Video gaming legends unite to redefine the landscape: AMA recap with Moxy

The esports market is expected to grow at a significant rate, from $1.42 billion in 2022 to a massive $4.47 billion in 2030. Its growth will be driven by the increasing use of smart devices, along with the growing accessibility of internet connectivity, the continued popularity of streaming services and the support of major brands.

However, some challenges that esports has experienced in the past still exist, such as limited diversity and inclusivity, lack of proper infrastructure, or a gap between casual gamers and the competitive esports scene. While the eSports industry’s projected revenue by 2030 nears 4.47 billion USD, the video game industry is projected to reach 589.69 billon USD. Moxy aims to make the overlap between these two industries possible, and bring esports to the majority of video gamers. “We haven't seen a breakout innovation in a while,” said Nolan Bushnell, a legend in the video game industry. Known as the “father of electronic gaming,” Bushnell is the founder of one of the most notable video game companies, Atari, as well as Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theater chain. Bushnell is a member of the Video Game Hall of Fame and he is the Inventor of the world's first video game Pong. Bushnell is commonly referred to as "The Godfather of Videogames". A fun fact about Nolan Bushnell is that he gave Steve Jobs his first and only job besides Apple.

With the backing of some of the legends behind Nintendo, MicroProse (publisher of Sid Meier’s Civilization series, Railroad Tycoon and Grand Prix), Atari, Konami, and Sega, Bushnell’s ambitious new project, Moxy, aims to bring about this long-awaited revolution. He discussed Moxy with its CEO Matt deFouw during Cointelegraph’s live AMA session.

What is Moxy?

“Moxy is esports for everyone — it’s as simple as that,” said deFouw. “We’re building an ecosystem where every gamer can compete in esports competitions. It goes beyond the realm of skins and NFTs and focuses on skill-based competition and real rewards.

With a vision to create an ecosystem that caters to every gaming interest and taste, Moxy allows players to challenge each other by placing bets using Moxy tokens. The winner receives their prize through smart contract execution, ensuring transparency and automation in the process.

“Think of a Moxy account like a Steam account,” deFouw explained. Moxy is able to seamlessly integrate into existing games, eliminating the need for separate apps or websites and embedding itself into the UI/UX of players’ favorite games. This integration is facilitated by the publishers who implement the game for Moxy, providing a seamless and familiar experience. Though the current game offerings on Moxy are at the proof-of-concept stage, the platform aims to expand its lineup to eventually include big-name titles similar to League of Legends.

“You’re going to see a completely different methodology of the gaming process with Moxy. Because we’re using blockchain the way it should be — for real utility — it allows for completely automated payments, seasons and transparency of all gaming processes on our platform,” deFouw said.

Embracing publishers

“We’ve worked through four seasons of beta, and now we want to show publishers and game studios that Moxy is ready for them,” said deFouw. “It’s a whole new revenue stream for publishers, game developers and studios. Similar to how Angry Birds disrupted the industry with its freemium model, Moxy has the potential to revolutionize revenue generation through its prize pool avenue.”

He noted that Moxy ensures a cross-platform gaming experience by providing compatibility across multiple platforms, including iOS, PC, MacOS, Android, Epic and the web.

“The gaming industry deserves an infrastructure and blockchain that is specifically tailored to its needs,” deFouw said. “We believe Moxy can be the ecosystem to fill those gaps.”

The platform also ensures a fair and secure environment by implementing KYC procedures to eliminate bots and trolls, protect publishers, be compliant and also foster trust within the Moxy ecosystem.

Embracing all gamers

“It’s important to us to provide a completely transparent Web2 experience even for your grandmother,” deFouw continued. “You don’t need to graduate from some crypto university to use Moxy. We want it to feel completely Web2.”

Speaking of required gaming skills, Moxy is open to gamers of all types, from casual to hardcore, with an extensible stack for esports covering a wide range of game modes and genres.

The Moxy token, which functions as a utility, provides access to exclusive content on the Moxy platform, participation in events and tournaments and enhances online gameplay, creating a dynamic and immersive gaming experience for all participants. One such event, Battle of Influencers, engaged celebrities, gaming stars and viewers in a massive showcase of the platform’s capabilities.

For game streamers and content creators, Moxy also has something to offer. “You’re going to see very interesting content and people on streaming services that will be able to monetize their communities with Moxy,” said deFow. “It will be different from the existing ad revenue that bloggers like Mr. Beast or Twitch streamers have now. We can automate these processes because the prize pools can be filled externally by advertisers and they will get their cut.”

Moxy’s vision

With a focus on engaging more gamers and players, Moxy aims to do nothing less than change the gaming landscape. “Now, esports is a walled garden based on publishers and specific games. We want to break it down step by step,” said Bushnell.

He continued, “There was a time when the streets were bare because everyone was watching a certain TV show. I want to bring that back, but with the gaming environment. That is my big dream.”