Gaming…specifically playing video games.
Prior to 2000, gaming was seen as a hobby…something you did on your spare time. Society in general viewed it as something kids and teenagers did. Adults, however, were expected to get "a real job" and spend their time productively by working or pursuing education. Adults who spent more than 2 hours a day playing video games were seen as "weird", "losers", or lacking "a real life."
That mentality changed during the late 2000's. With the rise of competitive gaming, online tournaments, streaming and content creation…it now became possible to earn a decent to luxurious annual salary on gaming. Top gamers earned money from sponsorships, merchandise sales, brand creation, views on YouTube, advertising, subscriptions, donations, etc. Gaming went from a "hobby" to a "career". Individuals who were charismatic, skilled, or just fun to follow & watch amassed a huge following earning them big bucks in return.
A second major shift happened in 2030…that was the year that Nexus Avalor Ventures Association also known as "NAVA" was founded. According to the official story, NAVA was founded by two upstarts Marlin Ashford and Morgan Novaris. Marlin was a gamer through and through. Prior to the start of NAVA, he had a moderate on-line following and loved playing open-world MMORPGs. The second founder, Morgan, was a mystery. No one knew much about him.
It's said that Marlin and Morgan became roommates in college by accident. The story goes that on their first day at Lumina University, the college admissions office accidently registered Morgan as a female instructor assigned to live in the faculty building. By sheer coincidence, Marlin confused the housing buildings and moved into the faculty building by mistake. In the end, both Marlin and Morgan ended up as college roommates by accident.
Marlin as an avid game-lover, was studying to be a software engineer while Morgan was studying astrophysics including a minor in space biology. According to the story, one day while working on a college project the two came up with an idea for a revolutionary videogame that would change the world forever…Avalor.
Avalor completely revolutionized the gaming industry…to call Avalor a "videogame" would be a total insult and miss the point entirely. Avalor was not a "game" per se…it was an experience…it was a way of living…and for most of us, it was a profession.
Similar to other VR games, Avalor was an immersive experience where players became their avatars…you felt what your avatar experienced, both the pain and the pleasure. The graphics were next-level, and the detail was unreal. However, what made Avalor stand out from other similar VR games was…
MONEY.
Avalor was the first and only game to pay players to play…that's right. Avalor paid money to each and every player! Incredible right?
In contrast to other games, Avalor did not charge players a single dollar to play. In fact, Avalor didn't even have an official "store" where players could buy unique items such as weapons, armors, artifacts, or powerups with cash.
Instead of charging players…Avalor did the opposite…it paid players to play. Specifically, Avalor paid players for completing "quests". Depending on the difficulty, players could earn substantial money. When the game was first released, the public was shocked…they had never heard of a game that paid players to play.
How would NAVA earn income?
How would they monetize their game?
Was this a scam or a trick to lure players in?
The popular theory was this "pay the gamers" was a stunt, designed to lure players in until the game got established or until players were so invested into the game, they had no choice but to spend money to continue playing. However, neither of these two ever happened. NAVA never introduced a "pay-wall" nor did they stop paying players.
Another theory was that NAVA would reduce the cash payments as the player base grew. Some believed that eventually the cash payments would dwindle to a few measly dollars…not worth the time and effort for completing the quests. This theory also proved to be false. As the player base grew…NAVA did the opposite, it increased the cash payments for all quests.
It is now the year 2035…and Avalor is now the number one game in the world with 1 Billion players connected daily! That means 1 out of every 8 people in the world play Avalor and earn income from the game. Of the 1 Billion players, approximately 300M are "full timers" or "professionals" meaning they spend 40 to 100+ hours a week connected to the game griding levels and completing quests. Avalor is their full-time profession. The remaining players are either part-timers or hobbyists…people who connect to earn some extra side-cash or just enjoy the game.
NAVA, on the other hand, has become the biggest and most profitable corporation in the world. Their annual sales and net income exceed that of most countries. How exactly they make their money is a mystery. Their annual filings explain that their income is from ad revenue, cloud services, hosting services, and other vague descriptions.
Their biggest revenue stream, however, is from "royalty income from intellectual property"…what exactly that means is unclear but the experts say that NAVA developed state-of-the-art encryption, AI algorithms, and proprietary software so advanced that governments all over the world pay large amounts of money…in fact, NAVA's largest client is the United States Department of Defense/War.
This is my story…from the day I started "playing" Avalor.
- Arthos