In this exclusive Q&A, we explore Anomaly’s inspiration and vision with its CEO, Long Do. Anomaly is an AI gaming app that democratizes access to Web3 through tokenization and integration with popular messengers such as Telegram, Discord, and Twitter.
With over ten years of experience in Tech and a passion for gaming, Long brings a wealth of knowledge and a unique perspective into Anomaly.
Background
Hello Long, what was the inspiration that led you to create Anomaly?
From the outset, I was deeply involved in web3. I was driven by a desire to innovate at a pace that transcended traditional gaming. It wasn’t long before I recognized that we weren’t just creating games but also pioneering entirely new realms where gaming meets advanced technologies like AI.
My fascination with the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence sparked the idea to found a studio that doesn’t just adapt to changes but also thrives on them, embracing the unconventional and the avant-garde, hence the name Anomaly. The term itself, reminiscent of something out of science fiction, reflects our ambitious goal to push AI towards sentience. Inspired by concepts like AGI (Artificial General Intelligence), we named our venture Anomaly Games Inc. to signify our commitment to being at the forefront of exploring and developing the unknown territories of gaming and technology.
Can you walk me through your career journey leading up to your current role in Anomaly?
For over ten years, I’ve been in tech as an Engineer/Tech Product Manager and have worked for many FinTech, SaaS, and even healthcare-related companies.
I’ve been passionate about gaming since I first held an NES controller and played Contra on Nintendo. With a competitive streak, I’ve participated in hundreds of tournaments, achieving top ranks in prestigious events like World Cyber Games and Team Liquid Opens and success in card games like Yu-Gi-Oh. Additionally, I’ve built a strong presence on Twitch, reaching partner status and drawing in over 12,000 live viewers during my Hearthstone tournament play.
In 2021, during the rise of web3, I created my own NFT game, pushing the boundaries of what was possible with NFTs. I quickly delved into developing smart contracts and introduced innovations like smart contract wallets and on-chain point systems. I was blessed to have this technology acquired by Virtually Human Studios and saw what building games like Zed Run was deep in the bull market.
Jumping ahead to 2023, I developed a quest tool acquired by Moku, enabling me to actively contribute to exciting questing campaigns for Sky Mavis, such as Pixels and CyberKongz.
How would you describe the current sentiment towards blockchain games?
It’s certainly better than it was before! The industry has shown incredible resilience despite crazy market cycles and nefarious actors. The hype has finally died down, so now more builders are creating awesome projects and pushing boundaries in cool and innovative ways. Blockchain games prioritize their communities and create games that are actually engaging and fun.
The idea of truly owning in-game assets, being able to trade them freely, and potentially earning real-value rewards from gameplay is appealing to users. As a dev, I see blockchain gaming as an incredible way to monetize games, create unique and valuable in-game assets, and build decentralized, player-owned economies while providing fairness and transparency.
Anomaly AI Gaming App
I believe the gaming industry is on the cusp of a transformative shift with the advent of mini-game apps on social platforms like Telegram and now Discord. This evolution represents an untapped user acquisition and engagement frontier, particularly within the web3 space.
By leveraging social platforms, games eliminate the need for users to go through cumbersome app stores or download processes. The ability to play instantly within a chat app or a community server encourages spontaneous engagement and sharing among users. As a bonus, social platforms inherently promote virality, as users can quickly invite peers to join the game within their existing networks.
As a Layer 3 blockchain platform, Anomaly is designed to surpass traditional blockchain limits, focusing on creating an innovative and revolutionary decentralized gaming ecosystem. Anomaly is enhancing gaming privacy with DePIN – we want to protect user data without compromising interactive and immersive gameplay. Complementing our DePIN infrastructure, Anomaly utilizes roll-up technology to enhance scalability and efficiency, ensuring that our blockchain can handle the high demands of modern gaming and AI computations without sacrificing speed or user experience.
Please walk us through the nodes’ role in creating a unique gaming experience. You have an upcoming node sale, right?
Yes, we do! Our ecosystem’s growth is intricately linked to our roadmap of gaming innovations. We are committed to aggressively developing and launching new games (including new tokens), each designed to funnel tokens back into the ecosystem and directly benefit Node operators. The unique mechanics of each game will dictate the specific contributions to the node allocation pool, ensuring all Node holders share in the success of every new game launch. Purchasing a Node NFT is not only an investment in the infrastructure that powers validators for our blockchain but also a strategic move to gain a substantial allocation of ecosystem tokens. These tokens are distributed as daily rewards to Node NFT holders, embedding direct value into our community.
What about the play-to-airdrop model? How does it encourage players to participate and engage with the community among players?
