Unlocking New Business Models, Fan Experiences and Creator Economies

Blockchain technology brings transformative new business models to online gaming, social media and digital content – enabling fan ownership, closer communities and direct monetization.

The emergence of blockchain technology and crypto-assets represents a seismic shift for internet-based entertainment. By allowing for decentralized, transparent ledgers and peer-to-peer transactions, blockchain has the power to fundamentally transform the business models that have dominated online gaming, social media and digital media for the past decade.

While still early days, innovative startups are showing how blockchain can create closer connections between creators and fans – while giving Unibet users more control over the content they create and engage with. Below, we review three key areas where blockchain is starting to demonstrate a truly transformative impact on internet entertainment and communities:

New Ownership and Governance Models

Traditionally, real money slots online platforms and games have been controlled by centralized companies and publishers. Blockchain introduces the capability for decentralized governance and ownership, including:

• Fan or player-owned economies, where users can have ownership stakes
• Community-governed platforms and metaverse worlds
• Trustless transparency around algorithms and moderation

This represents a radical shift – where power and oversight moves from centralized authorities towards the hands of ecosystem participants.

Key Examples

Platform	Description
Forte	Enables game developers to integrate token economies and blockchain transactions
Unlock	Allows creators to offer subscriptions and memberships with tokens
LivePeer	decentralizes video encoding via a network powered by crypto tokens

The early stages of this transformation are already underway across gaming, social and content platforms – unlocking new opportunities for collective ownership between developers, creators and community participants.

Closer Creator-Fan Relationships

By representing digital assets and identity on a blockchain, new internet platforms have the potential to foster much deeper direct relationships between creators, influencers and their fanbases.

Smart contracts can directly connect stars and fans for everything from exclusive content access to live video chats. NFTs also represent a powerful new way for fans to publicly showcase their support for musicians, artists and influencers.

Key Use Cases

• NFT galleries allow visual creators to showcase their work and engage collectors
• Smart contracts can provide fans special access like private chats or virtual meet-and-greets
• Digital collectibles let fans support and trade tagged merchandise

The ability to own verifiable digital assets and contract directly with stars represents an entirely new paradigm – one where fan enthusiasm and financial support can be rewarded with unprecedented access and visibility.

Direct Value Capture for Creators

Today’s dominant online entertainment hubs capture outsized portions of creator earnings – while providing little transparency or control to the stars that drive their platforms.

Blockchain paves the way for fairer value distribution along the entire creator stack – from video production to distribution and engagement. Smart contracts also enable transparent tracking of attribution and earnings – ensuring creators get paid for their work.

Key Opportunities

• Automate royalty payments whenever creator work generates earnings
• Micropayments can support “tipping” models that reward engagement
• Fractionalized ownership via tokens lets fans invest directly in creator success and content projects

After decades of centralized platforms, blockchain finally unlocks the capability for the full stack of digital entertainment to operate in a more decentralized, transparent and equitable manner.

The Beginning of a New Era

The innovation wave driven by blockchain and crypto represents a wholesale reimagining of what the internet could be. When it comes to digital entertainment, gaming and social media – the scope of what’s possible has dramatically changed over the past few years.

While the decentralization transition will take time, the pieces are falling into place for a step-function evolution in how online ecosystems operate – with ownership, governance, relationships and value flowing closer to those creating the most value.

After following monopoly-based business models for decades, the growth of blockchain finally unlocks permissionless innovation in one of the internet’s most vibrant sectors. The next phase of internet entertainment has arrived – creating an unprecedented opportunity for unleashing new experiences and unlocking latent creator value that centralized intermediaries were never designed or motivated to offer.

The building blocks are here for a revolution in gaming, fan engagement and creator monetization. As cryptographic protocols and networks mature, business models will continue migrating towards models of transparency, ownership and direct community governance.

Fasten your seatbelts, the next era of the open metaverse awaits.