Thanks for taking the time to speak with us, Ezra. Before we slip into the world of web3 technology and gaming, please could you tell us a bit about yourself? How did it all start for you, and what brought you to Portal?
Ezra: I recently joined Portal as Head of Partnerships after spending two years at Immutable, first working on developer and ecosystem partnerships for the Immutable platform, and then helping to build the publishing business and strategy in Immutable’s game studio.
Prior to Immutable, I spent several years at the intersection of new technology (cloud streaming and webRTC), interactive entertainment, and mass-market rewards and loyalty. I also worked in Business Development and Strategy at TimePlay, an interactive entertainment startup, where I helped launch two new interactive content platform businesses for the Twitch and OTT ecosystems. Working with licensors such as Endemol Shine, Sony, and Paramount to launch new casual interactive games for new channels such as TV and live events, I drove on programming, content development, licensing, distribution, and loyalty and reward strategies.
I’m so excited to have joined Portal and to play a crucial role in building out the company, partnerships and product suite. We’re growing at lightning speed – this is a pivotal time for our industry and at Portal we really are building at the forefront of tech and gaming.
Let’s talk about the company, Portal. Could you tell us a bit more about how it all came together, as well as what it is that you’re currently aiming to achieve as a team?
Ezra: Portal was born from a belief that the next generation of gaming and player experience will be decentralized, player-owned, and built on Web3 tech. We’re on a mission to bring this new model to players around the world – in other words, to solve distribution for the growing number of Web3 games as they disrupt this $200bn+ industry.
If you look at the history of the gaming industry, each major wave of growth has, generally, been precipitated by a technological shift and new modes of distribution. Take, for example, the rollout of Augmented Reality (AR) tech and games like Pokemon Go, cloud computing and the likes of PUBG, and the dominance of mobile games today. Portal believes that gaming’s next growth cycle will be caused by players and games embracing Web3 – we’re here to connect the two.
We came out of stealth in May 2023, and saw phenomenal reception to our vision. In months, we’d signed 200+ of the best Web3 games to join our ecosystem – a clear sign we’re solving a very real problem for the growing community of web3 developers. More than games, we built a formidable network across gaming, Esports and mainstream entertainment: Portal is represented by WME (William Morris Endeavour, Hollywood’s premier talent agency), we’re partnered with M80 Esports, and our advisors include the co-founder of Rockstar Games, the CEO of Team Secret Esports, and the former Head of Business Development at EA Games. All that to say, our mission has resonated with leaders from nearly every sector we touch – something that provides us with a cutting edge to this day.
In December, we ran a unique gamified marketing campaign called “Crystal Dash”. By building an addictive social experience with reward incentives, we generated 3 billion Twitter impressions in just a few weeks, out-trending the likes of Taylor Swift and the NFL. Following on from that, we completed our $PORTAL token presale, raising $30m, smashing records for speed and size. It was the fastest-selling crypto presale of 2023, which at launch saw $8.6 billion moved or “staked” in order to gain access to $PORTAL. Leveraging that noise, we ran an Esports tournament with DOTA2, seeing $100k in prizes given out, with 2M+ viewers from around the world tuning in.
Today, we’re moving down our roadmap at pace. We just released Portal Pay, which is a foundational payment infra for Web3 gamers. It simplifies the experience of buying and selling game assets via crypto, really reducing those barriers to entry. Integrating Pay helps Web3 games not only grow their playerbase, but to monetise it too.
Over the coming months we’re launching our much-awaited platform (Portal Explorer), along with the Portal Account. Those two in conjunction are truly a gamer’s access point into Web3 gaming, allowing you to discover, play and earn from indie and AAA games built on any blockchain.
You’ve previously mentioned Portal Pay, yet another initiative that allows users to cash out their in-game digital assets. What brought this idea into reality, and how will it alter the way we interact with the web3 ecosystem?
Ezra: Our team is 100+ strong, with some of the best talent sourced from tech, gaming, finance and other industries. We’ve thought at length about the distribution problem that Web3 games face, and broken it down into the individual frictions that players feel when trying to access games.
