Episode 18 The Past, Present, and Future of Game Companies

Episode 18: The Past, Present, and Future of Game Companies

Episode 18

The Past, Present, and Future of Game Companies

Justin Waldron is the co-founder and President of Playco. We cover the industry’s evolution from web to mobile to blockchain, the unique opportunities crypto offers game creators, and how Playco’s Web3 project, Storyverse, is creating a game engine for communities.

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[00:02:15] - [First question] - The story of pizza and how he thinks about game design like restaurants 

[00:06:07] - Why bringing people together with games feels better than simply being together

[00:07:40] - Overview of instant gaming and how people can find creativity and joy from it

[00:10:34] - How Farmville’s onboarding process brought in so many new players 

[00:13:59] - How much of game design is planned out versus being accidental 

[00:18:08] - Why the industry left web-based gaming and went into the mobile and app space

[00:24:55] - His thoughts on seeing the industry shift away from his vision

[00:27:55] - How he first approached crypto and Web3 game development 

[00:33:29] - Was he always sure of the direction he wanted to go in Web3

[00:38:59] - Where the idea of Storyverse came from and what the vision for it is 

[00:41:43] - How Storyverse decreases the friction with NFTs and brings them to life

[00:45:35] - The ways that their tokens can interact and communicate with stories 

[00:49:24] - How Storyverse’s IP differs across communities and problems that can arise 

[00:56:17] - What he’s most excited to see built over the next six months and the next six years

The Past, Present, and Future of Game Companies

Introduction

Eric
This is Eric Golden, and my guest today is Justin Waldron, Co-Founder and President of PlayCo. Justin is a pioneer of the social gaming industry, having co-founded Zynga at age 19, and then PlayCo, the world's first instant gaming company. Our conversation explores the industry's evolution from web to mobile to blockchain, the unique opportunities crypto offers game creators like Justin, and how PlayCo's Web3 project, Storyverse, is creating a game engine for communities. Please enjoy my conversation with Justin Waldron.

Game Design

Eric
I'm excited to have Justin Waldron on the show today. Justin has an incredible movie-like story of a teenager, computer programmer, dropped out of college, built a multi-billion dollar business. And if you just stop there, I think you'd be missing some of what I think makes Justin so special. For anyone who hasn't listened to Justin, I highly recommend Patrick's interview on Founder's Field Guide, where Justin explains his background, the foundations of PlayCo, his new company. What really impresses me about Justin is his desire to connect people and bring communities together. I'll try not to repeat a lot of the questions he's been asked, but one story that stuck with me in one of your prior views with Patrick, was about pizza. Can you tell the story of pizza, and how you think about gaming design like restaurants?

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