Epik AMA Summary Recap with Shin Chan Community

We held a live AMA with Darren Smith, VP Product and Gary Ma ,COO of Epik. on 11th May 08:30 PM (UTC+8). Here’s the recap for those who missed it.

Introduction

Jack| Shin Chan: Before AMA start, can you introduce yourselves and the team background?

Gary Ma : Hi I’m Gary, COO of Epik. I’m really passionate about this space. I’ve been in crypto since 2013. Really seen it evolve.

I believe the industry is now transitioning into large scale adoption and commercial use case. And that’s what we do at Epik — We bring mainstream gaming to blockchain.

Prior to Epik, I’ve worked with some of the biggest brands and celebrity artists, producing large scale Ultra Music style concerts across the world. And now at Epik, we work with the biggest brands and IP to create premium digital merch and collectibles.

Darren Smith : I’m Darren Smith, VP of Product at Epik. I’ve been with Epik since the start in 2018. I have over 25 years of experience in the video game industry.

Jack| Shin Chan: Do you have any news/update about Epik would like to share with us?

Gary Ma : Yes of course! We’re singing new partnerships and clients every week. We collaborate with big brands and big game companies to launch their NFT strategies.

Our clients come to us, because they trust us. We have been working with them for many years. And now, they want us to help them launch their NFT strategies. And this is what Epik is built to do.

We are an entreprise blockchain company, and I believe we are the largest enterprise blockchain ecoystem in the world, with over 350 enterprise clients. Our most recent client, and you are the FIRST people to hear about this.

Epik we will be announcing a major partnership with Bellator MMA. They are one of the top MMA sports leagues in the world, owned by Viacom. Epik will be their premier NFT partner. We will create amazing original content and NFT drops. Stay tuned for more soon!

AMA Twitter Section Begin:

Q1 : Your team has a history of having gained experience at powerful companies such as Nintendo, Tetris, IBM and Pokémon, and achieved important goals in the market. How did you manage to bring such an important team together?

Darren Smith : Yes we’re really blessed. We have a visionary leader, our CEO who assembled the Avengers. Our company has clear vision of the impact we want to bring, and a great company culture. As a result, we’ve been able to attract the best talent.

Q2 : Your project is very important but it needs a large user traffic to be sustainable over time What marketing strategies do you have planned to increase the validity of your brand?Are you planning a strategic partnership to level up your project

Gary Ma : We already a very large user base. We bring mainstream adoption. 100’s millions of daily acctive users across our network of digital platforms. At the heart of Epik, we are about collaborations . Collaboration with platforms, with brands, with everyone

So, of course we will have lots ofpartnerships . We are B2B, which means we continually will have more partnerships than anyone

Q3: In the case of crypto, it is very difficult for projects to make a profit. Some projects have a 10% debt share (10% of the transaction fee accepted from the project) Can you explain to us how our projects can make a profit?

Gary Ma : yes great question.. Epik is already profitable . We have been doing digital merchandise drops in-game since 2019. we’ve sold over $27M of digital merch sales in the last 12 months . not NFTs, but in-game goods. leading up to doing massive NFT drops this year, with AAA game companies. Epik earns revenue from items sold.

Q4 : You mention that there will be limited editions of NFT, but will it really be NFT of some characteristic game? or will Epik’s NFTs really be completely limited? If so, what could we do to be the first to get them?

Darren Smith : We create unique content with in-game crossovers. Our NFTs have usability in the game. Not only can you collect and have the item to show off to your friends, but you can use it inside games. To get them first, buy Epik to become a member.

Q5 : Mr. Darren Smith can you tell us more about your experience working with the gaming industry? Tell us a little bit about your background.

Darren Smith : I worked for Nintendo for 20 years.
In 1990, I started as an engineer working on an online game service for the original 8-bit NES. Throughout my career there I worked on the development and launch of game consoles from the Nintendo 64 through the Wii and 3DS, as well as all of Nintendo’s online game services (multiplayer game service, Nintendo’s eShop, Netflix for Wii, Facebook for DSi, etc.). I also developed a game with Mr. Miyamoto (PilotWings 64), produced some products for Pokemon, and all of the pre-installed apps for the Wii.

I was very fortunate to work alongside many of the greatest minds in the videogame industry, not just Mr. Miyamoto, but also Mr. Iwata Mr. Takeda, all of the teams at EAD, Rare, and so many others.

One short story: When we were first developing the Nintendo 64, 3D games were new. Very few people could produce any quality content. I was worried that it wasn’t going to work.

A lot of the companies that were able to produce 3D content were from the military simulation industry. Not very creative.

One day, Mr. Miyamoto’s team visited my office, pulled me into a cubicle where I had an N64 dev system running (it was still under development). They fired up the first level of what was to become Super Mario 64. I was the first person to see this outside of the team in Japan. My mind was blown!

Telegram Live AMA Begin:

Q6 : 💖As a NFT marketplace, what does Epik Prime have to offer to owners of NFTs that can’t be found in the countless competitors in the field? How will you attract them?

Gary Ma : this is a great question. Epik works WITH other crypto NFT platforms/marketplaces and works WITH mainstream games.

we are not competition. we collaborate.

if they need brands and IP, they can come to Epik

Because Epik is also a digital licensing agent. we help companies big and small get brands.

for example, Tencent is our client

Q7 : I read Epik have an incredibly advantageous position as the industry leader in the B2B space for NFT’s. How do You plan to keep this advantage un long terms? How do You handle the competition?

