Interviews
Exclusive Q&A with Colin Steil, Co-Founder and COO of Cartesi
We usually start with an introductory question. Tell us about yourself. How have you become a blockchain entrepreneur?
I’m Colin, Co-Founder and COO of Cartesi. I am a previous venture capitalist and start-up founder with a passion to make blockchain a reality. I have an expertise in execution and years of experience in community building and business operations across the globe.
I originally got into blockchain while working for my previous venture capital firm, SOSV. We were actively investing in companies in a wide variety of verticals that were always trying to push the boundaries of technology. Some of these companies had discovered blockchain technology early on and were integrating into their existing products, or starting exchanges (such as Bitmex). I got to learn about blockchain through assisting our portfolio companies and fell in love with the technology and the possibilities it brang. From here, I eventually met my current business partners and Cartesi was born.
What is the story of Cartesi? What is special about Cartesi in the blockchain universe?
The Cartesi founding team initially got into blockchain as a result of Augusto Teixeira (our Chief Scientific Officer) being friends with Serguei Popov (Founder of IOTA and inventor of the Tangle).
Serguei Popov, one of our Advisors, initiated Augusto into the crypto scene through the Bitcoin whitepaper and sparked his interest in the technology, knowing that Augusto is a leading expert in cryptography and game theory.
Augusto had the original idea of creating a trustless marketplace for data scientists. Basically, it would allow specialists and companies to engage in a service agreement without the need to know each other or a reputation system. In order to implement that, he invited Diego Nehab (our CTO) to design and implement a reproducible VM capable of running Linux. With this architecture and the protocols Augusto had envisioned, we would be able to make generic computation verifiable by the blockchain. More specifically, the blockchain would be able to initiate routines in the emulator to verify the results sent by the specialists after they completed their jobs. The system would protect the two parties involved, only releasing the funds if the results were proven to be correct.
Later on, after engaging in long discussions, we realized we were tapping into a broader scope. Before Cartesi even had that name, we understood we could actually create a versatile layer-2 Linux infrastructure to overcome the problems of scalability of computation and infrastructure for blockchain applications.
Cartesi is special in the blockchain universe in the sense that it allows decentralized applications to be run within a Linux environment in a way that’s verifiable by the blockchain. Complex processing can be executed off-chain free from blockchains’ computational limits and corresponding fees.
By offering a Linux runtime environment, Cartesi is the only software-based verifiable off-chain compute system that gives developers a vast array of software that evolved in the last 30 years and that enable the applications we use on the Internet today.
You have talked about the twin major objectives of Cartesi in other interviews as well: increasing network efficiency and reducing programming difficult over blockchain? Could you share details about real life projects that actually achieved the objectives?
For sure! No software application is built in isolation. Mainstream mobile/desktop/web Applications today depend on multiple software dependencies that took decades to mature on operating systems like Linux. Cartesi brings all this software infrastructure to blockchain applications. Whereas without Cartesi, blockchain applications cannot use mainstream software, libraries and services, unless they sacrifice decentralization in some way.
Then, there’s the second problem. Besides being hampered by insufficient software infrastructure, decentralized applications also suffer tight on-chain processing limits. So, they can hardly offer a compelling alternative to mainstream centralized applications. They are often hard to build, being clunky and limited for developers and DApp users.
Cartesi solves these three problems by
1) offering developers the software and tools supported by a full Linux OS
2) moving off-chain all the heavy computation over large amounts of data, that blockchains cannot do
3) offering services and a token economy that allows users to securely rely on the network and remain free from inconveniences of blockchain tech (e.g. slow confirmation times, requirement to remain online to resolve disputes, and others).
We have only just recently open-sourced and launched our decentralized tournament infrastructure with Cartesi. With this, we have recently released our first DApp, Creepts – a tournament on a tower defense game. This game showcases a fully decentralized game that was developed using conventional software stocks on Linux and also requiring billions of microprocessor instructions (and thus impossible to run on-chain): https://creepts.cartesi.io
The most significant product from Cartesi for the gaming industry must be Creepts, the blockchain-based game. Tell us more about it.
Creepts is the world’s first fully decentralized tower defense tournament game built with and running on Linux. It is built on top of Cartesi’s Layer-2 Linux solution for blockchains, which is available as an open-source software stack that is under active development.
Currently, Creepts is playable on the Rinkeby Ethereum testnet. In Creepts, players compete against each other to see who can claim the highest score in a fully-featured, real-time, browser-based Tower Defense game map. Players join a tournament by committing their high-scores and game moves to the blockchain, at a negligible cost. The game’s smart contracts then decide who the winner of the tournament is.
