By now, almost everyone is aware of cryptocurrency and blockchain. However, many are unaware of how massive the blockchain gaming market has become. Opis Group believes in the future of blockchain gaming, but more than that, it believes in making good games. OpiPets is proof of that, with the game focusing on quality content that gamers will enjoy with P2E, game ownership, and asset ownership on the side.
Opis Cloud is another innovative project led by Opis Group, which aims to be the world’s first crypto-based decentralized cloud computing network. It uses mobile technology to make the world more eco-friendly, provide decentralized computing, and allow participants to make passive income. Learn more about these topics and more in the exciting interview below.
Grit Daily: The current state of cryptocurrency has made a big impact all over, but blockchain gaming appears to be going strong with a major increase in investments. Why do you think gaming stands out?
Vince Howard: This is a really good question. Gaming, in general, has long been an industry at the forefront of innovation and is always ripe for experimentation. A lot of what we enjoy about communications and technology was tried and tested with gaming. Let’s look at Discord as an example; it unlocked real-time communication. Gaming is the No. 1 use case for cryptocurrency, paving the way for payments and international transfers. There are between two and three billion gamers worldwide. For people chasing money and profit through P2E and in-game tokens, there is a tremendous amount of potential value if even a portion of this massive audience can be converted.
The other side is gaming and wallets; this is where data shows that gaming is consistently growing and doing quite well. There are two types of wallets: DeFi wallets and gaming wallets. Notably, the majority of wallets are gaming related and not DeFi, which is a distinction. There is potential for adoption as, by nature, gamers are early adopters and embrace new technologies before others. The beauty of gaming is that those who are involved generally feel more comfortable with ‘new’ things. They can also educate family, friends and other people in their networks, which increases adoption.
Grit Daily: When it comes to assets earned through games like OpiPets, do the assets remain stable or do they have the same volatility as other crypto assets?
Vince Howard: Like all assets in life (houses, art, land, etc.) prices are reflective of supply and demand. You own the assets and you have the ability to trade them in the open market where they fluctuate. Rare items require elements of both luck and skill. They will go up and down like other asset classes. We hope to create value through this. Gamers are experimental and OpiPets are reflective of games of the future.
Grit Daily: What challenges do the P2E aspect and the inclusion of blockchain present when it comes to making a great game that pulls in players?
Vince Howard: First and foremost, Play to Earn (P2E) is not built with gaming in mind. Fundamentally, it is about speculation. The problem therein is that you have NFTs in the games. Gamers, for the most part, don’t have the money to be speculators. Speculators do not put the game first. If you are not attracting a game to build players, you won’t get the players. Plain and simple. Real gamers actually dislike the term P2E. For true gamers, games are a fun escape. What we are trying to do through OpiPets is play AND earn. Ideally, you are someone who enjoys the worlds that are being built – the lore and the fact that you can also earn your assets.
We are putting together something special by utilising Web3. When we think of Web1, it was about the login and password; Web2 offered social logins (sign in with Twitter and Google). Web3 is connecting wallets with the game, which becomes irrevocable. As Web3 grows, it is much more seamless and it becomes about the ownership (e.g. in-game tokens). It is something that we have yet to experience.
Grit Daily: What are the greatest barriers to adoption when it comes to blockchain games? How is Opis Games addressing them?
Vince Howard: First, you need to make a great game and find the product market fit. You should not market it as a ‘blockchain game.’ No one goes out of their way to look for a blockchain game. Build something innovative and enjoyable – and give users a unique experience. This is exactly what we are trying to do with OpiPets. We took people from the world of gaming, who are engaged in the lore and who are fundamentally storytellers. The mechanics to create a game require skill and need to be entertaining. User achievement must be emphasised. It’s important to get this part right. You can earn tokens but, at the end of the day, it has to be a game people want to play.
Grit Daily: There is a lot of concern over blockchain technology and eco-friendliness. How is Opis Cloud addressing those issues?
Vince Howard: There is a lot of talk around proof of work being less eco-friendly than proof of stake. Enter Opis Cloud, where one can eventually earn points as a reward for helping scientific research and reducing the environmental impact of cloud computing. This is going to happen by connecting your mobile device to the Opis Cloud network in order to complete tasks while it’s charging and idle.
With blockchain, people are using various calculations to validate transactions. It should be noted that we don’t have a blockchain for Cloud. The green element comes in when choosing our network — when it is up and running — as it will use a significantly smaller amount of energy than those like AWS (Amazon Web Services). Completing a task with Opis Cloud, where we are essentially using energy by the owner of the devices, will be greener.
And it doesn’t end there. We take action; don’t just say we do. With that, we have partnered with an absolutely brilliant organisation that plants Sequoias in the UK to offset the carbon footprint.
Grit Daily: Opis Cloud is designed to use a mobile device’s CPU while it is charging or idle. Are there any security concerns about allowing that kind of access, and what measures are in place to ensure privacy concerns?
Vince Howard: A mobile phone is the most important device we own today. At Opis Cloud, we recognise our responsibility to users. We won’t be asking for access to track location, media, files, etc. Our goal is to ensure user data is completely private. If you imagine how peer-to-peer file sharing works, you would not know where you will get the files. Equally, you will not know where you are getting it from. It will be completely encrypted and scrambled. You would have nothing that would be intelligible at all. It is sent back to Opis Cloud and verified – and then sent back to the client. Similar to blockchain, it is an unobstructed process.
Grit Daily: Will anyone be able to use the Opis Cloud computing network to complete their tasks? Can contributors decide what tasks their CPU is dedicated to?
Vince Howard: Yes, we will absolutely offer that as a feature. Gen Z is aware of the impact we make on society. We have made a commitment from day one. All of the Opis Cloud computing power will go to charity and good causes. We cannot drive any revenue until we prove the network —which is inspired by blockchain — is reliable. We will have a number of projects that we are contributing to which are close to our users’ hearts.
Grit Daily: When and how can people get involved with these projects? Will they require any knowledge of blockchain technology?
Vince Howard: We are hopeful that by the fourth quarter of 2022, those who are interested will be able to begin interacting with both OpiPets and Opis Cloud. The best way to get involved is to sign up on our website and follow our social media.
The forefront of our technologies is user experience. There is no blockchain experience necessary.
Grit Daily: Is there anything else on the horizon that Opis wants to share?
Vince Howard: There is plenty on the horizon, especially on the environmental front. Our gaming team is busy telling a story and creating worlds we are excited to share. Our work is precision-driven and we will not unleash anything before it is ready. But stay tuned, as we have some very special stuff in the works!
Spencer Hulse is a news desk editor at Grit Daily News. He covers startups, affiliate, viral, and marketing news.