Web3 and games: beyond the hype with David Kim

Welcome to The Business of Games Podcast, brought to you by Xsolla.In this Extended Cut episode, host Lia Ballentine sits down with David Kim, a publishing and marketing leader and advisor in the Web3 space, for a deep-dive conversation about the realities of blockchain, digital ownership, and the economics shaping the next phase of gaming.Web3 has been called everything from the future of player ownership to a passing fad. But beneath the hype is a real question: how can this technology actually make games and game businesses better?David argues that the most meaningful innovations aren’t technical, but legal and economic. By moving ownership records from proprietary servers to public ledgers, studios can avoid becoming middlemen, legitimize gray-market trading, and open new models of trust between players and developers.Across the discussion, David breaks down:The evolution from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake and why that shift finally made blockchain viable for gamesHow NFTs and public ledgers can serve as verifiable receipts, solving long-standing issues of fraud, resale, and player rightsWhy Web3 isn’t a product but a toolkit and how studios can use it to build better economies and communities, not just speculationThe pitfalls of “gamified DeFi” and what early failures teach us about designing sustainable play-to-own systemsHow regulation and clarity, from initiatives like the Clarity Act, could unlock mainstream adoption by reducing legal friction for both players and studiosWhether you’re a developer curious about tokenized economies or a marketer exploring new player engagement tools, this conversation demystifies what’s next for digital ownership and how to approach it without losing sight of what matters most: great games.For more insights and resources, visit xsolla.com/podcast. Want to join the conversation? Follow and comment on our LinkedIn page at The Business of Games Podcast. That’s where we’ll be sharing updates, highlights, and continuing the discussion. And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, review, and share the podcast with friends who want to learn more about the business of games.