198 | Why Playful built Thousands (its web3 Twitch) for Wildcard

Jon Jordan talks to Playful Studios' CEO Paul Bettner and lead game designer Brad Weir about the development of web2 card collectible action game Wildcard and its web3 streaming platform Thousands.

• [5:29] Why did "crypto-skeptic" Paul Bettner end up making a gaming ecosystem using blockchain?
• [6:24] The crucial technology focus for its web2 game Wildcard is streaming, not blockchain.
• [6:59] But blockchain is crucial for the wider ecosystem for players, content creators and community.
• [9:02] The USP of Wildcard is its unique genre - deck building + action gameplay with strategy MOBA.
• [9:55] It's a CCAG - collectible card action game - the first of its kind.
• [10:08] "Web3 is an enabling technology for the new things we are trying to do."
• [11:45] A lot of the core team on Wildcard goes all the way back to Age of Empires.
• [14:09] Paradigm led the investment round because they played Wildcard and loved the game.
• [15:18] How the game design of Wildcard has changed over the years.
• [15:40] As a designer, you need to question everything and iterate quickly to make the best decision.
• [17:15] Moving from 1v1 to 2v2 was a big change for Wildcard, especially for the social aspects.
• [18:51] "You have to make the thing people like the least about your game into what they like the most."
• [20:24] Until your dev team can not stop playing your game over other games, it's not finished.
• [24:40] "When I fire up Wildcard, it's not like any other game in my Steam library."
• [32:15] "Watching a game is the most casual, accessible way to enjoy gaming."
• [33:10] Popular streamed games weren't built for streaming. How should it change the design?
• [33:51] We talked to Twitch and Discord but they couldn't build the streaming tech we required.
• [35:20] We started showing other studios our streaming tech and the response was overwheming.
• [37:26] Thousands allows us to give revenue share back to streamers who refer the spenders.
• [38:24] An authentic streamer gives us the highest quality users we can get.
• [40:17] Before Thousands, we didn't know how we were going to have web3 tech in Wildcard.
• [45:10] You have to make a game and ecosystem that satisfies gamers, earners and content creators.
• [49:20] How Wildcard is ensuring it allows its most skilled players to demonstrate that skill.
• [51:32] Wildcard is being tested on Fridays/Saturdays via Steam early access.
• [53:51] Thousands isn't about quantity, it's about your most dedicated 1,000 fans.
• [54:25] Our ARPV (average revenue per viewer) is already over $100, with a payer conversion of 83%.
• [55:26] We have streams that are regularly monetizing at over $20,000 per stream.