In order to play Creepts, players will currently have to go through a rigorous setup experience, downloading docker, setting up Infura, and installing the Cartesi Node. To simplify this in the future, we are now working on a read-write version of Creepts, which will present users with a similar experience to running a normal app without having to deal with any idiosyncracies of blockchain technology.
Is Creepts publically available now? If not, when can we expect to have its public release?
Yes! Creepts is publicly available now on the Creepts website: https://creepts.cartesi.io. We are currently offering both a read-only version which is playable immediately (although centralized) as well as instructions on how to setup the fully decentralize version on Ethereum’s Rinkeby testnet.
What are the values and features that do you think Creepts add to the existing crowded world of games?
Cartesi frees blockchain Layer 2 development from restrictive programming environments. The Creepts game logic that determines player’s scores is implemented in Typescript and runs over a Linux OS. The blockchain components of Cartesi do not care what the software used to write the Creepts DApp is. All it cares about is that Creepts can run inside of the Cartesi RISC-V machine emulator to produce verifiable and disputable game logs and player scores to the tournament contracts.
Cartesi also allows Creepts to be the first blockchain-based multiplayer game that is able to mathematically prevent one of the most impacting cheating vectors in decentralized and competitive virtual worlds from being exploited, which is the injection of arbitrary content into the persisted game state. Creepts can do so while accepting arbitrary off-chain (Layer 2) game logic, written for a Linux OS, incurring massively reduced computational costs for the Layer 1 components of the DApp.
What are the things do you think blockchain technology can bring changes to (let’s say ‘revolutionize’) the gaming and gambling industry?
Blockchain technology brings a lot of advantages and fixes a lot of problems we face in games and development today, largely due to having to trust people. Blockchain can make games self-hosting, so if players love it and are there to pay the transactions, it will never go away or be changed unless mutually agreed upon.
Full decentralization will also make game systems transparent and traceable, with provably fair game-play. This can potentially allow for much higher stakes and bids in tournaments, gambling, or games involving money.
Another big factor is in-game asset ownership. This is something that has already evolved and is quite popular. Blockchain brings the potential for players to truly own their in-game assets, and would even allow them to bring them into other games – this opens up a whole new class of gaming possibilities.
Cartesi is not an exclusive programming platform for the gaming sector. Still, what are the ways in which the existing gaming and gambling software and technologies can make use of Cartesi?
Correct, Cartesi is a general-purpose infrastructure that will enable a new wave of DApps that were not possible before. We are not limited to gaming, but it is a great showcase given the market for DApps and for Cartesi’s technology.
Now that we’ve released our decentralized tournament infrastructure, gaming companies can easily create never before seen tournament DApps without having to know about blockchain development, they can even create these complex games with any software of their choice. In addition, we’ll be launching our SDK and documentation next quarter, which will guide developers to build with Cartesi and venture into different kinds of game development.
We’re looking forward to see what people can come up with in terms of games on Cartesi!
The ongoing Corona outbreak is really in the process of crippling the world economy. Hope your company’s operations are going smoothly. Some experts say this would be like pressing a reset button on all fronts. How do you estimate the future of blockchain technology in a reset world? We would love to hear your views on this.
Our thoughts are with all those who are affected by the current outbreak that is going on. We hope it gets better soon.
It is very hard to predict or understand the effect coronavirus will have in how the world works, but one thing that has become clear is how decentralization is important in times like this. For instance, governments may be acting in haste by printing loads of money to cover up for lack of preparation, which is basically another way to tax the poor. Blockchain, DeFi and cryptocurrencies could be used to protect yourself against government actions such as these depending on where you live in the world. Individuals are growing increasingly scared of authoritarian methods that are employed by governments, and it may be used as an excuse to escalate this authoritarianism around the world, where blockchain would be another good defence.
We are of course hoping things become stable soon and the world carries on. Wishing everyone safety and good health!
If you have some important topic you would like to discuss, we are ready to talk to you! Please contact me on [email protected] and we can set up an interview.
In an insightful interview with Alexander Kamenetskyi, Head of SOFTSWISS Sportsbook, we delve into the complex balance between promoting mainstream sports events and exploring niche markets in the betting world. This strategy enhances profitability and ensures a steady engagement across diverse betting markets, crucial for maintaining a dynamic and resilient business model in the competitive world of sports betting.
How should operators balance promoting popular sports events versus niche ones?
The effective strategy in betting is to diversify wagers across a broad range of sports events and markets. This approach helps minimise fluctuations in outcomes, enhancing both the profitability and predictability of your betting business.
