Crypto gaming: Xboxes and PlayStations are ‘going to become wallets,’ Gallant Token CEO says
Gallant Token CEO Steve Walters joins Yahoo Finance Live to discuss how the company is integrating NFTs and gaming.
Video Transcript
ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Defi and NFTs have been big buzzwords for the market. And our next guest is combining both. The decentralized finance company Gallant Token is creating medieval inspired games and NFTs that integrate blockchain technology across different platforms. And joining us now is the company's CEO, Steve Walters.
Steve, good to see you. First off, I think a lot of people just kind of can't wrap their heads around it. Tell us what Gallant Token does and how you are utilizing NFTs in gaming.
STEVE WALTERS: Thank you, Alexis. Proud to be here. So Gallant Token and how we do what we do is, basically, we're a community. We're a development studio that focuses on integrating, as you said, gaming mechanics with blockchain technology. And so, essentially, you know, we're going to be launching multiple style games that people like to play.
Statistics show that not everybody likes to play racing games, not everybody likes to play first person shooter games. And so as we've launched first game, which is a side-scrolling 3D fighting game called "Gallant Warriors," we're really looking forward to the future-- taking feedback from the community, allowing them to be a part of our beta testers. It's really a community that makes it all happen. And so we're very excited about that.
- And so, again, just want to ask you, why did you focus on a medieval game, then?
STEVE WALTERS: It was a part of our branding. Our branding, as you can see from behind me here, is our logo. It's a theme of a helmet-- because it takes a lot of courage to be in the industry that we're in. Crypto hit over $14, $15 billion in scams last year. And so we hold on to transparency, dedication, and integrity.
And so having the medieval theme, we really enjoy that because it's a form of dedication. And again, just like our heroes, as our firemen and so forth, you know, and our dedicated security teams out there with police officers in the industry, it takes a lot of courage to put that helmet on and step into battle in the crypto space when it comes to developing games. So it's just a part of our branding.
ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: So how do these NFTs exactly get incorporated into the games? I know that you released "Gallant Warriors" on iOS and Android just about a month ago. And you're going to mint this NFT collection very soon. So how did you incorporate those non-fungible tokens?
STEVE WALTERS: So basically, the way that it works is a smart contract, right? Essentially, you have a contract that will look at the asset, which is the "Gallant Warriors," which is the game. And then we have our Gnarly Knights NFT. The NFTs will be rewarding users' characters, right? So in the game, just like with "Fortnite" you buy a skin, the same happens in blockchain gaming, but you actually own that asset.
So we're then able to look at the wallet holders. We can take and airdrop them the assets for the games. And then these assets can then be put into a marketplace, such as like OpenSea. You buy these items just like you would in any marketplace online, whether it's groceries or anything. It's just these happen to be on the blockchain where it's visible, such as the transactions, and easy to maintain and manage because everything's visible on the blockchain.
- And then what are some of the perks for Gallant Token and NFT holders?
STEVE WALTERS: Well, I'm glad you asked. That's really something that we're very excited about. A lot of-- as you see, you know, the NFT market is rated at over a $22 billion market. And so we're very thankful to be a part of it and be stepping into such an emerging industry. The utility, that's the keyword, utility.
And so our NFTs, by holding one, not only will you receive a free asset which, when we launch "Gallant Arena," which is another game that we're working on, you will receive a free character asset. So you have going to go ahead and start the game with. You will also be included into all of our meetups.
When we do tournaments on-site, because we are a gaming company, we will be hosting some e-sports tournaments and gatherings, so that's your automatically entry ticket. And then on top of that, you will be entered into a potential giveaway every single month. We will be awarding giveaways to our community of holders. And so it's more or less something that keeps on giving to you because, as we continue to roll out, assets will automatically be airdropped to those wallets who hold a Gnarly Night NFT. So we're very excited about that.
ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Steve, I know you're diversifying away from gaming and trying to even get into sports. Tell us how you hope to bring your strategy to the baseball diamond.
STEVE WALTERS: Well, that's another good question. The team is very excited about it. Here in the Charlotte, North Carolina region, we do have a local baseball team that we're in negotiations with. And it just so happens that their mascot is a Knight.
And you know, the opportunity to integrate into the sports industry, to cross-promote for both of the areas-- because if you listen to some of the chatter around the space, it'll tell you crypto is bad. But that's because of all the scams. But having transparency and dedication in our core values, we want people to understand that it is a safe place, you know, as long as you do due diligence.
So cross promoting and tapping into each other's market and doing some fun things in regards to integrating the token into the fans and the community there-- because this baseball team is very integrated with their community. And we are very big on community. So a lot of our values kind of match up. So that's why we're in negotiation.
- I wonder, is this just the tip of the iceberg with crypto gaming? How many more opportunities are there? How big does this get?
STEVE WALTERS: Well, I will tell you this much-- I'm not the final voice of this, but you guys haven't seen anything yet. I think that without speculation, the crypto gaming market is going to be-- it is the future. I mean, you're just hearing the buzz words about Metaverse, but Metaverse was popped up in 1992.
OK, you go back to the internet when it was founded in the '60s, didn't become privy until the '90s, and now everything runs on the internet. So now that we're seeing a little bit of a-- the market is super early, to say the least. You know, your Xboxes, your PlayStations, they're going to become wallets.
You know, I firmly believe that. If they don't do it before the next person does, you know, you're going to see it. Because the time is passing away where you play a video game, you spend money in that game to either customize or advance, and then when the next version comes out, you lose all that. You waste your time hours in front of a game to do something where you don't get anything back in return other than, oh, I did that. That was great.
Well, what about the real world value? You know, so kids earning college funds, mom and dad creating wallets for them, letting them play these crypto games-- it's really an opportunity for people to see, what is the potential? And I think the potential is great. It's a phenomenal opportunity for blockchain, gaming, and crypto as a whole to merge together and create something beautiful.
ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Absolutely a fascinating nascent industry for sure. Steve Walters, CEO of Gallant Token, thanks so much.
