Meet BlockGames’ CMO, Vytis Bareika

Meet Vytis

I started hustling in gameplay when I was around 12 or 13. I hosted my own Minecraft and Counter-Strike servers — five actually. I modified these, adjusting the gameplay settings and adding features like zombie survival mode in Minecraft, blood effects, and VIP subscriptions. In Counter-Strike, players could join my dedicated servers and, for a monthly subscription, get all kinds of in-game benefits such as different looks and enhanced in-game abilities like extra grenades. I also set up special chat colors for VIPs to use and flex. It required some coding, but it wasn’t overly complex. Basically, I was making money from these people paying for my mods, which is awesome when you’re just a kid.

From modding games to marketing magic

I’ve been in the marketing industry for 11 years now. I’ve worked at four different marketing agencies, progressing from a marketing specialist to project manager, and eventually to department manager within these agencies.

I then graduated to head of digital marketing at Nordcurrent — a major player in the Baltics gaming scene. Nordcurrent’s games collectively total 500 million downloads with Cooking Fever, a fast-paced time-management game, having around 15 million monthly active users (MAUs).

In my role, I was in charge of both creative and user acquisition. I loved it, but I’d reached a point where I was looking to move in a new direction. Then I was introduced — by a fellow colleague who knew of my background in mobile games — to Benas and Kipras, the CEO and COO of BlockGames.

It was a stroke of luck as, during COVID, I’d been exploring Web3 gaming in my spare time, and was intrigued by the added layers of functionality the technology could bring to the Web2 games I was already familiar with.

With BlockGames, Benas and Kipras were already creating a business model with elements I felt would appeal to even the most skeptical Web2 game developers. After a few meetings, it became clear we shared the same vision, and I saw there was a way to improve what we could offer players, developers, and the broader gaming industry.

Web2 and Web3 game differences: A marketing perspective

One of the main differences I discovered was the different marketing approaches taken with Web2 and Web3 games. With Web2, from an end-user perspective, the approach is relatively simple and involves playing games, watching ads, or making in-app purchases. Beyond customer support and social media pages, there’s very little community interaction.

With Web3, however, there’s a lot more emphasis on community, to the extent that the community members often forget about the game they congregated around. In Web3 particularly, there are a lot of unclear business models and falseness. But there are also vibrant, legitimate communities that are building, engaging, and collaborating in ways you don’t see much in Web2.

Another difference is that users in Web2 tend to show up when a game launches. The community starts to build and grow after this. With Web3, hype often begins before a game is launched. Web3 communities are a lot more proactive and self-sustaining. They evolve around ideas and opportunities, often in anticipation of personal gains through gameplay in the future. There are pluses and drawbacks to both models and it’s my aim, as CMO, to combine the best of these two worlds.

Flexing loot and cosmetics

For instance, there are individuals who want to flex and showcase their uniqueness with expensive NFTs that convey a sense of exclusivity. Owning digital artifacts, cosmetics, and other attributes, with or without utility, makes sharing resources and selling them possible in Web3. This doesn’t take anything away from the Web2 gaming experience at all, it simply presents new possibilities that can be added to it.

Web3’s here to stay?

The impact of Web3 continues to grow. The idea that it was just some sort of fad or craze has passed. Some businesses that build on Web3 may disappear, but Web3 itself won’t. It’s like saying the internet will disappear in a year. It isn’t going to happen. Web3 is following a natural path of progression from what we already have. Google Play’s restrictions on blockchain apps are already easing, and huge influencers such as Elon Musk, the Winklevoss twins, and others are fully supportive of blockchain technology. The conversations at gaming conferences, particularly those in Web2, are also tilting toward Web3 and its potential for the gaming industry, which is exciting to see.

The 3% rule

An interesting piece of research I just read suggests that the longer something is talked about, the more people join in the conversation. And if that reaches just 3% of the global population that ‘thing’ has a high chance of trending and reaching exponential growth. This phenomenon has been witnessed with electric cars in a number of countries, to give one example.

Web3%?

When you apply that to Web3 games, we’re not even close to 3% adoption yet. There are 3.5 billion people playing mobile games worldwide and there are only around 500,000 active gaming wallets. That’s 0.0143% of mobile gamers playing Web3 games. We need to increase that figure by 200X to get close to realizing the possibility of mass adoption. So there’s a lot of work to do, and a lot to play for, and that’s why Web3 communities are so important — they are largely responsible for spreading the word.

Wallets and their potential for marketing and UA

The great thing about non-custodial wallets is that users own their data and decide what to do with that data. If they’re happy to share the contents with games in exchange for meaningful rewards, that’s good for the player. It’s also good for the developers who can get a snapshot of the individual player IDs and see what the person likes, enjoys, and wants more of. The game can then deliver more personalized and meaningful rewards. This is the value exchange that’s being eroded in Web2 games because of IDFA changes and is something that Web3, in particular platforms like BlockGames, can resolve.

Achievements

Before joining BlockGames, one major achievement was managing over 12 games simultaneously and deploying creative across multiple platforms including Facebook, Google, Twitter, and more. This giant push, with a huge budget, involved collaborations with top-tier influencers and trying new marketing strategies. It paid off, with some of our titles becoming top ten mobile downloads in the US, Australia, and other countries. What this experience taught me was how to effectively allocate resources in marketing. And it revealed how it’s possible to massively increase awareness of games with the right approach.

What the future holds for BlockGames

Our product launch — the fully functional BlockGames Player Network — is just around the corner, and we’ve already signed multiple games ready to plug into the Network via our SDK.

By the end of 2023, we’re benchmarking to have around 100,000 active players per month. By the same time in 2024, we’re planning to onboard at least 100 more games with a million or more MAUs enjoying them.

It won’t all be down to marketing, either. Signing and launching great games quickly is mission-critical. Our first game, Shatterpoint, an all-action RPG, is a good example of the high caliber of games that will be joining the Player Network. And we’ll focus on building the community with exclusivity, gated, referral-based access, and seasonal treats that keep users in a high state of anticipation and engagement.

Homelife, hobbies, and shooting people for fun

I’ve been a gamer my whole life. But now I have a young daughter, finding time for gaming is a bit more challenging than it used to be. But I still manage to sneak a few hours in each week — mostly on my PS5, though I also play mobile games.

What else? I recently got a dog, Cody, and get to take him for regular walks, which is fun. And I’ve recently taken up Airsoft as a hobby. Airsoft is like paintball but with realistic replica guns. Around 150 people divide into teams, wearing military gear, and they shoot each other. It’s an advancement on paintball, which I’ve done a few times. Paintball isn’t very accurate from a distance, and it’s very messy. Airsoft uses plastic bullets that hurt but won’t kill you. It’s like war without the risk of death. I play around once a month. We start early, around 9am, get instructions, load guns, change clothes, and play till the early evening. It’s a great way to burn up energy and let off plenty of steam!

BlockGames is the world’s first cross-chain, cross-game Player Network, accelerating user acquisition for games through instant referral and engagement rewards mechanisms for players.