August Wrap Up: The Summer of Protocols
Wasder being based in Sweden, our summer tempo has been slower than expected due to people taking well needed breaks and vacation. The leadership team has however spent time preparing for the future. And without any more teasing, here’s what it might look like.
Thomas here. Let’s be clear, we are facing the biggest directional change we have done in this company. Markets change; people’s needs evolve. There is a bigger opportunity in the space than ever before. I have never been more excited or motivated about our vision than I am at this moment in time.
Breaking Stuff
It is natural and I guess desirable to want to evolve and move forward, writes Mads. The drive to do just that is the very fuel that is needed for all innovation.
Understanding that makes what we have done the last couple of months so scary, because what we have done is hit the brakes, stop and take a step or two back. We have done so in order to do research and iterate on ideas to make sure we are on the right path, that we are doing the right things, and that we are still fully aligned with the problems we have agreed to present solutions to.
It is always comfortable to drive forward, but chances are that in doing so we begin to accept certain truths and exclude ourselves to know solutions and alter problems. This period was intended to ensure that we do not fall into those pitfalls.
Learning Stuff
We delved deep into the landscape of identity formation, expression and perception, recounts Audrey. Uncovered the sociocultural influences, the interplay of personal expression and societal perception, along with the concept of identity play. Researched the history, analysis and definition of networks. From analogue to digital, P2P to web3. Probed into the perpetual now, online hyper-sensibilities, networked regression and Zoom fatigue brought on by the GAFA horsemen of the Apocalypse. How do we recover from collective resignation?
Our gaming DNA taught us how play creates cultural powerhouses. Play teaches us how to be flexible and creative, how to collaborate on problems, how to understand the parts of a complex system fitting together in a dynamic whole. These are key cognitive, social and cultural skills. They are crucial aspects of being literate and engaged with the world today. So here started our quest for answers. Square one. Challenge accepted.
Articulating the thesis
The fabric of our society is fraying, adds Thomas. It has been unraveling slowly over time. Rather than delivering on its early promises, our digital lives mimic late-stage capitalism, built for growth and heavily corrupting our views of what it means to be a part of society through a lens of views, likes and follows.
People have no real connection to each other anymore. They do not trust institutions, the media or corporations to unf*ck the world. Our young digital citizens are particularly prone to that. They’ve been cultivating shallow relationships leaving them socially handicapped and lonely. They have little to no sense of self and seek ways to belong, understand their own values and find purpose.
This challenge is too big for any single entity to tackle on their own. And as a consequence, we believe Wasder’s future lies in building a protocol that can be used by brilliant minds to help tackle these pressing issues — together. The infrastructure we’re designing as a response will be built in true web3 fashion, by grassroots builders, communities and partners seeking social impact over a thicker bottom line. This protocol is Wasder 3.0 (why did we ever call it 2.0? This is the third iteration anyway).
Shipping Stuff
I am grateful to all of you in the community for the support, the kind words, the constructive criticism, the tough questions — and I hope that you never stop. I am also extremely grateful to my team who has stood here with me through the toughest decisions we have had to take so far as a company.
As you all know, a few months ago I asked Audrey to come help us as our new CPO, and to help us be the best version we can be. We could not have chosen a better person for the job. Aside from the above, and landing deals from WeWork, Deel and DocSend on their spare time, her team has:
- Churned out our first fast prototypes (more on that later);
- (Finally) updated the main website to match the brand;
- Programmed Skinny to manage our Telegram.
Building Stuff
On that note, a promise is a promise, and CR01 is on track to be unveiled progressively early Q4. Without revealing too much, after some research and early testing, our conclusion is that CR01 holders will be able to import their friendly droid in about 9,000 virtual worlds and games (yes, you read that right).
Work in progress:
- Streamlined pipeline for faster release of the CR01 in Unreal;
- A low poly version for Unity integration;
- Influencer promo kits;
- Protocol research and solution design;
- Q4 partnerships, collabs and events (next up: Token2049).
We’re also dusting off an older messaging protocol that was built last summer to allow games to communicate between each other. This project was born out of a need expressed by many web3 game designers and developers to establish strong partnerships and push the boundaries of blockchain-based games. Because what’s the point of true ownership if you can’t use your assets anywhere else?
This is very much #WIP, but our early user-facing prototypes showed some promise.
Testing Stuff
Another realization from the past months was that we’ve been a bit too closed off lately, which isn’t great in a bear market. We’ve course corrected this by talking to our shareholders and advisors to get their input on our conclusions and the path ahead.
Gamescom was also on our agenda as a (merciless) testing ground for some of our user-facing ideas. Much like competitive athletes, the newly formed working PODs needed a first milestone to test their skills and learnings. Doing research is incredibly valuable, but there is only a certain amount you can expect out of production teams before they start getting the itch to ship again…
Getting feedback from people who have no connection or stake in Wasder was healthy and necessary to gain a better understanding of ourselves, current and future user bases. We’ve all evolved significantly in a short amount of time, and these check-ins are now an integral part of our rituals.
This has been extremely valuable and is also a way of working that will be important as we build with the community going forward. Testing thoughts, assumptions and theses early and getting feedback. From real people, from the community, from builders.
Thomas
Random Stuff
Things we listen to:
- Naavik
- Have A Nice Future
- Future Of Gaming
- The Delphi Podcast
- Deconstructor Of Fun
- The Portal
- Joe Rogan
- Jocko Willink
- Kapitalet
- Tyngre träningssnack
Things we read:
- Just Enough Research
- SPRINT
- Quanta Magazine, Wired, Scientific American
Things we played with:
- Baldur’s Gate
- DotA
- Zelda Breath of the Wild
- Rocket League
- Fantasy Football
Next Up
As usual, to know what’s next for us and how you can take an active role in shaping our future, join our AMAs and keep an eye out for future updates and monthly wrap ups!
Stay curious!
// T, M & A.
