It might seem like it’s difficult to find any gaps in the blockchain gaming market, but Ultra would appear to have identified one – creating a fair platform for money to go straight to developers and players.
What is it for?
At present, a lot of the money earned through blockchain gaming goes to the app stores and the publishers, and the developers themselves lost out. Ultra aims to cut through the current monopoly that these platforms have, and provide solutions that will offer players the opportunity to customise their gaming experience, and developers to be remunerated more fairly for their input.
Players will be able to access trading services directly from Ultra, and have other opportunities to earn money in addition to gaming. These will include participation in studies and surveys, watching short video ads, and also curating lists of which games they play, so that followers can see what’s out there, and perhaps discover something new. It would appear to be a combination of social media and reward site, which is something of an innovation in the wider crypto world. Players can also sell games on and gain access to exclusive games only available on Ultra.
Developers will be able to create forums and membership areas, and get more financial reward than they would elsewhere – Ultra plans to pay out approximately double the rewards they might get elsewhere. Instant payments will help developers pour their skills back into game development rather than wondering where the next paycheque is coming from.
The ‘social media’ element will also introduce the opportunity for the kind of influencers who make a product placement killing on the likes of Pinterest and Instagram to earn revenue here too, by utilising the referral system, and earning money on game advertising.
What is the background?
Ultra hasn’t even had its ICO yet, with that planned to take place at some point during the third quarter of 2018, with the public beta release taking part towards the end of the year. However, the team behind it is impressive.
- David Hanson (joint CEO) – founder of Pixelbeam
- Nicolas Gilot (joint CEO) – former monetisation strategist for The Economist
- Mike Dunn (CTO) – former CTO at Dell and Time Warner
- John Goodale (CPO) – launched the Sega Dreamcast Console
- Chris Saad (Acting Head of Product) – former head of product at Uber
What will it bring to the gaming industry?
Ultra could be a game-changing contributor; the fact that there’s a community, forum and reward element gives it similarities to sites which have little to nothing to do with the gaming industry at all, and means that it could potentially find a brand new audience in addition to seasoned and keen gamers.
The element of giving developers an easier ride in terms of selling their game software and being properly compensated for it means that new game development possibilities are likely to be sped up and facilitated, just by putting the fees that would normally be spent on commission back into the hands of the game creators. Ultra is one to watch.
