Yat Siu: Innovation Led By Digital Property Rights

In the last year, play-to-earn (P2E) games have become a promising new frontier for both blockchain enthusiasts who are seeking a deeper purpose in what NFTs and digital ownership can enable, and game developers who are intrigued by this new model of publishing games where it can bypass the walled gardens of the mobile app stores. 

However, given the nascency of this industry, there’s still a ton of skepticism. Common criticisms include P2E games being “not fun to play”, not actually helping people earn money, and not necessarily providing additional value to own game NFTs. 

For Yat Siu who was one of the first investors in Axie Infinity, he believes blockchain gaming is just scratching the surface of what opportunities it can unlock. Beyond immediate value, he is able to see the long term benefits through a philosophical lens.

ABOUT THE GUEST

Yat Siu is the co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, a global leader in blockchain and gaming with the mission to deliver digital property rights to the world’s gamers and internet users, thereby creating a new asset class, play-to-earn economies, and a more equitable digital framework contributing to building the open metaverse. 

He is a veteran technology entrepreneur and investor based in Hong Kong. He was previously the Founder and CEO of Outblaze, and began his career in Atari Germany. He has been an early advocate for the use of blockchain and NFTs in the gaming industry, which will allow gamers to enjoy true ownership of their own game assets, data and consequently, equity.  

SHOW NOTES

[2:20] How Yat became interested in gaming

[8:45] Gaining conviction for blockchain gaming

[13:40] Permissionless nature of the blockchain

[15:10] Extractive nature of mobile gaming

[19:40] Principles of Play-and-Earn (GameFi)

[25:20] Property rights in the Metaverse

[34:40] Pervasiveness of monopolies online

[36:40] Decentralized property rights as the foundation for innovation

[44:10] Capitalism and inequality

[50:40] Civility, governance and politics in the Metaverse

[59:00] Education as the best defender of democracy

[1:02:45] Future role of government and policies makers in Web 3

[1:06:20] Web 3 and GameFi investing landscape

[1:16:30] Advice to founder and operators wanting to enter into GameFi