INTRODUCTION
The World Is Not Equal
I live in the United States and I often forget that other parts of the world operate differently. Those differences can be positive or negative, but differences nevertheless. I consider myself well-traveled. I have lived in Japan and Israel, so I find it strange that I would forget how unique the world is. Naturally, each region of the world is different, and the countries within can be divided across an array of categories. As a result, those differences present a unique set of challenges for game companies that need to market their products/services across the globe.
Perhaps no other industry makes this apparent and abundantly true than the video game industry.
The Booming, but Imperfect Video Game Industry
If you don’t know that the video game industry is booming, then you are probably one of those individuals that lives “off the grid” 😊. With the growth and profit numbers that the overall video game industry enjoys, I easily forget that there are always market inefficiencies/imperfections in any system (especially a centralized one). The video game industry is no different.
Here is the basic problem: the two main industry participants – gamers, and game developers – do not easily communicate and transact with one another. In other words, they don’t often speak the same language – literally. On one hand, game developers struggle to market their games across various global regions as well as finding a all-in-one payment solution that can satisfy different countries. On the other hand, gamers don’t enjoy the same payment options that exist in developed countries. They often struggle to find, or even be aware of, new games that they might be interested in. In addition, app stores charge a hefty fee (up to 30%) and favor the companies with the biggest budgets to get their content listed and featured. Add everything up and it’s clear to see that there are several barriers that prevent each side from understanding each other. Overall, the gaming industry is controlled by large corporations, fragmented, inefficient, and monetizing games is not a one-size-fits-all solution.
As I’ve previously said – living in the US has masked these challenges from the normal media. It took CloudMoolah and cryptocurrency awareness to open my eyes to the business challenges in other market regions of the world. One of those markets is Southeast Asia. CloudMoolah has set their sights on that area. I’ll explain why in the next section.
The Southeast Asia Market: Both A Challenge And Opportunity
The Southeast Asian market represents 11 diverse countries that are often separated by culture, demographics, economics, and language. In addition, credit card penetration rates in Southeast Asia are miniscule compared to the U.S. where the penetration rate is 68 percent
Why would CloudMoolah want to try to do business in a market that is difficult to break into? The answer is simple. Despite regional differences, the Southeast Asian gaming market is on fire. The illustration below captures key statistics for the region:
Due to the above, most Southeast Asian gamers still pay via local payment modes, such as e-banking, prepaid cards, and over the counter (OTC) receipts. This makes the market difficult to penetrate because traditional payment options are not available to the majority of the population.
With the advent of cryptocurrencies, companies now have the technical solution to improve the gaming industry participant communication. Thus, Southeast Asia market is both a challenge and opportunity.
This is where Cloud Alliance enters the picture!
BUILDING AN ECOSYSTEM
Cloud Alliance + Unity = CloudMoolah
Long ago, CloudMoolah’s parent company, Cloud Alliance, realized that there were industry issues (specifically in the Southeast Asia market). First, they brokered an exclusive partnership with Unity, the world’s largest video game development engine that is used by more than 5.5 million developers, and worked on developing and integrating a payment aggregator called CloudMoolah.
CloudMoolah integrates with Unity’s game development software to enable in-app revenue collection. With just a few clicks of the mouse, a Unity developer can activate access to more than 100 million gamers and 500,000 retail point of sales across Southeast Asia.
This saves the time and hassle of having to integrate with multiple offline payment channels.
In sum, CloudMoolah is a game changer because developers can now effectively monetize their games from a region where credit card and other payment options are very low. However, the story doesn’t end here. CloudMoolah is one of several vital pieces of their larger solution.
MOO Store
While CloudMoolah is Cloud Alliance’s flagship product, the MOO Store and MOO token represent the final piece of the puzzle that will propel them into the Southeast Asian market.
The MOO Store is another collaborative effort with Unity to bring to market an app-store that integrates CloudMoolah and provides an application where gamers/developers can transact using their two planned virtual cryptocurrencies: CloudMoolah Points (CMPs) and MOO tokens. The chart below illustrates their differences:
Through the use of CMP/MOO, the MOO Store will allow game developers to increase their revenue and ensure transactions on the platform will be more secure and transparent. That will reduce the risk of fraud and eliminate chargebacks – problems that the gaming industry is very much prone to.
In sum, the MOO store will create a universal and unified economy where gamers from any region can speak the same currency language and CloudMoolah integration.
ICO DISTRIBUTION DETAILS
Whitelist Details
All ICO participants need to go through a registration and KYC process. Please click on the following link to apply.
