Today, I am speaking with Alexander Casassovici, CEO of Azarus, and we'll delve into the dynamic intersection of video streaming, blockchain technology, and gaming. We'll also discuss the genesis of Azarus, the significance of its recent acquisition, and the evolving concept of viewership engagement in the gaming universe. Web3 Please introduce yourself and tell us what you do. I'm Alex, the founder of Azarus, a platform at the convergence of video streaming, blockchain technology, and gaming. I’m a serial founder with four exits, including the recent acquisition by Animoca Brands of a majority stake in Azarus. At Azarus, our mission is to reveal the true nature of streams as an interactive, massively multiplayer, and rewarding medium. What led you to start Azarus? Azarus was born from a realization that while TV and video streaming had evolved technologically, the viewer experience remained largely passive. Today, billions of people are watching streamed content daily, and hundreds of millions watch live-streamed content together. This is probably the densest gathering of people on the Internet, and this captured our imagination. We imagined transforming this experience by introducing interactivity as a core feature. Our thesis from the beginning was that without incentives in place, it would be hard to get the audience’s attention. Our first test with Ubisoft and Rainbow Six: Siege helped confirm our thesis when our prototype encountered overnight success… breaking the platform in the process! Using Web3 core capabilities, such as digital ownership and identity, to create a streaming experience where viewers are not just watching content but actively participating in it made perfect sense to us and was baked into the platform from the very beginning. Can you provide an overview of the recent acquisition of Azarus by Animoca Brands and its significance in the Web3 and metaverse gaming landscape? The acquisition by Animoca Brands is a pivotal moment for Azarus. It represents an alignment with a leader in the Web3 space, enhancing our capabilities to innovate in blockchain, gaming, and streaming. This transition allows us to leverage Animoca Brands' extensive network and resources, enhancing our credibility and expanding our reach in the industry. We recently found out that akin to playable ads on mobile, experiences built on Azarus have the ability to drive viewers to try . Moreover, our partnerships with leading OTT platforms and channels give us access to a broad audience. web3 games Last year only, 20M unique played with Azarus on partner channels. This brings a strong alignment in our missions to educate and onboard billions of new players. Can you explain the concept of viewership engagement in the Web3 gaming universe? We call this the Streamverse - because, ultimately, streams are the most dense place on the Internet, driving millions who are sharing a common online experience watching the same content at the same time. Viewership engagement is not specific to Web3 gaming, but for sure, Web3 gaming has a lot to gain from it. It is about transforming the passive consumption of content into an active and participatory experience. By integrating blockchain technology, we can offer real-time interactive experiences, such as trivia and challenges, where viewers can earn rewards and have a stake in the content they are consuming. Web3 games can educate viewers on the fundamentals of the game and drop coins or NFTs that will kickstart the viewer's journey in the game, but only after having seen proof that they are meaningfully engaged. In what ways is the blockchain-based game streaming experience evolving to make every viewer an active participant and every stream an immersive experience? To clarify, steaming is not blockchain-based. We developed a web3 layer for streams to augment video streams . You still go to Twitch to watch Azarus-enabled Twitch streams: this is one of the superpowers of the platform we developed, which is at the core of the patents we applied for. in place We take existing audiences watching the same content on the same channels they’re already watching today - and we augment the experience with a Web3 layer. Interactive elements such as live polls, quizzes, clicker games, and challenges are integrated directly into streams working on any device with little to no installation, offering viewers a way to compete against each other. Blockchain enables these interactions to be not only engaging but also rewarding through tokens or digital assets. How do blockchain-based tokens facilitate rewards and incentives for gamers and streamers in this emerging industry? Rewards are central to our reward system. With our platform being natively built on our chain, blockchain rewards can be easily manipulated and staked as rewards to games running on Azarus. PoA L2 Our games are smart contracts, starting a new session with staked rewards that get distributed based on the audience’s recorded performance. These tokens can represent anything from in-game assets to exclusive content access, offering real value to gamers and streamers and creating a more compelling engagement loop. Alongside blockchain-based rewards, we also operate a traditional rewards store filled with over 35k items, from gift cards to game licenses. In what ways does the integration of blockchain technology impact the revenue streams for gamers and content creators in the gaming and streaming industry? Blockchain allows for a fair split of the value created. Today, Azarus is mainly being used by