re: digital ownership

 The year is 2000. 


It's Thursday Night. Brad Pitt and Jen Aniston just got married. You're dying to watch your new favorite show come on, it's called SURVIVOR. Everyone at work is playing snake on their nokia cell phone. Life is good. 

What you may have missed in all of that pop cultural bliss is the birth of a tiny company called Habbo, which will end up changing the world forever.

Habbo Hotel was (still kinda is, 800k monthly active users) an online community aimed at young adults and teens. In this game players created avatars, met new people, and hung out in "virtual rooms."

**most importantly, they exchanged real-world cash for in-game credits; unlocking status and virtual furniture to pimp out their rooms**

Without knowing it, 20 years ago Habbo created one of the first digital economies. e-furniture and rug prices moved as a function of supply and demand.
--at it's peak in 2008, Habbo had 15 million unique log-ins per month and did >$60m a year in revenue.

As more teens log on and the personal computer becomes ubiquitous in the 2000's, Habbo's model for a virtual economy spawns dozens of others to join in. Some of which you may be aware of:

2001: RuneScape 2003: Second Life 2004: World of Warcraft 2005: Club Penguin 2006: The Elder Scrolls IV 2007: Neopets 2008: The Sims

Then, in the 2010's digital commodities moved from chatrooms to games. Modern games like FIFA, Madden, and FORTNITE all begin to offer in-app micro transactions. Important to recall, with millions of daily active users those .99c charges end up being biiiiggggg money printers.

Case in point --> Earlier this year Fortnite creators Epic Games raises $1 Billion dollars @ a $30B valuation (where primary revenue is -- you guessed it -- in-app purchases)

So, as the company's web 3.0 shepard, whatever your take on crypto, DeFi, or NFT's is, this week I want you to remember this game is 20+ years in the making.


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