Improve and adapt, don’t replace—web3 needs legacy systems | Opinion

High ideologies and complex narratives won’t bring the next one billion users to web3. Engaging use cases will. The masses just want a quarter-inch hole and don’t care about the quarter-inch drill. Plus with meme coins emerging as the ‘the most important trend’ across crypto cycles, left-curves are clearly winning. Especially as living costs increase by over 3% YoY and people desperately seek new ways to make life-changing money.

Hi-tech maxis might only see a ‘numbers go higher’ mentality in all this. But for the rest of us, it’d be naive and short-sighted to miss the deeper implications. Web3’s adoption dynamics and user demographics are changing.

Web3 memes are currently the primary on-ramp for retail. At the same time, institutions are backing web3 gaming and entertainment platforms. VCs like a16z, Bitkraft Ventures, etc., poured $988 million into this sector in April 2024 alone. That’s more than the total funding for Q2 2023. 

Media—the common link between meme coins and gaming—is the ‘killer use-case’ we’ve all been looking for. And like decentralization or composability, it’s becoming a foundational principle for designing web3 systems. It’s also a practical means to user-centricity. 

That users want to be entertained is beyond any reasonable doubt. However, adapting to this entertainment-led paradigm can be challenging for web3 builders, mainly for those trying to force use cases on blockchains and the overall web3 stack for years.

Disruption just for disruption’s sake brings more instability than positive change. So, while the passionate urge to (re)build everything from scratch—i.e., completely overhauling legacy systems—was understandable in web3’s very early days, it’s no longer relevant or cool.

Reinventing the wheel every time is futile, wasteful, and unsustainable. More so if we want to meet users where they are and ensure great experiences. Outgrowing the web2-is-all-bad and blockchain-solves-it-all mindsets is urgent in this context. 

Fade web2 at your own risk

Legacy systems have many problems. Bad UX isn’t one of them. Google, Netflix, and other Big Tech firms have made the web highly usable and enjoyable. Bandai Namco, Ubisoft, etc., brought high-fidelity, immersive entertainment and gaming to the masses.

Now, we can be all negative and cancel these pioneers for being anti-user, extractive, and whatnot. Or, we can adapt their time-tested primitives and frameworks to develop engaging products and services faster. Plus, we can improve (or introduce) privacy, data ownership, composability, and other user-centric aspects using the web3 toolkit.

Negativity is destructive. Collaboration is productive. It allows us to compound value because building on top of existing infra or knowledge pools expands their scope. This boosts adoption and revenue.

The groundbreaking success of franchises vis-à-vis standalone entertainment IPs exemplifies the practical, economic upsides of the collaborative approach. Nine of the ten all-time-high revenue-generating movies are franchises. Gaming presents a similar picture with titles like Grand Theft Auto or Call of Duty. 

Continuity in disruption 

Creating fresh IPs every time they want to release something new is economically restrictive for studios. Whereas for users, continuing IPs are great because they’re familiar, have a shorter learning curve, and appeal to their community (cult) sentiments.

There’s a lesson for web3 here. We can create new IPs to specifically serve web3-native audiences and cultures. It’s a great way to foster creativity and unlock new avenues. However, to boost adoption and interest, we must focus more on translating established IPs over to web3.

For example, Meta-Stadiums and Luis Moncada have teamed up for the ultimate Breaking Bad x GTA V crossover, a.k.a Breaking Point: Los Santos. It’ll bring two of the biggest gaming communities together, bridging the gap between diverse people.

Collaborating on IPs is one of the best ways to build entertainment-led adoption engines for web3. The IPs per se don’t inherit the problems of centralized legacy systems. They are rather independent of the underlying tech or business model. 

We can thus tap into the fame and traction of popular IPs without inheriting any problematic revenue or data extraction method. Moreover, implementing novel revenue streams or ownership avenues will make these IPs even more attractive and immersive for existing and potential communities. 

Likewise, creators of fresh web3 IPs can leverage hybrid licensing frameworks that enhance autonomy and reduce costs while using existing processes for easier operation. Combining tradition and innovation always unlocks new possibilities. 

Web3’s ability to simultaneously support patents and open source is a great example. It reminds us how bridging gaps is the endgame—not increasing them. We don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. And the sooner we realize how web3 and web2 are more complementary than we used to think, the better it’ll be for our collective future. 

Upcoming generations can enjoy the best of both (and every) world. It depends on our willingness to be open-minded and explore progressive paths. Let’s not disappoint those who come after us.