Based on this, we recommend that operators promote all sports comprehensively to maintain steady activity and turnover. This ensures that players remain engaged with alternative options, even during periods lacking major events.
It’s crucial not only to focus on popular events like top football matches or major NBA tournaments but also to spotlight less mainstream sports such as water polo, badminton, and Formula 1. For instance, Australian football is notably underappreciated despite offering unique scheduling advantages that can be leveraged during off-peak times to attract bets.
How can you choose sports that have the best chance of attracting your audience?
To effectively capture your audience’s attention, it’s crucial to identify alternative events during periods when popular events like the Champions League are not happening. Our strategy involves actively promoting these alternatives to familiarise players with new tournaments and sports.
We have two dedicated teams: one that selects potential events and advises operators on what to highlight, while the other crafts promotional campaigns to ensure these events resonate with your audience.
The primary factors we consider when selecting events are Total Bets and the number of bets placed on a specific event or tournament. Popularity is our second criterion, which we measure by comparing the turnover to the number of participating players.
For instance, if there are no football championships over a weekend due to Euro qualifying matches, we might suggest promoting NBA evening games or volleyball tournaments to fill the gap left by high-profile football events.
However, it’s also beneficial to occasionally promote sports other than football, even when popular football matches are available. This strategy helps diversify the betting habits of the audience, which is vital for maintaining a stable and engaging product.
How far in advance do you need to start working on a promotional campaign?
We typically share promotional materials with operators two weeks prior to the event. This timeframe usually provides ample opportunity for operators to finalise the text and graphics. If we opt to use bonuses as the main promotional tool, we generate the rules, bonuses, and banners automatically. It’s then up to the operator to create and either self-publish the content or do so with our assistance.
What promotional channels would you recommend focusing on?
Operators have a variety of tools at their disposal, from email and SMS campaigns to managing their own channels on Telegram and other messaging platforms where they can share updates, offer bonuses, and more. Many even offer additional bonuses for subscribers of these communities, which proves effective in building a targeted and loyal audience interested in your project’s bonuses.
Another effective strategy involves placing promotional banners on various sections of the operator’s website, such as the homepage, event pages, and user dashboards. Additionally, collaborating with influencers like streamers can significantly boost traffic.
It’s also crucial not to overlook the power of email newsletters. When crafting content for these, it’s important to consider user behaviour and device preferences. For instance, with over 90% of our current revenue coming from mobile devices, it’s safe to assume most emails will be opened on a smartphone. Thus, optimising for mobile viewing is key. Our tests show that simple, structured, and transparent offers tend to perform best – you only have a few seconds to capture the player’s attention and persuade them to click through.
Do promotions without financial incentives like bonuses still work?
Let’s be clear: bonuses and promotions are fundamental to attracting players, especially those who rely on luck to multiply their capital. Seen as lucky breaks, bonuses allow participation without direct cost. Properly integrated into the marketing strategy, these incentives not only maintain player interest but significantly enhance financial performance.
For example, if an operator earns 15% from express bets, they can afford to redistribute 5% of that as bonuses, slightly reducing their margin to 10%, but potentially increasing user engagement and solving other operational issues.
Furthermore, promotions enable operators to direct betting activity efficiently. While major events naturally draw attention, incorporating bonuses for lesser-known events like the World Curling Championship can broaden a player’s interest and betting activities, introducing them to new sports and betting markets. This strategy not only diversifies the player’s experience but also stabilises the operator’s financials by spreading funds across various sports, thereby reducing the impact of financial peaks and troughs during major events.
Some operators focus primarily on significant events, leading to considerable financial volatility. For example, many faced challenges during the European Football Championship qualification matches when favourites won, negatively impacting financial outcomes. Operators that engage their audience across a spectrum of events tend to experience more stable performance.
Ultimately, using high-profile events to attract new players while promoting a diverse range of smaller events can create a more robust and diversified betting environment. This approach mitigates risks and cultivates a more engaged and knowledgeable betting community.
How likely is it that a person who came to a particular event will continue engaging with you afterwards? What influence can an operator have during this time?
Welcome packages with various bonuses are highly effective in this scenario. The primary goal is to familiarise new players with the range of bonuses and sports offered. Ideally, the entrance bonus program should provide about 20-30% to engage the player effectively.
Besides the welcome package, we can implement trigger-based rules during major events. For instance, a new player might come for the World Cup, and we could offer a promotion like: “Win three World Cup bets and receive a free bet for Wimbledon.”
Once engaged, they might notice a dominant player like Djokovic and place a bet on tennis, triggering another promotion. For example, we could offer a 50% bonus for making an express bet with specific odds on three tennis events. This showcases our diverse bonus system and introduces new sports gradually.