The first friction to solve is that of payments. One of Web3’s (vs Web2, or current tech) key traits today is that it allows users to move value and ownership more efficiently across the internet. Indeed, that’s one of the main ways it’s disrupting gaming – by helping players own and derive value from their game time. However, the payment rails between Web3 gaming ecosystems, which are often built on different blockchains, just didn’t exist. Portal Pay makes buying into Web3 games as easy as Ecommerce. It completely removes the barriers that would otherwise have prevented players holding one form of crypto, from accessing games that only accept another. The next step in this journey is global fiat payment support, targeting key growth markets for games, enabling players to pay from literally anywhere to any blockchain where our games are building.
Now, players can buy into games and not even notice that they’re interacting with what is still a novel and innovative tech stack. Pay is just the first product in our roadmap. Each one is removing an individual user pain point – together, they’re completely solving distribution for Web3 games.
Introducing Portal Pay.
Groundbreaking infra making cross-chain payments effortless. Users pay in any tokens, merchants receive the tokens they want.
The first in a series of products uniting Web3. All fees from Pay will be used to buy $PORTAL.
— Portal (@Portalcoin) July 11, 2024
Are we right in thinking that Portal Pay is already being used by several major chains, too? Could you tell us about some of the partnerships that you’ve managed to create since its inception?
Ezra: One of Pay’s superpowers is that it’s built for cross-chain payments. It accepts 5,000+ currencies – in other words, players can pay in nearly any currency no matter what chain it’s on. It can’t be stated how much more seamless an experience this is when compared to the previous approach of swapping, bridging or switching between wallets when buying game assets.
Pay supports nearly every major chain. We’re live on Ethereum, BNB, AVAX, Klaytn, Polygon, Arbitrum, Base, and Immutable to name but a few. And we’ll be announcing way more over the coming weeks.
The interoperability of the product has no doubt helped us in our partnership conversations. We can’t wait to release more of these to the public, but Pay has had phenomenal interest from games, chains and more. Whilst Pay is optimal for Web3 games, it can be used as a checkout/payment product by any dApps. If crypto payments flow through it – it can use Portal Pay.
All we charge is a small transaction fee, all of which will be used to buy $PORTAL, the ecosystem token powering all of our products and partnerships.
So, what’s next for Portal? Do you have any plans to further expand your existing platform over the fourth quarter? If so, could you please tell us a bit more about what it is that you’re working on?
Ezra: The coming months will be the most exciting Portal has seen to date. And that’s saying something, given the amazing journey we’ve been on the past 12 months!
In Q3/4, we’re releasing our player-facing products. These will be game changers – seamless and rewarding. First up is the Portal Account: a player’s single account for Web3 gaming. Imagine your Google account crossed with your Xbox Live gamertag and your digital banking app. Shortly after, we’ll be releasing our platform: Portal Explorer. The best Web3 games, all in one place and ready for players to dive into. And then after that, we’re releasing Earn, a whole section of Explorer that takes player rewards to new heights.
Everything is built so anyone can open their computer or phone and discover a whole galaxy of Web3 games, with 0 friction or barriers to entry. We can’t wait for our global community to jump in!
We’d like to stay up to date with Portal, if possible. Are there any social channels, newsletters, or upcoming events that we could potentially share with our readers?
Ezra: Of course!
One of the great things about Web3 is that it lets us build a unique relationship with our players and token holders. Our community is one of our strongest assets – we’re always putting out comms so they can stay in the loop.
Follow us on Twitter/X: @portalcoin
Follow our Esports Twitter: @PortalEsportsHQ
Visit our website: portalgaming.com
Follow our blog: blog.portalgaming.com
We’re also building rapidly in Asia, with a whole team dedicated to growing our game and player bases across China, Japan, Korea, SE Asia and more.
Is there anything you would like to add before we close the book?
Ezra: Just that we’re genuinely excited for players to dive into our ecosystem. And that we have quite a few surprises for our community over the coming months, so they should keep an eye on our Twitter announcements!
We’ve created something pretty unique for players and devs alike. An ecosystem that not only makes this new wave of player-owned games readily accessible to everyone, everywhere, but makes gaming a truly rewarding experience for those participating via Portal.
Thanks for your time, Ezra!
For more information on Portal’s ongoing and upcoming projects, be sure to check in with the team over on their official social handle here. Alternatively, you can visit the website for additional updates here.
