Meet our CEO, Sangho Kim

1. Please introduce yourself to the Pebble Community.

Hello, Pebble Community. I am Sangho Kim, CEO of Pebble Games and NHN’s Chief Gaming Officer. It is nice to meet you all! To introduce you to my background, I spent my college years immersed in Korea’s PC cafe culture, represented by games like Stacraft and World Of Warcraft, which led me to join Korea’s very first game portal, Hangame. Over the past 20 years, I experienced the transformation and growth of the PC and mobile gaming paradigms, accumulating diverse experiences in game business operations, marketing, and production.

As CGO of NHN, I am leading the operation of NHN games on a global scale based on the insights from failures and seasoned expertise from successful experiences and striving to make games of various genres successful globally. I believe that these experiences can certainly help solve the challenges that existing Web3 games have not been able to address, paving the way for new advancements in the realm of Web3 gaming.

2. What are the games that you currently enjoy playing? What was the game that inspired you the most?

Given the immense variety of games across different genres and the countless legendary games, it’s difficult to single out just one game. However, if I were to pick a game that has been inspirational and memorable, I would choose “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” for its impressive open-world gameplay with a large degree of freedom to explore. Recently, I’ve also been playing the “Yakuza: Like a Dragon” series, and if time and opportunity permit, I plan to fully immerse myself in simulation racing games like “Gran Turismo” or “Forza,” complete with a steering wheel, chair, and gear shift, to truly enjoy the experience.

3. What do you envision for the future of Web3 games?

Various innovative challenges will continue to be undertaken to popularize Web3 games. At the early stages of web3 games, indie game developers pioneered blockchain games, leading the market with games like pet battle games, card games, and Move to Earn games. As the market matures and crypto regulations begin to take hold, more and more traditional Web2 game studios have started venturing into the Web3 space. So I believe it is a matter of time until the emergence of popular AAA Web3 games and the diversification in the genres of web3 games. We will soon see these games driving the blockchain game industry.

But it is still important to note that we cannot just expect that a game will succeed solely by being a AAA game or by simply bringing popular IP from Web2 to Web3. While the intrinsic fun of a game is fundamental for a successful game operation, what is equally important is a healthy tokenomics model. Pebble platform and game developers specialize in such games that require asset management and possess expertise from years of experience in game economy design. We are thus confident that we can address pain points the Web3 games have faced regarding tokenomics effectively.

Leveraging our experience, we are building Pebble City: Next-gen Web3 Social Casino Game, seamlessly blending the intricate strategy of traditional gaming with the cutting-edge potential of blockchain technology.

4. Please introduce your project, Pebble.

Pebble is a Web3 gaming platform developed by veterans in the gaming industry with over 20 years of experience and aims to onboard blockchain games with healthy economies. It is not news that the current blockchain game industry is tackling multiple challenges, such as low-quality games that fail to meet users’ satisfaction, unfamiliarity with wallets and token purchases, and negative perceptions of cryptocurrencies for the mass adoption. Pebble strives to overcome these hurdles for users and aims to provide a seamless and convenient service that allows even Web2 gamers to enjoy on-chain services, such as purchasing tokens and NFTs, without prior knowledge of blockchain technology.

5. What games and services are going to be offered on Pebble?

Pebble’s debut gaming product is Pebble City. The game offers a variety of high-quality slot and casino games, providing an immersive gaming experience similar to being in a real casino. Holders of Pebble City Casino Membership NFT essentially become casino owners, earning the right to receive a share of the chip-in generated in the social casino, as well as rewarding benefits, such as acquiring in-game items that leverage your gameplay. Integrated with Pebble, a web3 gaming platform, Pebble City adopts the structure of sharing more with players. I believe such game design that truly involves users creates a much richer and more enjoyable experience compared to existing social casino games, forming a sustainable form of gaming service.

Starting with the social casino genre, Pebble plans to onboard games with fun gameplay and solid game economies to the Pebble platform. To explain further about Pebble, it is a blockchain gaming platform that provides essential Web3 game services, emphasizing user accessibility. Therefore, even gamers who are not familiar with blockchain can easily tokenize items and mileage obtained through gameplay via the Pebble platform. The in-game items can also be converted into NFTs that can be traded on external marketplaces. Additionally, Pebble will support the creation of accounts/wallets through simple social logins without complex procedures like app installations or storing mnemonic phrases. It will also support the launch of major NFT assets from the Pebble ecosystem, like Casino Membership NFT, and enable NFT trading among users through its own marketplace.

6. What prompted the entry into the Web3 industry?

As technology advances, gaming has evolved too. With the widespread use of computers and phones in the 2000s, consoles, PC games, mobile gaming and VR games emerged as successors to arcade games. Blockchain has also emerged as a technology that could shape the trajectory of the gaming industry, offering new possibilities through trust and transparency. During this paradigm shift, one of the popular contents that emerged in the early stage has been classic games, such as card and board games. Thus, building social casino games is our initial entry strategy to tap into the evolving market by leveraging time-tested content.