Gary Ma : Epik has spent the last 3 years building what’s called a two-sided marketplace between brands and game companies. this is very difficult to do.

over time, as mentioned, we know have one of the largest enterprise ecosystems in the world. two sided marketplaces are very hard to create, but very defensible, due to network effects. this will give epik a competitive advantage over the next while.

Q8 : I understand that the Epik store will be available soon, but could you really tell us a little about them? are they really NFT marketing stores? or marketing of products created by Epik?

Darren Smith : We are releasing our own marketplace. That’s just one of our many products.

Gary Ma : right…. and Epik is a network of marketplaces. when we collaborate with games and platforms, we essentially drop into those stores and marektplaces.that is scale.so every platform we work with becomes our marketplace. and their users, become Epik users.

Q9 : Why did you create EPIK? What motivated you to create this? What is its purpose?

Gary Ma : Yeah… we started Epik before NFTs were cool. lol. And we’ll be doing NFTs long after the current hype is over 🙂 we believe in the value NFTs bring to consumers.

Q10 : As Epik do you have your own NFT marketplace where the developers and artists can sell their NFT’s?

Darren Smith : We have our own marketplace. We only work with premium brands and games to produce the NFTs sold there.

Q11 : Do Epik Prime has a native token? And what is the function of owning the token? Like ethereum can function as a payment method and gas.

Gary Ma : Epik Prime ($EPIK) is a membership token. When you buy and own $EPIK, you get access to exclusve rewards and benefits.

rare NFT drops. Exclusive ‘Legendary’ items, where not only are you buying the NFT item (the digital art piece), but ownership if that item gives you more utility. utility can be things like in-game content (skins, levels, characters) that only you get. You can use and play inside games

Or, can be real life value. Like a first class ticket down to meet you favorite music celebrtiy to take a selfie with! this is the power of NFT. Epik unlocks the power of NFT with original content, and rare experiences

Q12 : Are you sure that your own project will progress and continue to develop in the future.. If so, what are your beliefs about your project and give a little picture for the future..??

Gary Ma : Yes! our company is profitable and sustainable.we are not a fly-by-night project.We are a real company, a real business.

Q13 : Can you explain us what are the differences between a EPIK PRIME and a EPIK PRIME+ membership? How can I get both tier levels?

Gary Ma : They are different levels of membershp.Epik Prime+ gets you more access to more rare drops/items/events

Q14 : Currently, many gamers don’t know about Blockchain and the world of crypto. How do you introduce Epik Games to users? Do you have a strategy for educating non-Crypto users or gamers?

Darren Smith : We aren’t producing games ourselves. We are working with mainstream games to help them provide NFTs for their users in their games. Users won’t need to know the underlying technology to participate and have fun.

Q15 : I see on your twitter page there is a meme competition. What are the details of this competition and how can I join it?

Gary Ma : YES please join https://t.me/epikprime/113716. can’t wait to see the fun stuff!!

Q16 : 🟨 Epik is a project that has been empowering the growth of important brands since 2018 with quite interesting results. How do you owe your success in such a short time? How do you plan to face the new future that DeFi and NFT bring us?

Gary Ma : 3 years is not so short :). During that time, we survived crypto winter, and slowly built our client base from 1 client, to 5, to 10, to 50, to 100, to now over 300.

They say, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

That is certainly true for Epik.

So, we are not some new company coming out of nowhere just because NFTs are suddenly popular 🙂

our CEO was at the ERC721 code review for the final pass. Will Entriken the lead author of ERC 721 is with our company. So we have been in NFTs since the beginning.

Q17 : The team behind Epic comes from deep within the licensing industry, and Epik itself is the leading digital licensing agency.” What advantages has your team and your company’s experience in digital licensing provided for the Epik project?

Darren Smith : Our licensing industry experience has enabled us to be connected with many premium brands, celebrities and musicians, enabling us to create premium NFTs with their IP.

Q18 : You have many cooperation with good company, how do you maintain good relationship with them? I saw Darren Smith is VP product. This is good

Gary Ma : haha. Yes..Darren is a like a superstar in the gaming industry. 🙂

Q19 : Epic works with both crypto companies and mainstream gaming companies to collaborate across the spectrum, increasing the overall market rather than just competing for market share. So what is the market size and Epik’s market share right now? Do you have a target market share to see yourself as successful?

Gary Ma : great question. Epik’s goal is mass adoption. We focus on building a bigger pie for everyone in the NFT/Blockchain space.

So instead of competing for a slice of the pie, we want to grow the pie bigger for everyone.Bringing mainstream adoption is the key to this.

And thats why we focus on not just crypto platforms, but mainstream gaming.

Q20 : EPIKPrime will be launching their LOCkER App,(soon),What will be its usecases,,its utility,,and functionality in your platfor

Darren Smith : LOCKER is our mobile experience. A lot of marketplaces are missing this, and we want to bring a better experience to our consumers.

Q21 : ✅Can you tell us what are the biggest differences between you an other gaming + NFT platforms? What is the special thing about the way that you work?

Gary Ma : a) Epik is a leading digital licensing agency. which means we have unparalleled access to brands and IP

this means unlmited supply of ‘content’ to create original NFT and items

b) we are B2B, which means we can collaborate with everyone.

Gary Ma : Please join our #EPIKMEME contest!

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