Web3 video games franchise WAGMI Games has announced a couple of new executive hires, enhancing its dynamic team with experienced talent from some of the biggest names in the gaming industry. The new hires include Esteban Gil, formerly of Garena Free Fire, and Brent Pease, who previously held a senior role at Electronic Arts, the legendary company behind the FIFA football franchise. WAGMI said it was delighted to be able to announce the new hires, who bring a wealth of expertise from established games developers to help transform the industry with the unique advantages of Web3. If you haven't heard of WAGMI, it’s essentially a video games studio that’s focused on Web3 gaming. In Web3 video games, players are uniquely able to own in-game assets such as characters, weapons and skins, which are represented by non-fungible tokens that can be bought and sold at will. Web3 gaming also provides unique incentives for players with in-game rewards such as WAGMI tokens which can be earned for completing daily challenges and beating other players in head-to-head matches. WAGMI’s flagship title is WAGMI Defense, a sci-fi themed tower defense game in the mould of Plants vs. Zombies or Kingdom Rush Vengeance. Players are required to strategically place their troops and set their traps in order to defend their tower from the enemy onslaught. They need to stand up to the assault for three minutes per match, and with each round they win they’ll earn an in-game resource called NiFe that can be used to buy other items or traded for cryptocurrency. Gil, who previously led Garena Free Fire and served as Lean Portfolio Management at Respawn and Apex Legends, is being hired to assume a similar role at WAGMI. In particular, he’ll be tasked with overseeing the company’s business strategy development, focused on driving demand for consumer-oriented products. In a statement, Gil said he’s excited to apply his skills and experience to Web3, and stated his belief that technologies such as NFTs can revolutionize the gaming industry. “By leveraging these cutting-edge technologies, we can deliver even more engaging and immersive gaming experiences to our fans around the world,” he added. As for Pease, he joins the company from EA, where he most recently served as its Director of Operations. As a highly experienced industry executive, he will assume a combined COO/GM role at WAGMIU, where he’ll be tasked with overseeing the company’s day-to-day operations and focus on the implementation of key growth strategies. Pease is said to be a widely respected figure in the video gaming industry, having previously founded Industrial Toys, which was later acquired by EA. “'I am honored to have been asked to bring my 30 years of experience in building games and companies to this incredible team of passionate creators,” Pease said. “This is the most exciting vision for players I have seen and I look forward to making amazing games at WAGMI that thrill our ever-growing community.” There is certainly lots of room for WAGMI to grow. At present, Web3 games attract barely 3% of the estimated three billion video games players in the world. Yet WAGMI says the advantages of Web3 gaming are so compelling that if it’s able to lower the barrier to entry by easing onboarding friction, this number will surely grow. Of course, is Web3 gaming is to really catch on, the industry will need to develop truly engaging games that can capture the imagination of millions of gamers, just as legendary titles from the Web2 gaming world, such as GTA and Fortnite, have done. This explains WAGMI’s decision to go after talent with experience in the traditional video game industry. “To have AAA Talent like Brent and Esteban join our team is a real testament to what we are building,” said WAGMI’s chief executive Ian Bentley. “They see clearly not only our vision as a franchise, but also this once in a lifetime opportunity to be a part of history in evolving the gaming space.” Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
