By Jérémie Guélat,
Arcade games saw a paradigm shift with the introduction of the smartphone. Many smartphone games were huge successes and became viral. Nonetheless, these games do not reward users with money. We now see another paradigm shift thanks to the invention of Bitcoin. The Android game Bitcoinbandit pays you bitcoins to play. We decided to interview Guillaume, one of the founders of this bitcoin reward-based game, right before they release a major update. Check it out.
Bitcoin: Could you please explain to our readers what Bitcoinbandit is all about?
Guillaume: Bitcoinbandit is a game of skills on mobile phones that offers to earn bitcoins. The player must propel Bandit the rabbit and its jetpack, avoid the cliff and his enemies and collect as many coins as he can. The coins collected in the tournament mode are added up and the rank of the players is defined at the end of the week. Each coin earned in the tournament represents one satoshi. Top-ranking players can earn additional cash prizes.
An Android Video Game Created Around Bitcoin Rewards
Bitcoin: How is your business model different from the competition?
Guillaume: Dozens of games ask us to run everywhere to catch golden coins by hundreds. But the players never get a cent out of it. Bitcoinbandit hopes to put an end to this paradox. Our team, bothered by the Pay to Win model, has created a new type of video games: get paid to play.
Bitcoin: How do you generate revenues?
Guillaume: The rewards offered to the players are made possible by redistributing part of our ad revenues. The more players we have, the more earnings we make and the more rewards we can give. Our goal is to distribute 1 BTC per month by 2018.
Bitcoin: How is your company dealing with regulation and does Bitcoin make things easier or trickier?
Guillaume: Our game is totally free of charge, so far it is still legal to give money. The advantage of cryptocurrencies is obviously the low cost of transactions. We can, therefore, distribute earnings throughout the world with small transactions fees, which would not be possible with traditional currencies. We hope that this concept will be developed in other video games. Many cryptocurrencies have been created in relation to video game projects, but never with a reward given to the player. Our goal is to promote cryptocurrencies via a recreational media. We wish the players to get interested in cryptocurrencies by offering them their first wallet.
Bitcoin: Why did you choose Bitcoin and not another cryptocurrency? Are you planning to add some other cryptocurrencies?
In 2017, some tournaments will be introduced with earnings in other cryptocurrencies. We chose Bitcoin at the beginning because it was the most popular one. Now we have met several partners in cryptocurrencies who offered to work with us. The objective is to offer several cryptocurrencies and to put a light on the underlying projects.
Bitcoin: What plans do you have for the future (new features, growth)? Where do you see your company in 5 years?
Guillaume: We are developing a new reward-based game which will continue the adventures of Bandit the rabbit, and will be available in April 2017 under the name Bitcoinbandit Pogostick. We plan to issue three games in a year. Our goal is to reach 3% of the arcade game market within five years.