As the year draws to an end, we’re asking some of the key members of the blockchain gaming sector what they thought about what happened in 2023, and what they expect in 2024. You can check out all our interviews in this series here.
Elina Arponen is the founder and CEO of Quicksave Interactive, the Finnish game developer of Axie Infinity: Raylights.
In light of PG Connects’ forthcoming 10th anniversary in 2024, Arponen also recently shared her PGC Stories where she told us how “It was at PGC London where we first met with the people who ended up acquiring our first games startup.”
What was the most significant news of 2023?
The most significant news form this year for anyone using blockchain technology is the trial of SBF in regards to the collapse of FTX last year. The trial has cleared the air and everyone is looking to build anew from new healthy foundations. That being said I am from Finland where the maximum life sentence is effectively 12 years. So at the same time I do feel sorry for SBF since very likely he’ll never be out of jail to atone for anything he has done.
How did the focus of your business change this year?
We have sifted to leverage our underlying technology more as a product on its own. We do still have our internal studio working on games (both in and out of blockchain), but at the same time we are now licensing our high-end toolset for the creation of quality HTML5 /WebGL games.
What do you predict will be the most important trends in 2024?
The mobile free-to-play market is struggling for the discovery of new titles. The mechanics there are broken for anyone without large existing muscles to put behind the effort. I predict we will see the rise of more subscription services, new platforms to rival app stores and new ways to discover games.
What was your favourite blockchain game of the year?
Can I name our own? We released Axie Infinity: Raylights in 2022, but this year we got into Chapter 2 that extends the game for people who may not hold their own land items.
If voting for yourself is not allowed I will name Paradise Tycoon – a new online game from a Finnish developer that I’ve played this year.
What’s your New Year’s resolution and what resolution would you enforce on the industry?
The gaming industry as a collective is going through changes. As a collective resolution we should all remember to keep supporting each other and those having rough times. I’ve always loved the industry for its unusually cooperative ethos.
For myself I will keep working to grow our company and myself to be the kind of leader the industry needs right now.
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