brands (game companies, CPGs…) to educate the audience about themselves. In a traditional advertising model, the Viewer, whose time and attention were harvested, gets nothing. The creator gets some share of that value but is unrelated to his efforts to drive the attention. With a token-based economy, every stakeholder - including the viewers - gets a piece of the created value in line with their impact on generating it. Can you elaborate on the role of reward systems and incentives in keeping viewers engaged and loyal in the Web3 gaming and streaming ecosystem? Effective reward systems are essential for maintaining viewer engagement and loyalty in the Web3 space. These systems, powered by blockchain, offer tangible rewards that go beyond traditional engagement methods. They provide a sense of ownership and achievement to viewers, encouraging them to stay engaged and return for more interactive experiences. When viewers see an Azarus game starting, they know that their time is valued and that they’re competing with all the other viewers for real prizes. I see this experience as a digital t-shirt toss. Showing the t-shirt triggers the will to fight for it in everyone who’s watching. Can you discuss the concept of overlay advertising in the context of Web3 gaming and streaming and how it differs from traditional advertising methods? Overlay advertising in the Web3 context is a more interactive and integrated form of advertising. Unlike traditional advertising, which can be intrusive and disjointed from the content, overlay ads in Web3 are part of the streaming experience, offering viewers rewards and interactions that are contextually relevant to the content they are engaged with. Moreover, brands get access to clear performance indicators. Views are hard to measure, but clicks are crystal clear. Just like on any chain, you need gas to run interactions, calculated as a function of unique players. Essentially, Azarus brings video stream advertising into the realm of performance. Can you provide more details about Azarus' Overlay Games and how they make streaming more interactive and engaging for both streamers and viewers? Games built on Azarus offer viewers a chance to participate in real-time challenges and quizzes related to the stream, with rewards for participation. This not only enhances viewer engagement but also adds a layer of entertainment, making the streaming experience more dynamic and engaging for both viewers and streamers. We’ve seen that on Azarus-enabled streams, players stay 7x more than non-players because of the sense of friendly competition Azarus helps foster. How can Overlay Games and similar technologies enhance the interactivity and engagement of gaming streams in the blockchain-based game streaming space? Overlay Games enhance the interactivity of gaming streams by adding a layer of engagement and rewards. These technologies allow viewers to become an active part of the streaming experience, dramatically transforming the viewership experience through participation in real-time activities. This creates a more immersive and engaging environment for viewers, making the streams more than just a passive viewing experience. In the longer term, we see Azarus becoming a fully open-source permissionless chain where anyone can build games/experiences and bid to push these experiences on any channel. This will unlock an ocean of possibilities that we’re only scratching the surface of today. What do you foresee as the future of overlay advertising and audience engagement in the evolving landscape of gaming and streaming, and how might it continue to change the way we experience digital entertainment? The future of overlay advertising and audience engagement is likely to see even more personalized and seamless experiences. As technology advances, these advertising methods integrate more smoothly into content, enhancing the overall digital entertainment experience. This evolution will lead to more sophisticated and interactive viewer engagement, further blurring the lines between content consumption and participation. We’re starting to see creative agencies coming up with fresh ideas, such as having the public vote to pick the end of an ad, real-time predictions, and shouting contests mirrored in-stadium…. This turns the TV into a seat in a digital stadium, expanding the reach of the arena way beyond its physical borders. With the ongoing developments in Web3 technology and the metaverse, how do you anticipate the gaming and streaming industry will evolve, and what new opportunities will this bring for creators, streamers, and viewers? The ongoing developments in Web3 and the metaverse are set to transform the gaming and streaming industry radically. We anticipate a future where digital experiences become more immersive and multi-dimensional, offering new opportunities for creators, streamers, and viewers. This evolution will likely lead to the creation of new forms of content, interactive experiences, and revenue models, reshaping the landscape of digital entertainment. Ultimately, they’re the key to the future of TV, as the format is catching up with the evolution of the medium, from broadcasting over airwaves to streaming over the Internet. I believe that in the future, interactive overlay, which at Azarus we call “Overlay Games,” will be as natural to streams as the play/pause button we’re now so used to.

Between Two Computer Monitors: This story includes an interview between the writer and guest/interviewee. 

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