Token Sale Details
| TOKEN SYMBOL | MOO |
| TOKEN TYPE | ERC-20 |
| TOTAL SUPPLY | 300,000,000 |
| TOKEN RATE | 1 MOO = $0.30 USD |
| ACCEPTED CURRENCIES | ETH/USD (Pre-Sale) ETH (Public Sale) |
| RESTRICTIONS | USA/CHINA/ANY JURISDICTIONS THAT PROHIBIT CRYPTOCURRENCIES |
Pre-sale
| PUBLIC SALE | Jan 22nd 2018 – MAR 28th 2018 |
| MINIMUM CONTRIBUTION | 50 ETH |
| BONUS | 25% |
Public Sale
| PUBLIC SALE | MAR 30th 2018 – APR 30th 2018 |
| MINIMUM CONTRIBUTION | $150 |
| MAXIMUM CONTRIBUTION | $9,900 |
ICO Proceed Allocation
| PLATFORM DEVELOPMENT | 44% |
| MARKETING | 16% |
| OTHER OPERATING COSTS | 13% |
| CONTINGENCY | 10% |
| INCUBATION PROGRAM | 6% |
| OPERATIONAL RESERVE | 6% |
| REWARD SYSTEM | 5% |
ROADMAP
| 30 MAR 2018 | Start of Crowdsale |
| 30 APR 2018 | End of Crowdsale |
| Q2 2018 | Release of MOO Store Alpha version |
| Q3 2018 | Release of MOO Store Beta version |
| Q4 2018 | Live launch of MOO Store Completion of Phase 1 & 2 |
| 2019 | Refining existing solutions + User acquisition + Begin development of Phase 3 |
| 2019 | Completion implementation of Phase 3 – Marketplace and Reward system |
FINAL THOUGHTS
Blockchain technology is a peer-to-peer technology. Adopting it provides Cloud Alliance with several key solutions and benefits:
Communication improvement between all gaming industry participants by offering an alternative funding option and not having to rely on multiple traditional funding methods. Developers will also save on intermediary costs such as retail margins and currency conversion fees. Essentially CMP/MOO is the economic language that can be understood by everyone.
Blockchain transactions are transparent, efficient, and immutable. The technology will eliminate chargebacks and reduce the risk of fraud.
Cloud Alliance will receive massive amounts of data (blockchain and otherwise) to help serve both gamers and developers. Think about it: CMP/MOO transactions are essentially votes to what they feel is valuable. That right there is digital gold.
I admit that initially it was hard for me to understand CloudMoolah’s value proposition. However, with a lot of research and reading, I hope this post has explained their capabilities in a way that is clear to see that blockchain (and subsequent reason for an ICO), CloudMoolah, and the MOO Store are vital pieces of a larger puzzle that fits perfectly together as an ecosystem and overall solution to the problems that plaque the video game industry.
To summarize, here is a list of PROS/CONS to consider:
PROS:
- A clear vision of the problem and technical solution.
- Great partnerships with Asian payment partners and development shops like Unity.
- A targeted region of the world that does and will continue to see massive gaming growth.
- A team that has a long history of video game industry experience and a stellar track record attracting partners and providing innovative solutions. For more team detail visit this link
CONS:
- Southeast Asian region gaming market is growing, but hard to penetrate.
- CloudMoolah has picked both a booming market region and high growth technology. They are not the only game in town. Nitro is another competitor in the same space.
- How much of Cloud Alliance’s success will be tied to Unity’s growth and success?
- Building the solution is one thing, attracting users is another. I like that Cloud Alliance has earmarked 16% of their ICO proceeds towards marketing, but cryptocurrencies are still not mainstream and while the gaming demographic is not averse to new tech, cryptocurrency adoption rate is still low.
Weigh the above carefully, but I wouldn’t bet against Cloud Alliance’s track record. Cloud Alliance is already successful even without crypto, but hopefully it will be the icing on the cake.
I think CloudMoolah’s ICO has great long term growth potential. I plan to watch their progress closely and hopefully one day use their product and service along with millions of other gamers in the future.
If you agree with my assessment, I encourage you to read more detailed descriptions of CloudMoolah’s plans in their whitepaper, specifically the use cases for CMP/MOO as well as their development phase outlines.
Game On!
CLOUDMOOLAH REFERENCE LINKS
Website
ICO Details
Whitepaper
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Reddit
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Medium
Bitcointalk
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Traversing the Cryptosphere,
Kryptonaut (GeneralCryptoZod on Telegram)
Bitcointalk profile: johnnyjj
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