Internet games give life to game programs in Web3

What is it about gaming programs that makes them so hard to turn away from? Is it the prospect of winning big prizes that gets home viewers’ blood pumping? Or maybe it’s the frustration experienced from watching contestants fail challenges that seem like a walk in the park?

Of course, we know exactly why game shows are so popular, because by watching other people’s successes or failures, we imagine that we can succeed if given the chance. Yet, due to their popularity, it’s notoriously difficult to get your name on the shortlist for a game show starring role. And it goes without saying that performing in front of a live audience and millions of home viewers is not everyone’s cup of tea.

But what if there was a Web3 solution to game shows? One that allowed contestants to register and compete from home? The creators are Jordan Lejuwaan and Krish Jagidar aims to offer, in what they have called the “Squid Game of NFTs”.

And it’s called Internet Game.

What are Internet games?

Simply put, Internet Game is a Web3 minigame Battle Royale that almost anyone can join. Built around the power of blockchain technology, the game allows NFT enthusiasts to compete in multiple online games for a chance to win prizes worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Internet Game tournaments are divided into seasons, where each set of mini-games can only be played for a certain time frame. So far there have been two seasons; one in March 2022, and one in September 2022. Users can only access these tournament seasons by purchasing a Game Token, which is essentially a ticket to the festivities, or a Metaverse Access Card (MAC), which grants holders access to all upcoming season.

Although the concept of Internet gaming is quite simple, it initially sounded too good to be true to many. Considering the amount of scams and carpetbagging we’ve seen in the NFT space, it came as no surprise to Lejuwaan that potential participants were initially skeptical of the project. “It was actually a lot harder than I expected to get people to buy in,” Lejuwaan said in an interview with nft now.

Due to the popularity of PFPs and free-mint NFT trends, Lejuwaan says it was initially difficult to communicate that Internet Game, despite being an outlier in the NFT market, was not a scam. “Because it was hard to understand and because it was different, we actually had to spend a lot of time educating people about what we were doing and why it was going to be good,” Lejuwaan said.

Fortunately, the blockchain is immutable, and it was easy to verify that Lejuwaan and Jagidar actually had ownership of the prizes they were giving away. After the first season came and went, it became clear that the Internet Game was a first of its kind in the Web3 space.

How did Internet games come about?

Aside from the obvious benefit of Internet gaming that gives users a chance to win valuable NFTs, the true utility of the project can be traced back to its origins. While Internet Games’ founders have been adamant that the ethos of the project will always be about fun, according to Lejuwaan, his and Jagidar’s brainchild was born out of a social experiment.

“Our thesis, which we talked about for a whole year, was how to make social media and social networks more interactive,” Lejuwaan said. “We decided to do a couple of experiments in space to really find out what worked before we decided to build anything. And the first idea we had was Internet gaming.”

Considering the popularity of Netflix Octopus game, Lejuwaan said that he and Jagidar decided to combine the concept of the show with their idea of ​​building social networks, especially those related to Web3, with a more interactive style. After raising approximately $750,000 in seed funding from family, friends and a few angel investors, they purchased a Bored Ape and began marketing.

After the success of the Internet Game’s first season, Lejuwaan decided to double down on the concept because people loved it so much, and put ideas for other experiments in storage. It seems this was a smart move, because shortly after, The Internet Game secured $7 million in a new round of funding, adding to the reported $2 million or more in earnings from season one.

With season two, the Internet Game leaned into the ongoing bear market and took it with them g money to organize the tournament in collaboration with an actor and comedian Leah Lamarr. And after another successful round of games and prizes, things started to change for the project and its founders.

“We started getting a lot of people contacting us asking if they could run an Internet game for their community,” Lejuwaan said. “It happened enough times that we realized we should really just platformize (sic) this thing and let people use our library of games and the interesting tournament infrastructure that we built to be able to run games for themselves.”

Internet games: more than a game

With two seasons of online play down, the team behind the project has grown, and Lejuwaan and Jagidar are now planning the project’s future. And it seems that this future will be two-fold, as Internet Game seeks new ways to collaborate with established IP while expanding their own ecosystem to be more accessible.

Internally, Lejuwaan says Internet Game is set to evolve into a live platform, interoperable for enthusiasts and brands. “What we are working towards now is launching the platform,” Lejuwaan said. “It will be a 24/7, always live platform where you can come and play games with your friends. You can build your own tournaments or play one that was developed by like VaynerSports Pass or Yuga Labs or whoever.”

When it comes to collaborations, fans need look no further than Internet Game’s upcoming partnership with Tom Brady’s Web3 brand, Autograph and global content leader Lionsgate. And just in time for Halloween 2022, Internet Game is unveiling a special third season of the game tied to Twisted Pictures’ iconic horror film series SAW.