Furthermore, promoting sports tends to be easier than casinos because there are more events and thus more opportunities to engage players through channels like email newsletters, with less risk of being flagged for spam.
We advise our operators to customise bonuses for specific player demographics – like promoting Brazilian tennis players to Brazilian users or Nigerian athletes to Nigerian users. This targeted approach is significantly more effective than generic offers and resonates even with experienced casino players.
However, it’s crucial for operators to view their offerings holistically; they don’t just have a casino or sports section, but a comprehensive project where every part should function seamlessly together, including promotions and the product’s internal functionality.
The post The Full Spectrum Strategy: How Betting on Both Popular and Lesser-Known Sports Pays Off appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Gone are the days when we would spend a Thursday evening waiting for Top of the Pops to come on our televisions so that we could see who would be performing that week. The music show may no longer be running, but First Look Games has taken inspiration from the long-running staple and added a slot spin, to create Top of the Slots.
To give us more insight, First Look Games Founder Tom Galanis walks us through the ideation process behind Top of the Slots and how this is helping to give an accurate representation of the top-performing slot titles each month.
You launched Top of the Slots by First Look Games a couple of weeks ago. For those that may have missed the launch, what does this involve?
Tom Galanis: Top of the Slots is a showcase for the top 10 games launched by game studios via the First Look Games platform over the previous 90 days. It’s a never-before-seen take on game popularity and one our game studio partners, and affiliate users are already loving!
What was the thought process behind launching Top of the Slots?
Tom Galanis: First Look Games captures unique data for our game studio partners and Top of the Slots is designed to illustrate the most successful games, benchmarked by this unique data insight, to the industry.
What do game providers have to do to make it into the top ten releases for the month? What metrics do you use to evaluate success?
Tom Galanis: In order to make it in to the top 10, game studios need to release titles via our platform that successfully resonate with the 850+ affiliates that utilise First Look Games, making full use of the suite of tools we offer on and outside of the platform to engage affiliate marketers in the promotion of their game. The rankings are based on the First Look Games Index for all games launched to the market in the preceding 90 days, which combines:
- a) Downloads – which is the aggregated total of download sessions amongst affiliates on the platform. Affiliates download assets including logos, game sheets, video files, screenshots, banners and game artwork;
- b) Hits – this is the aggregated total number of game reviews for the game, created by affiliates using the First Look Games platform;
- c) Reach – this is the aggregated unique visitor count of the websites containing the Hits;
- d) Demo Game Sessions – this is the number of free to play demo game sessions that have taken place from iFrames placed on Hits.
- e) Sentiment Score – this is the average sentiment score from Hits
The games that rank well in this index are obviously commercially successful in their own right but are also being reviewed by affiliates because of the engagement of the game studio with the First Look Games platform, and consequently, with affiliates.
Our most active game studios are not just releasing great games with frequency but are also ensuring their game and studio news is distributed across the First Look Games platform and social channels and that a full and diverse range of marketing assets and game information is being provided through the platform prior to a game’s release. This best equips affiliates to understand the features of a game so that they can successfully convey this to their player audience, which, collectively amongst FLG affiliates, is very significant, totalling more than 20 million slots players worldwide.
Tell us a bit more about the First Look Games sentiment analysis – how is this helping to remove the biases from the ranking process? What data do you use to inform this analysis?
Tom Galanis: Once our technology has identified a new game review, First Look Games uses Natural Language Processing to ‘read’ the review and assess what the affiliate makes of the game. We share a short snapshot of this with the game studio and assign a score to the review based on how positive the affiliate has been in their review of the game. The more positive the language used in the review, the higher the score.
Sentiment scores are then aggregated across all reviews of the game to give a score for the game, and across all games to give the studio a score to benchmark against peers. Using AI, we are able to objectify the subjective to provide true 360 analysis on how affiliates are promoting a game.
What can we expect to see from First Look Games for the remainder of this year?
Tom Galanis: We have a perpetual roadmap of both new studio launches and technical advancements of the platform for affiliates and game studios to look forward to!
The post Tom Galanis: giving a First Look at the Top of the Slots appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Could you describe the range of products and services that Wise Gaming offers? What makes them unique or appealing to potential clients?
Wise Gaming is the fastest-growing, Complete platform offering both White-Label & Turnkey Solutions. The Wise Gaming solutions are built from our team’s extensive experience: 15 years B2C and 10 years B2B. We know the importance of a truly modular approach, allowing our partner the ability to obtain our entire solution or individual components to enhance what they already have.
