From: thepipeline_xyz
A major announcement reveals that Sappy Seals and Play Ember are bringing their experience to the Monad testnet soon [01:36:11]. The news is expected to thrill the community [01:50:38].
Origins of the Collaboration
The collaboration began when Wob, founder of Sappy Seals, and John Hook, co-founder of Play Ember, met at a gaming NFT meetup in Nando’s [02:06:01]. Wob discovered Play Ember’s exceptional talent in UK game development and product shipping [02:22:07]. Recognizing Play Ember’s expertise in building and scaling games with user acquisition, and Sappy Seals’ “rabid community,” the teams decided to “marry the two” for a collaboration [03:00:23]. The ideation process involved exploring various concepts, including a “seal in a mecha suit with a rocket launcher” [03:14:14].
Sappy Quest: The Game
The collaboration has landed on a game concept currently code-named “Sappy Quest” [03:34:44]. The game is described as an RPG and Dungeon Crawler [03:54:19].
Why Gaming for Sappy Seals
Sappy Seals has been “very bullish on gaming” as a primary use case for crypto [05:20:23]. Gaming naturally leverages tokenized assets on-chain, creating “digital economies” and “digital ecosystems” [05:00:36]. Past examples like Axie Infinity and Defi Kingdoms showed active engagement [05:39:10]. For an IP like Sappy Seals with a strong community, gaming is the best way to deliver an experience at scale and onboard more users [06:12:12]. Playing crypto games and enjoying crypto-native IP helps onboard people into the broader crypto ecosystem [11:13:00]. The goal is to “do entertainment correctly in crypto” [11:51:24].
Why Gaming for Play Ember
John Hook emphasizes that gaming is an “obvious” way to get “normies” to engage with blockchain-powered experiences [07:28:18]. Casual gaming is a broad form of entertainment, similar to TikTok or YouTube, and part of people’s routine [07:37:05]. Play Ember believes in “lighter touch experiences” for a casual audience, avoiding the over-complication often seen in web3 gaming [08:27:07]. A key non-negotiable for Play Ember is “great IP,” which is essential for players to download and enjoy a game [08:56:06]. Sappy Seals is seen as a “perfect IP to be making a game with” due to its culture, memes, and creativity [09:17:15].
The Role of Community and Culture
Sappy Seals’ community has a strong affinity for gaming, partly due to the meme-driven culture of the internet and the nature of online gaming [19:39:07]. The community is highly engaged with game design teams, providing valuable feedback [20:06:06]. Sappy Seals aims to help strong builders and platforms in crypto gain traction [20:27:05]. Their D7 retention rates for collaborations with games like Nifty Island and Pirate Nation have been “absurd,” sometimes reaching 80% [21:17:09]. This indicates the Seals community’s willingness to “help people build and launch cool stuff” [21:46:31].
The Monad community also plays a crucial role due to its curation of “creative” and “memetic” individuals willing to experiment [23:03:00]. The combination of Play Ember’s gaming community, Sappy Seals’ gaming and content-producing community, and Monad’s community with its mass reach, is expected to create a powerful force to push outside the crypto bubble [23:51:17].
For Wob, “culture is sacred” [25:09:00]. He believes that in crypto, where fundamentals might not always drive value, culture is the “main glue” holding things together [26:47:05]. It defines why people care and dedicate their time to a project [26:59:02]. Building an “aura” and a “collective of people” united by a shared passion is key [27:36:06]. This network, where individuals contribute value (e.g., memes, capital), defines the valuation of tokens and NFTs [29:05:07]. John Hook adds that direct access to the community in web3 allows for building brands hand-in-hand with users, letting them “freestyle and create stuff” [48:49:03].
Future Outlook for NFTs and Gaming
NFTs initially seemed like a natural progression from tokens, offering “unique identifiers for people” or “citizens” in blockchain “cities” [31:47:49]. While their speculative appeal might be less than tokens, the “finite amount” and “identity portion” are crucial [32:30:11]. There’s a “strange human psychology sort of attachment to NFTs,” evident in communities that remain loyal even when projects are inactive [32:56:06].
The perception of NFTs has evolved; some view them purely as “investment vehicles” for token vesting, while others, primarily “CT native” (Crypto Twitter native) users, value them for their cultural significance, aesthetics, and ability to foster a collective [36:34:44]. The focus shifts from just art to the “network” and the “collective of people” actively contributing [37:55:00].
Crypto gaming faces challenges; many games built so far “aren’t that good” because talented developers are disincentivized by the perceived risk of crypto [12:44:03]. However, it’s seen as an “inevitable” growth phase for the industry [13:17:34]. The next wave of users, “consumers” rather than “hardcore crypto natives,” will engage with games and naturally acquire crypto, potentially leading them to explore other communities (art, music, cars) [14:02:11]. This “cross collaborations” between communities, gaming, and infrastructure is vital [15:15:37].
The way successful crypto companies grow is different from traditional businesses [44:34:06]. Instead of just focusing on mass users, web3 prioritizes “power users” and a “web of people that connect into different communities” to create value [44:52:19]. Authentic, grassroots projects that people adopt as part of their identity are crucial [50:38:15]. This authenticity is a “valuable currency” in a world saturated with ads and sponsorships [51:40:17]. The next major mainstream crypto game won’t just be a Call of Duty with coins; it will be a “completely different thing that no one’s ever seen before” [46:27:00]. Pioneers in the space need time to innovate and figure out these complex models, which may take years [50:06:06].