Web3 gaming is still quite sure of its ability to bridge "tHe NeXt 1 bIlLiOn GaMrZzZZz" from web2 with games that still haven't quite hit the mark. Shrapnel and Off the Grid are still frontrunners for the white Western web3 audience, while Asian communities continue to rally around Ronin chain projects and various gaming conglomerates like Revolve and
I'd encourage everybody to step back for a minute. What we really have here is a ton of "companies" [read: Discord bro teams] pushing up their "launch" [read: ETH extraction] date to step in front of the bull market. I'm getting early 2000s tech implosion vibes.
Totally financial advice: Make sure you're not spreading your liquidity too thin chasing all this nonsense. Unless I have an edge, I don't move. Defining edge: 1. I get in free on a WL or a raffle, 2. I am in on a fair/stealth launch on day 1 under $500k mcap, 3. somebody hits my bid, which I place only at prices I know I can flip.
But there is a new meta that has not yet pumped, and it has far more potential to actually bring new users into web3 than these overnight Fiverr gaming companies.
The new meta is UGC.
UGC using established web2 metaverses Fortnite, Roblox, Minecraft, etc. keep traditional gamers comfortable inside their own worlds. They don't have to interact with web3 at all. That is the privilege of the investor class, who is responsible for investing in map builders and who collects revenue from successful UGC.
Two projects are at the forefront of the web3 UGC narrative, one of which I previously profiled (). UEFN focuses on Fortnite, and today's feature $MBX focuses with Roblox.
$MBX, ticker symbol for Metablox Labs, is already delivering real revenues to its token holders. ($UEFN is, too, by the way — UEFN is actually delivering 2X revenues over $MBX for February 2024) but I'm still looking at both projects for the reasons below:
The new meta is UGC.
1. Different Focus
Both projects say they will expand into any platform that encourages UGC. But UEFN is starting with Fortnite and Metablox is starting with Roblox. Although Metablox is behind on revenues, Roblox is a more popular game than Fortnite with easier scalability to audiences of all ages. Fortnite is somewhat limited to esports players who like the FPS playstyle.
2. Diversity of Holdings
As both projects are in their infancy (both hovering ? $1M mcap), it is always good to hold both in case one faces issues that kill it in the crib. The winners in this world arm both sides of the war!
3. Different Leadership
I'm highly confident in UEFN's leadership (CEO Zad Ngur is a beast), but the name of the game in crypto is total mindshare. If you can buy more mindshare, you do it. Although I was underwhelmed at the Spaces performance of whoever's running the Metablox Twitter, this doesn't mean the team isn't competent. It just means they need someone else to yell and scream at people when they do AMAs. (When you read this, Metablox team, the constant "umms" and monotone are costing you money. You're doing great things, so act like it and liven it up a bit.)
Getting In Before the Rush
As with UEFN, you won't find much talk of $MBX on Twitter. You have to dig down into the depths of Telegram to get the real discussion. These are the kinds of projects I like — you get in before the bigmouth influencoors have time to pump and dump it.
If you're an up-and-coming web3 marketer, this is the best opportunity you have to create your own profits and build your reputation in the space. Helping a small project get big is how many of the web3 social media "celebs" got their clout.
And believe me, when the gaming narrative comes around again and the focus returns to the $1.5 billion Disney invested in Epic (Fortnite's parent), etc., you can bet that web3 UGC will turn a huge chunk of that hype into market capitalization.
