Labelling itself “the first referral marketplace for games”, Refereum’s core goal is to use the blockchain to create a rewarded marketing platform based on recommendations from friends and influencers.
As it points out, referrals through friends are the most trusted form of advertising with people four times more likely to buy when motivated in this way.
Refereum is structured to leverage the power of influencers, with its RFR token providing a transparent link between streamers and advertisers
Hence Refereum is looking to maximise this appeal by using smart contracts to create a decentralized, secure and transparent marketplace for gamers.
The token fuelling this approach is the RFR token, which can be bought or earned through actions on the Refereum platform such as watching streams. It can also be used to buy products and services, such as new games, or cashed out for fiat currency.
The company raised around $30 million through its token sale in February 2018, which accounted for around 40% of all RFR tokens
Gaining influence
Another key element of Refereum’s model as it relates to the games industry is the way it hopes to leverage the power of influencers.
As it points out, on the likes of Twitch and YouTube influencers have incredible power but aren’t easy for advertisers – especially small developers – to deal with, especially at scale. However, as a blockchain platform, Refereum and the RFR token enables influencers and advertisers to have a transparent relationship, whether through direct promotions or via affiliate deals.
Viewers can also get in on the act, gifting tokens to their favorite streamers, as well as being rewarded with RFR for watching streams and downloading games.
In this context, it’s no surprise Refereum has an agreement with Amazon’s game streaming platform Twitch and heavily promotes Twitch streamers on its site. It’s hoping to build more support with developers too, in part through the Unity Asset Store, which contains a tool developers can use to implement Refereum in any current or future games.
At time of writing, this approach appears to be bearing fruit, with over 550,000 users on the platform, and more than 10,000 streamers who have created more than 14 million hours of watched streams, driving 125,000 game downloads, although it’s worth noting the main game currently being promoted is Epic’s free shooter Fortnite.