“The Metaverse Is Not New”

AUSTIN, Texas – Gamers want to participate in the creative gaming ecosystem and be part of the ecosystem, but will flee if they think Metaverse and Web3 are all about making money, says Daniel Alegre, Yuga’s new CEO Labs said on stage at the Consensus Feast 2023 here on Friday.

Alegre joined Yuga Labs – the company behind Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs December by Activision Blizzard (ATVI), where he served as President and Chief Operating Officer. While at Activision Blizzard, he oversaw some of the company’s most important franchises, including World of Warcraft, which was a metaverse even if it peaked in the mid-2000s.

“The reality is that the metaverse isn’t new,” he said. “World of Warcraft is a metaverse in every sense,” he added. “But what Web3 is enabling isn’t just new interactions and opportunities for players to find communities that go beyond the game itself.”

The key to success at Web3 and gaming is building the game from the ground up with Web3 in mind, Alegre said.

“You can really get the Web 2 players to say, ‘OK, that’s what Web3 does,'” he said. “If the experiences are excellent, people will follow.”