Web 3 Gaming: Exclusive Interview With World Play League CEO Peter Tomala

Peter Tomala is the Founder and CEO of World Play League, a web3 gaming platform for gamers and gaming studios.

World Play League is the first player-owned gaming studio and league. It brings players closer to the games they are passionate about. For game studios, it offers tooling for web3 game publishing.

I had the great pleasure of interviewing Peter about Web3 gaming, World Play League, and his vision to change the course of web3 gaming and publishing.

Peter, it's great to have you. Can you tell us about yourself and your route to blockchain?

Thanks for having me. I got started working on crypto exchanges back in 2017, which was a wild time to build. I’ve stayed in the scene since and have always loved the application of the technology in sports and gaming.

I began consulting for Web3 game studios a couple of years ago and, from there, found we really needed better marketing and revenue solutions in Web3 gaming, which brings us to the blockchain.

At $23 million dollars, Web3 gaming is a relatively small industry with huge potential. What inspired you to go into game development?

Web3 gaming is expanding credibility fast. Just last year, over $4 Billion was raised involving Web3 games. Web3 gaming will be close to a $100 Billion market in 6 years.

Gaming overall as an industry has more reach than movies and music combined. But it’s not just the money; it’s a general sense that games help level the playing field.

It’s accessible to everyone regardless of your income or where you live. It’s something we all understand and enjoy. Blockchain and gaming go hand in hand with what they stand for at their core.

Can you tell us about the founding of World Play League and its mission?

Of course. Right now, we’re focused on partnering with game studios and helping them with their user acquisition and retention. User acquisition in games is a mess. It’s even more complicated in Web3. With millions of apps and websites out there, it’s impossible for quality games to stand out.

Working with other game studios, we saw a huge need to help streamline player onboarding and keep players more involved in the game.

Our mission is to empower studios and players through ownership. We see an interesting intersection between games, competition, and technology.

WPL is the next evolution of gaming. We share the company’s success with every game and player that participates. There is power behind a DAO if used correctly, and we’re driven to provide real value to everyone that joins us.

What does World Play League's partnership with popular VC firm Genesis Vault Capital entail?

I couldn’t be more happy with our relationship with Genesis Vault Capital. Outside of the classic GMT strategies and investment support, their work on tokenomics is impressive.

They review every component in great detail to make sure we’re making wise decisions for the long term, not just for a quick sale. They’ve done an amazing job of balancing profits with making a positive impact in the world.

We also work within a DAO model between the other portfolio companies, where we meet every week to help one another while being incentivized in each other’s success.

How does WPL incentivize game studios to build within its gaming ecosystem?

Great question. It’s primarily three ways. We offer publishing support, data analytics (access to audience modeling, acquisition, performance, etc.), and revenue support. The revenue side includes a marketplace and ad network.

Our philosophy is to not extract value but create it. We don’t take any of the game’s IP, and there are no upfront costs to partner with us.

When we say partnership, we actually mean it. We also have other incentives, such as revenue sharing within our DAO model, supporting investor relations, and access to game advisors.

In terms of user’s experience, what in your view is the biggest obstacle to web3 gaming?

The biggest obstacle has been onboarding. There are a lot of technical challenges to playing Web3 games, but I think there are a lot of great solutions out there, including our own, that are addressing it. Moving forward, I think it is going to be player engagement.

You played the game; now what? How can I leverage my digital asset now that I own it? What makes this experience better than a Web2 game? We can’t expect mass adoption unless the games are accessible, fun, and create a sense of community.

How is WPL able to address it?

First and foremost, we made Web3 gaming easy. Easy for studios to utilize the technology. And easy for players to not notice it.

Outside of the technical solutions, we’re also hyper-focused on creating a catalog of quality games that our community can directly impact. Not only can players now own an individual asset, they also own the teams and the very league itself. Being rewarded for your efforts and time is just part of our solution.

It’s also implementing the feedback from our studios and players into what games come onboard and how we grow as a company.

What makes web3 gaming different from traditional gaming as we know it?

At the core, I believe it’s about community and ownership. I think for a lot of companies (games included), you are just a number.

Something to be profited off of. Web3 flips that on its head and has you become an active member of that game/community. The decision-making, access, and money that is available to you on this side are completely different. You’re not a number; you’re a co-owner.

We are taking it a step further by now saying, who owns the game? The studio? The entire platform? For us, our collection of studios and players do. Web3 allows for radically different opportunities in how we live, work, and play.

What are the opportunities for gamers and investors?

The easy answer is to make money. And I think it’s a really good answer. But it’s also an opportunity to change the way we interact with others and create stronger communities.

There is a lot of noise out in the world, and gaming has this beautiful opportunity to cut through it and actually bring us together to have fun.

Of all of the applications for blockchain, gaming is leading out, and I honestly believe it will be the main adoption driver moving forward.

Any parting words?

I will leave eave this thought and a bit of a teaser of our future. Even though we are a technology-focused company, we still believe in the power of IRL interactions.

We see future growth in the space between blockchain games and in-person interactions. We’re currently working with three different game studios on this very thing. Check back in a few months!