Our approach to community engagement is built around the play-to-airdrop model, which rewards users for their participation and time invested. We recognize the value of their effectiveness in acknowledging their efforts. To further encourage participation, we plan to introduce a Socials/Referrals leaderboard, offering prizes to top-performing users and fostering a sense of friendly competition.
The model’s fundamental principle is to recognize and reward participation and contribution, but it’s the highly engaged users who receive a disproportionate share of incentives, receiving more prizes as a testament to their commitment and active involvement in the ecosystem.
At its core, the model is designed to reward participation and contribution. However, it’s the high-level users who receive a greater incentive, awarded more prizes in recognition of their engagement and dedication to the ecosystem.
This approach does more than just incentivize activity; it encourages a vibrant, engaged community where contributions are visible and valued. We build a stronger, more connected community by rewarding participation and fostering a competitive yet cooperative environment. This enhances the overall experience for all users and solidifies the foundation of our ecosystem, driving us toward a shared vision for the future.
What role do you see partnerships playing towards the growth of the project?
A healthy ecosystem requires many moving parts, and I see partnerships benefit our community and the industry as a whole. By joining forces with respected entities within the crypto and gaming ecosystems, we can tap into existing networks of active users and make inroads into new user populations.
Also, it’s no secret that partnering with well-established brands provides credibility, encouraging potential players who might otherwise be skeptical about the legitimacy of a Web3 game. As the game grows beyond its initial phase, partnering with other projects becomes vital to ensure scalability and maintain performance standards for our users.
I believe a strategic approach to partnerships can truly help transform a Web3 game from a fleeting novelty into a sustainable, continually evolving gaming platform that keeps players engaged for the long haul. We believe in forging partnerships that align with our core values, resonate with our vision, and, most importantly, deliver on our promises to the user.
Web2 games have long been the go-to choice for many players. How does Anomaly position itself against competition?
We have learned a few things from our time in the web3 industry. Yes, Web2 games are more seamless and are definitely of more quality. We should absolutely try our best to be a game that upholds high standards. The other thing is that web3 offers a unique set of advantages. Web3 games are built with strong communities that are open-minded for new types of games. They don’t need to have the same goals as web2.
At Anomaly, we are crafting a platform that allows us to build faster, prototype, and utilize technology to its pinnacle, which leverages the web3 community and is at the forefront of AI innovation. We aren’t also just slapping in the word AI for marketing and calling it a day. We actually have working games where you are playing against an AI agent and not just in an NPC-type dialogue, but where you can’t even tell if they are a real person and that’s just the beginning.
Upcoming Games and Projections
What games can users anticipate from upcoming releases?
We actually have two upcoming games: Dicestone and Wildstone.
Dicestone is a simple competitive dice game played against an LLM. We explain the game’s rules to the LLM in natural language and then pass through the board state every turn. With these inputs, the LLM can function as a fully effective opponent player without additional programming. With further training, the LLM can adopt particular player styles – perhaps modeled on different individuals in the player community – providing rich and varied opponent types.
Wildstone is not your average card game. It revolutionizes gaming with a unique blend of traditional card gameplay and cutting-edge AI mechanics.
Inspired by Marvel Snap, the current top-earning mobile game, grossing $100M in revenue in 2023, Wildstone’s progression system allows players to level up, earn in-game currency, and unlock a vast collection of cards. Enhanced by AI technology, every generated card adds depth and excitement to the dynamic and strategic deck-building experience.
We want to build a new community of like-minded enthusiasts for AI and web3 and meet them where they are on platforms like Telegram. We will take this a step further, explore other social platforms, and delve into new game audiences where we can introduce new technologies and game mechanics.
We are very excited about our gamified cloud node service. Many blockchains like Xai and Gala have started introducing the idea of mining and running node validators that allow speculators to invest. Everyone knows about Bitcoin mining, but it is so out of reach for most users because of the sophistication and the sheer power required to mine successfully. We aim to bridge the gap for anyone to be a node validator with no complicated setup needed.
We are crafting Wildstone as a game that can possibly be as enjoyable as Mobile Game of the year Marvel Snap, but takes it further with the community, player agents, AI-as-a-game engine, and more. We are very excited to build a unique game that changes how we perceive how AI can interact with users.
What’s your prediction about the future of blockchain gaming?
Well, the most obvious prediction is that blockchain gaming is here to stay.
The convergence of gaming with blockchain technology paints a vibrant future for the industry, promising a world where games are more immersive, inclusive, and interconnected than ever before. We’re not just playing games; we’re stepping into them, owning a part of their very fabric, and shaping their futures.
The journey ahead for blockchain gaming is not just exciting; it’s revolutionary.
