Freeverse is developing blockchain-based technology which empowers users to manage their in-game digital possessions. “The best way to understand blockchain is via the solution that it provides: proof of ownership of digital belongings. We are using blockchain to create technology allowing gamers to be the owners of their in-game assets” says Toni Mateos, co-founder and CTO, and previously founder of Imm Sound (later acquired by Dolby Laboratories).
Freeverse’s current goal is to research and develop blockchain-based technology, currently in the process of being patented, allowing a scalable economic model, applicable within a variety of games and genres. Recently, the startup closed a funding round of €500k, which will be used to mature this technology and apply it in their first game, a multiplayer Football Manager, coming out spring 2020. Blockchain technology is integrated into the core of the design, as opposed to being ‘bolted on’ to an existing model. The design and revenue model of the game will revolve completely around the concept of the blockchain, albeit imperceptibly from the point of view of the player. As such, it will be the first mainstream game where users are the true owners of their digital content, evolving it within the game, and buying and selling with complete security.
About Freeverse
Freeverse was founded by an experienced team of technology industry veterans seduced by a vision to create a new business model in the videogame industry. The company’s principal founder, Toni Mateos, created 3D-audio technology, along with a company that brought it to market, that was eventually sold to Dolby Laboratories and integrated into Dolby Atmos. Together, the founding team has experience in games, business, M&A, blockchain, IP protection and licensing, and security; creating a strong multidisciplinary organization, which aims to revolutionize the games industry. Freeverse secured an initial €500K investment wich will be employed on developing the technology that will power this new business model, protecting its IP, and aiming at proving the industry that gamers will ask for, and embrace this change.
Official Site: https://freeverse.io
