Why Closed Virtual Spaces Make for a Better Gaming Experience: Exclusive Interview with Igor Plusa

1. Hi Igor! Thank you for joining us today. Please introduce yourself and tell us more about the motivations behind building Game Lounge. 

Hi! I am Igor Plusa, the co-founder and CMO of Game Lounge. Thank you for having me here. Well! I’ll begin by saying that I am a sales and marketing geek with over 10 years of experience in this field. I have a Master’s Degree in Business Management and spent over four years working as a Sales Department Manager and Export Manager for Hoffman Maszyny i Urządzenia in Poland. 

My stint at this company gave me an ample amount of experience in this field and I proceeded to build my own sales and marketing company in 2019. It was during this time that I was introduced to the emerging digital asset and blockchain-gaming industries and they immediately caught my attention. In the following years, I explored this space and tried out a few games myself. 

It is then that I realized that the games emerging from the NFT-metaverse mostly use cartoonish graphic designs. For instance, no one in my family would play Decentraland, even though it is one of the first projects to demonstrate the metaverse because they deem it to be childish. This is when we realized that the NFT-metaverse space needs more life-like games that appeal to all kinds of gamers and this led to the creation of Game Lounge.  

2. The industry today, seems to have many interpretations of what the metaverse is or what it will look like. Can you describe the metaverse in a broad sense and its implications on the world?

The metaverse is an umbrella term for a multitude of interconnected virtual worlds that simulate real-world experiences. You can think of it as a place where our physical world meets the virtual world. In the near future, people, represented as avatars will be able to interact, work, socialize, play, own property, host events, and basically live in the metaverse. 

The metaverse will have its own virtual economy powered by NFTs and cryptocurrencies and is expected to bring in a world of new earning opportunities. Numerous industry experts believe that the metaverse could affect every corner of our economy and transform the world’s major industries like gaming, education, art, and fashion. 

The present-day NFT-metaverse are slowly but surely building towards this future and a good chunk of the population could be on the metaverse in the coming years.  

3. So, do you think NFT-Metaverse gaming is the next natural step in the evolution of the global gaming industry? How do you think the metaverse can transform gaming experiences?

I most definitely believe that metaverse gaming powered by the blockchain is the next frontier for the gaming industry. While fully immersive games are not new to the industry, metaverse gaming adds a whole new definition to the word immersive. Gamers will not just play but live in the gaming universe. The battles and tournaments are in a different realm altogether because gamers can earn real monetary benefits out of their gameplay. What is unique about metaverse is that it is a whole ecosystem. Not just a simple shooter, but the whole "world" inside a game. 

"Metaverse" games were already present, like Second Life. What changed now is the NFT technology - the possibility to actually own something in this virtual world. We are no longer dependent on the big companies - you hold your properties in your own wall!

Gamers can uniquely own assets within the game, sell or trade these assets, and even port them to other games. And, on the blockchain, most games are community-owned so gamers together write the future of their gaming universe and how they wish to develop it.  

4. Coming to Game Lounge, the concept of “chilling in the metaverse” sounds quite new and intriguing. Please walk us through the nitty-gritty of this project and why gamers should consider it. 

To put it simply, Game Lounge is your personal game cave. It is a virtual space where you can interact, play and hang out with your friends after a long day of work. Gamers on our platform acquire their own NFT-backed lounge that is fully customizable. In a sense, gamers build their own virtual world on Game Lounge. Everything from the look and feel of the lounge to its furniture and style is decided by the gamers and it is a perfect place to invite friends and challenge them to tournaments or just socialize with them. 

As I’ve mentioned before, at Game Lounge we want gaming experiences to be more life-like and appealing to our different communities. So, we will have a multitude of exciting games and tournaments that gamers can choose from. When they compete and win these tournaments, gamers are rewarded with $GLT tokens or unique NFTs. Gamers can also buy, sell, and trade NFTs on the platform for additional rewards. 

5. If you have to point out one aspect that differentiates this project from the multitude of other NFT-metaverse projects in the industry, what would it be?

Our closed spaces concentrate on the player’s hobbies, interests, and personality. They create their own dream lounge where everything is perfectly tailored to their own specifications. The experiences of gamers within their own gaming lounge are very personal and unique to them. Users of Game Lounge don’t have to spend time exploring vast virtual worlds or traveling across virtual landscaped to interact with people. Our concept is quite simple, you create your own personal game lounge, you enter it in one click, and simply play the games of your choice while hanging out with your friends. Just like you would in a real-world sports bar or gaming lounge. 

6. How do you think a project like Game Lounge can transform the NFT-metaverse space in the long run?

With Game Lounge, we take a very focused approach and fixate on socialization more than other things. We are creating an experience; an immersive VR world that changes how and where people socialize and meet. Gaming is an important part of Game Lounge, but the socializing and collecting aspects also combine to create a unique experience that will change the way users interact with the NFT-metaverse space.

7. Lastly, where do you see the whole blockchain-gaming industry in the near future? Do you think it will be an integral part of the global gaming space? 

Blockchain brings a lot of new tech to gaming. Its aim is not to become an integral part of gaming, but rather to expand gaming with whole new levels of interactions and possibilities for players. When you can have out-of-the-world gaming experiences and earn monetary value for your efforts, it is a win-win situation and an opportunity most gamers would grab with open arms. As such, the blockchain gaming space is definitely gearing up for an influx of gamers and in the near future, blockchain gaming could be synonymous with gaming itself.