The world of online gaming continues to experience explosive levels of worldwide expansion.
This growth trajectory has been documented by the online data site Statistica, which found that in 2015, the online gaming market had a volume of $37.91 billion. This figure is forecasted to increase to $59.79 billion by 2020.
And when it comes to the growing space, the blockchain startup JoyToken, a platform and protocol that aims to create a trustless gambling ecosystem where smart contracts automatically determine game outcomes, the attitude can be summed up as “game on.”
This London–based company seeks to further accelerate the robust gambling industry by creating entrepreneurial opportunities for independent games developers who otherwise lack access to a large audience.
Through use of its platform, games developers are able to distribute and earn rewards from their games through JoyToken’s own online casino, PlayCosmo Casino, which is licensed in the U.K., Malta and Curacao.
As part of its effort to establish an infrastructure protocol for the online gaming industry, JoyToken released an application programming interface (API) along with a slot game demo to developers as a means of showcasing their smart contract functionality. The demo and API provide an early glimpse of how games will run on the platform, utilizing smart contracts to distribute winnings, determine values and provide an audit trail of transactions, among other features.
Participants need not worry about the trust of fellow players, developers and casino operators within the network. Rather, players can reference the API game code to verify that the odds align with what is being advertised.
CEO and Co-founder Andrew MacDonald has 20 years of experience in retail and online gaming with major blue-chip companies. He is an advocate for successfully applying marketing retention techniques that focus on the individual player in addition to ensuring quality game offerings to promote business growth. He describes himself as a “keen troubleshooter with a strong data focus.”
“Developing games in the gambling industry can be a difficult and lengthy process, especially when it involves a scenario where there is low revenue share, regulatory requirements and the integration of games into the big game providers’ back end,” MacDonald said. “At JoyToken, we are committed to increasing opportunities for developers to find distribution and earn rewards for their games.”
MacDonald added that the goal is to support developers in increasing the reach of their games, all in a way that ensures complete compliance from a legal and licensing perspective.
“Efforts on our part to manage the legal side frees up developers, allowing them to focus entirely on game development,” he said.
With respect to the players, aside from enabling great game content, JoyToken is using blockchain technology to ensure full transparency for every user. MacDonald pointed out that every wager is logged in a smart contract that is fully auditable by any user should they wish to. This, he said, creates a robust system in which trust and faith in the system and outcomes are completely unnecessary.
“Ultimately, we’re about empowerment, fun and accountability,” he noted.
Payouts and payments to developers will occur via JoyTokens, the new cryptocurrency the company is launching through a token generation event beginning on March 20, 2018.
When asked about the purpose of the token sale, MacDonald remarked that it will provide JoyToken with the resources to ensure that the product gets up and running as quickly as possible.
“We don’t have the resources of larger content providers and games vendors, but we do have the technology,” he said. “We will be investing heavily in the people required to grow this business at an exponential rate: marketing, sales, developers, legal, to name only a few key areas that are essential for our growth.”
Post-token-sale, the company will be working rapidly on getting the API fully launched along with the user interfaces. This, he said, will be a key element of its player-facing model. MacDonald noted that the company will also be reaching out to independent developers in addition to building the community to generate content for the platform.
“Ultimately, we will be launching our games in partnership with our sister company’s online casino and will be forging further partnerships with e-gaming providers and solutions to ensure a broad reach with our content,” he said. “Our JoyToken cryptocurrency will be available to interested participants in March and we anticipate a great response from the market. 2018 is going to be an exciting year for us.”
Note: Trading and investing in digital assets is speculative and can be high-risk. Based on the shifting business and regulatory environment of such a new industry, this content should not be considered investment or legal advice.