Pebble explores these new possibilities by integrating expertise based in the web2 game industry into a new market to contribute to the mass adoption of blockchain gaming and lead innovation. The first attempt at this is Pebble City, which integrated blockchain technology into traditional social casino games, allowing users to own major in-game assets and thereby offering a more thrilling and enjoyable gaming experience.

7. Many Web3 projects are striving to popularize blockchain-integrated solutions and Web3 games can be seen as part of these efforts. What do you think is necessary for the mass adoption of blockchain games?

I believe that two aspects need to be considered for the mass adoption of blockchain games: game content and operational capabilities. In terms of content, true mass adoption can be achieved through games within intrinsic fun that appeal to people of all ages and genders, such as social casino games, web board games, or casual games, which anyone can easily play.

From an operational standpoint, it is noteworthy that certain web3 projects, lacking experience in game operations, ultimately faltered in addressing fundamental issues that could arise during game operation. Thus, I find it encouraging that web2 game studios, like NHN, are entering the Web3 space. I believe that projects that carefully approach the incorporation of the elements of blockchain — transparency, immutability and stability — into game content, is more likely to drive the mass adoption of web3 games.

8. Many major South Korea gaming companies have already introduced blockchain games and platforms, establishing their own ecosystems. What sets apart the Pebble project?

Pebble is a blockchain gaming platform that is set to operate fun, high-quality games with stability, leveraging expertise from 20 years of game development and operation as well as know-hows in creating a balanced in-game economy. Basically, Web3 games allow users to freely trade game items and tokens, enabling users to act as valid contributors rather than just consumers of game content, and receive rewards accordingly. Therefore, the design of tokenomics that sustains the game’s ecosystem is essential, as many projects failed due to unsustainable tokenomics.

Pebble will build a sustainable game ecosystem by selecting games with a healthy in-game economy and onboarding them one by one. Our first game, Pebble City, sets itself apart by departing from the typical social casino format, where players passively click on slot games within a static interface. Instead, it heralds a new era in web3 social casino experiences, enabling users to immerse themselves in a dynamic array of slot and casino games within uniquely themed casino venues. Additionally, players can freely tokenize items and mileage they obtained through gameplay.

9. What are the current challenges facing the blockchain gaming industry, and could you describe how Pebble is striving to overcome the limitations?

One of the challenges facing the blockchain gaming industry is the difficulty for users who are not familiar with Web3 to access and play blockchain games. This is a hurdle that the current blockchain gaming sector is facing and an area we are focusing on. Pebble leverages over 20 years of game development and operations to adopt an approach that appeals to both gamers who are new to Web3 and those who are experienced Web3 players. We aim to design games that are easy and fun to play without prior knowledge of blockchain, while providing guides that make Web3 gaming easy and accessible.

Moreover, the most crucial aspect of games is the ‘fun factor,’ followed by a mechanism where the time and effort users invest in pursuit of fun are rewarded. For example, poker enthusiasts play poker not only because poker itself is enjoyable but also because there’s a desire to continuously experience the thrill of winning. When blockchain is combined with this collaborative mechanism of sharing and creating with the community, users receive rewards that reflect their efforts, providing a sense of accomplishment just like whey they level up. This mechanism of sharing value with users has been well-received in Web2, and I believe it will function in a similar fashion in Web3 as well.

10. Which Web3 projects or trends are you interested in?

With tokenized securities leading the way lately, more real-world assets are going to be tokenized as digital assets on blockchain (RWAs). As funds flow more freely on-chain and blockchain becomes more ingrained in daily life, mass adoption of Web3 games will become even closer. Riding on this wave, Pebble will firmly establish itself as a cornerstone for easy onboarding to web3 as a gaming platform.

11. What are you most looking forward to in terms of Pebble’s roadmap?

I am looking forward to the presales of Pebble City Casino Membership NFTs ahead of the game launch. As mentioned earlier, casino membership holders become owners of the casino, receive a portion of the chips entering the casino, and enjoy benefits such as acquiring items helpful in gameplay. Since users’ benefits from the expansion of the Pebble City ecosystem are significant assets, we are curious about the reaction of users to the pre-sale. In the long term, we plan to expand the ecosystem gradually by partnering with other web3 projects to host more exciting game content and events.

12. Finally, as the CEO of Pebble Games, is there any message you would like to convey to the Pebble community?

We will diligently prepare for the launch of Pebble City, scheduled this year, and ensure that you have the experience of playing the next-generation Web3 social casino game. Pebble aims to contribute to the mass adoption of Web3 by providing services necessary for blockchain gaming, starting with the Pebble platform. Ultimately, we aim to build an ecosystem together with the community.

In line with Pebble’s slogan, “The New Web3 Way to Win,” we will create a foundation for you to encounter positive winning experiences in Web3. In this process, we appreciate the community’s valuable feedback and support, and we hope for your continued interest and anticipation for our future endeavors.