Highlights and Top Takeaways from Consensus 2023: A Blockchain Gaming Perspective
Consensus 2023 brought together products and services across the blockchain industry. With over ten stages dedicated to different verticals, the event was jam-packed with high-value panel discussions covering a variety of web3 topics and close to 15,000 attendees.
One of the most exciting stages, of course, was the dedicated Metaverse and gaming stage, where attendees could explore the latest advancements in virtual reality and gaming technology and listen to engaging and informative sessions that showcased the potential of blockchain gaming.
For the BGA, Consensus proved to be a hugely successful event. With many booths showcasing protocols, infrastructure, and tools demonstrating the huge leap in blockchain technology in the last year, we were very proud to be one of the stands representing blockchain gaming and to give visibility to our members to demo their games in front of such a broad and relevant audience.
At the booth
During Consensus, BGA hosted 4 member games at the booth to demo their games at this leading crypto conference. The event was valuable for the BGA as well as our members, who shared their feedback on their time at the event.
Absolute Labs, A platform that enables NFT marketplaces, asset publishers, DeFi, chains, protocols, payment platforms, exchanges, games and brands to manage and grow their customer relationships in one place.
“Many thanks to our friends at BGA. It was a pleasure to join forces with them at Consensus and collaborate on exciting opportunities and conversations. From helping gaming companies forge deeper relationships with their players and showcasing how leading brands can quickly build and execute successful Web3 CRM strategies, it was awesome to have like-minded people working together. A visit by Sebastien Borget, Co-founder of The Sandbox, was icing on the cake!”
Yunus Tasliel, Director of Partnerships | Absolute Labs
Mainbot, a leader in educational entertainment at the crossroads of reality, virtuality, and imagination, shared their experience.
“I had a wonderful time with BGA at their booth. I came on my own to discover Consensus. Maude and Flav were wonderful hosts. They helped a lot in connecting me with the right people. Being at their booth gave traction to my project as everybody stopped by either because they wanted to know more about BGA or because they came to say hi as members. I could pitch to 100s of attendees, including VCs. My companions at the booth were also awesome and very complementary. The formula (sharing the booth in the afternoon) gave me the liberty to attend the conference and side events in the mornings and evenings. Thanks to BGA, I really believe I could make the most of Consensus. Thank you so much.” Anne-Claire Vieux, COO| Mainbot
Aavagochi: An open-source, community-owned NFT gaming protocol enabling true asset ownership for gamers.
“This year, Aavegotchi had the extreme pleasure of sharing booth space with the Blockchain gaming alliance. This is just one benefit of being a member of the BGA. Additionally, it was extremely helpful for brand recognition and exposure to have the foot traffic from the BGA cycling through our demo for the duration of the convention.
We also found that having our logo displayed alongside some of the most prominent Web3 gaming titles in the space, to be an excellent way to expose new eyes to our brand.
And what’s a convention without a party? Our BGA membership also provided inside information on all of the best satellite events taking place in the city during the convention. This translated into building extremely useful relationships on both the client and community side.”
Jason Desimone, Partnership Lead NA/EU | Aavegotchi
Mirage: Providing a suite of web3 tools to build, discover and play the best Web3 games, also joined us at the booth.
“It was a great experience to be part of the BGA booth at Consensus. The energy at the event, and especially at the BGA booth, was contagious. Blockchain gaming had a big presence at Consensus — further strengthening our belief that gaming is at the forefront of innovation in web3 today. Being at the BGA booth really helped us connect with gaming studios, as well as other innovative projects in the web3 gaming ecosystem. It was also great to learn about the wonderful things being accomplished by fellow BGA members (like Aavegotchi, Winkyverse, Parcel, Absolute Labs).
We are really grateful to the BGA team for giving us this opportunity. And a big shout-out to Flav and Maude for helping promote Mirage to all the visitors at our booth. Their support on all the 3 days was absolutely amazing.”
Ishan Vishnoi, CRO & Co-founder | Mirage.xyz
The Main Event
The conference hosted leaders from several sectors, such as Yuga Labs’ CEO; Animoca Brands’ Yat Siu; David Maisel from Marvel and Mythos Studios; David Burt, Premier of Bermuda, as well as notable US political figures speaking on blockchain-related topics from Artificial Intelligence and the Creator’s Dilemma to Bermuda’s Strict But Progressive Path to Crypto Hub Status.
Focused on all things GameFi, the Gaming and Metaverse Stage saw a host of panel discussions from ‘Web3 Gaming’s Role in Emerging Economies’, ‘A Lawyer’s Guide to the Metaverse,’ to ‘‘The New Breed of Web3 Pets.” and featured numerous key speakers including Animoca Brands’ Yat Sui, speaking on ‘Who Are You in Web3? Exploring Tokenized Identity;’ and BGA president and Sandbox Co-founder Sebastien Borget sharing his expertise on the panel discussion entitled ‘Is there Anybody Out There? Metaverse Metrics That Matter.’
From dedicated stages and the array of discussions spanning the blockchain industry, it was clear that conversations around blockchain technology and use cases are advancing, and more conversations around regulation from prominent international figures indicate blockchain’s integration into more mainstream businesses.
Side events
Kick-off to Consensus. Over 100 people joined us for this event in collaboration with EOS Network to meet and expand their network. EOS Network hosted a discussion on: ‘How Transparency can bring more Trust and Confidence to Gaming’ and featured a panel of industry professionals and BGA members with Danny Brown Wolf, Chief of Staff, Upland; Telos Foundation’s CEO, Justin Guidici; Anton Umnov, CEO, Helika Analytics, and moderated by Sara McKenna, CEO & Co-Founder, Dacoco GmbH (Alien Worlds). The speakers shared their solutions in relation to bringing these attributes to gamers. This was a great kick-off to Consensus and gave us the opportunity to collaborate with one of our members and meet many of our community who attended the conference. Watch the replay here.
EDAS by Bitwave. Featuring world-renowned financial expert speakers to provide valuable and practical advice for businesses to manage this new asset class. This event tackled conversations around managing this new asset class targeted to an audience focused on finance, security and regulations. BGA was present to the conversation, as Flavien Defraire, BGA Director of Global Development, spoke on ‘Blockchain Gaming, the Trends, and the Accounting Challenges.’ Joined by Bitwave’s Jim Thompson, VP of Sales & Partnerships, and Tina Russell, Financial controller at Shrapnel, an FPS game that is innovating in the web3 gaming space to create a unique AAA experience, fun and engaging game that empowers their players with exciting User-Generated Content (UGC) opportunities, Flavien shared his views on current trends, solutions and financial benefits of blockchain gaming. You can catch the replay here.
From the dedicated Metaverse and gaming stage to the networking opportunities with experts and innovators from across the industry, the event provided an invaluable experience. We left feeling inspired and excited about the future of Web3 and the possibilities it presents for our members. We look forward to attending similar events in the future and continuing to stay at the forefront of this rapidly evolving industry.
The BGA provides a platform for its members to gain visibility, participate in global events and network and collaborate with our alliance of industry professionals. To join the BGA or join us at a conference, you can get in touch by contacting us or visiting our website for more information.