In what regions or markets does Wise Gaming primarily operate? Are there any plans for expansion into new territories?
Our focus has been on both the European & LatAm Continents. With enormous success in our B2C operations, we are relying on our extensive experience. We believe the balance between established & emerging markets brings both knowledge and the ability to learn and adapt, truly focusing on our partners needs without limitations.
2025 will be Wise Gaming’s year of expansion! 2024‘s goal is about building on our success in EU & LatAm whilst planning next years’ growth in both Africa & Asia.
What technologies does Wise Gaming employ to deliver its iGaming solutions? Can you highlight any proprietary technologies or platforms that differentiate your offerings?
From our 15 years of B2C success, we felt that we understood both the pleasure points and pain points that most operators face on a daily & weekly basis. Therefore, we build our Wise Gaming solutions with a customer-centric approach, How can we support our partners to support their customers. We diligently sourced the industry’s best-in-class providers for both our Sportsbook & Casino content, utilizing Enterprise software to provide the most robust offering in the iGaming industry.
Our dedicated in-house teams visualize, build and enhance our Proprietary systems for each of our Partner’s needs, making each of our partners brands Unique.
In what ways does Wise Gaming prioritise security and data protection within its technology infrastructure?
As previously mentioned, our customer-centric approach is vitally important to Wise Gaming and our Partners! Providing the correct technology and experience to our partners is key to having a successful KYC, AML, Due Diligence and Data Protection process. We opted for Amazon AWS solutioning to provide market-leading security, Encrypted databases & data storage, penetration resilience, DDoS attack elimination, dedicated Back-Office segmentation and User-based access, protecting player data while safeguarding our partners operations.
What are the current trends or challenges you’re seeing in the iGaming market? How is Wise Gaming adapting to these changes?
The speed in which technology advances is always a challenge for any provider. The key is to know your markets, the players, the accessibility of online entertainment such a sports betting & casinos and implement the technology that meets these variables. Everyone is talking about AI & Machine learning, and rightly so! With such advancements AI & Machine Learning models, it would be irresponsible not to utilize them. Whether it’s for Player customisation, Events based recommendation or supporting operational needs such as RG, KYC & AML, AI & machine Learning should be used to ENHANCE human interaction, not replace. At Wise Gaming, we have already implemented AI & Machine Learning models to provide the unique edge to our partners.
Also localized content is important. Every market is its own unique playground with their own specific cultural identities. Knowing these identities and becoming an expert in these will not only assist in the acquisition of players, it signifies a brand’s genuineness and authenticity to that market and allows greater player retention. At Wise Gaming we have already implemented A.I & Machine Learning models
How does Wise Gaming ensure compliance with regulations in various jurisdictions? How important is regulatory adherence in your sales approach?
I will answer these 2 questions together. The market is experiencing a shift in regulation, and compliance. MGA & CGA license domination has been challenged, with more and more markets opting for tighter safety measures and implementing their own self-regulated approach. This brings safety to players and trust.
Working alongside regulators will always help, and more importantly, we can learn from each other. Adhering to regulation is ultimately for a player’s safety and that is paramount for the industry’s longevity. Wise Gaming continuously enhances its platform to conform with regulations, making it safe and reliable for our partners.
What are the key factors potential clients considering when choosing an iGaming provider, and how does Wise Gaming address these factors in its offerings?
As previously mentioned, experience and knowledge are key attributes from both an operational and technical aspect. “You can’t plant apple trees and expect to get oranges!” Wise Gaming’s experience & knowledge puts us, and our partners, at the forefront of each market, allowing substantial growth and higher ROI.
Time to market should also be a priority. Whilst most Providers offer 2-4 months implementation time, Wise Gaming can deploy your platform within 2-4 weeks, giving us the competitive edge in a highly competitive space.
How does Wise Gaming incorporate feedback from clients into product development and improvement?
Experience and knowledge are simply 1’s learning over time. Our approach at Wise Gaming is that of a learning mentality, “you are never too old to learn!” iGaming is rich in experts – We trust our Partners, and they trust us, it’s the unification that builds long-term partnerships. We have 2 ears and 1 mouth, use them in that order!
What are the future goals and plans for Wise Gaming? Any upcoming innovations or developments you can share?
Our goal is to continue providing a reliable and robust platform, listening and delivering an innovative and unique solution for each of our Partners.
Innovative Developments – If we tell everyone, they won’t be innovative 😉 However, what I can say is that we are focused on “advanced”, real-time localised AI recommended content both Casino & Sportsbook.
The post Exclusive Q&A w/ Steven Paton, Commercial Director at Wise Gaming appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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