Gaming gets a web3 upgrade without the grind

A six-player battle rages across a fantasy world. Loot drops, victories stack up, and behind the scenes, web3 technology enables players to own and trade their items. But for Open Loot, it’s not about the blockchain—it’s about making games players actually enjoy.

At the forefront of this movement is Open Loot, a platform designed to deliver high-quality web3 gaming experiences. Leading this charge is Thomas, marketing lead for both Open Loot and its flagship title, Big Time, which is currently in Open Beta (an early stage of development). While many past web3 gaming projects have focused on financial incentives, Thomas believes the key to success is simple: make great games first.

In a recent interview with The Crypto Radio, Thomas shared his vision for Open Loot, explaining why he sees the platform as the “next Steam of web3”—a hub where players discover and enjoy games worth playing rather than mere tokenized economies.

"I want to make it very clear that we, at Open Loot, want to build things that people want to spend time playing,” Thomas said. “Rather than only looking at economics… we actually want to build games that people are having fun playing,"

Breaking away from play-to-earn

The last crypto gaming boom was dominated by play-to-earn models, where players engaged in repetitive tasks to generate tokens. While financially rewarding in the short term, these games often lacked compelling gameplay, leading to quick declines once the economic incentives faded.

Thomas and the Open Loot team are taking a different approach. Their priority is gameplay, ensuring that web3 elements enhance rather than define the experience. 

“To download and play any of the opening games, you do not have to have a wallet connected, but in order to withdraw funds, if you sell an item or do any marketplace activity you do,” he explained.

Open Loot also has a marketplace that functions much like Steam, providing players with a seamless way to engage with in-game assets but with web3 elements. Players who earn NFTs within Big Time or any other Open Loot-supported game can freely buy, sell, trade, and even rent their items within the marketplace.

Speaking to the quality and gamer-centric nature of their games, their first title, Big Time, is a prime example—an open world action MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) that has continued to attract players long after its launch.

"We have a very big road map of stuff coming to Big Time, and we're trying to make everything come out with everything else that we're doing," Thomas explained. "It's an open world fantasy, MMO game, fast paced action, where you can party up to six players."

This philosophy extends beyond Big Time. Open Loot is expanding its game lineup with upcoming titles like Boss Fighters, Destination, Shadow Point, and Warsaw Nation, each designed to offer unique, high-quality experiences rather than just serving as an excuse for an economy.

Building the Steam of web3

With an expanding portfolio of carefully selected games, Open Loot is positioning itself as a web3 version of Steam—a popular digital gaming platform where users can buy, download, and play games, as well as trade in-game items. 

While the team remains selective about the titles they onboard, with Thomas explicitly saying “we're never going to put a game on Open Loot, which we don't trust,” they are not closing the door to new projects. In fact, Open Loot has allocated significant funding to support and integrate promising new games into its ecosystem.

"We like to call ourselves the next Steam of web3," he asserted. "Open Loot is open for newcomers. We also have a $150 million fund for new coming games. If so, if you're a new game, or old game, Web3, and you want to be on Open Loot, we have space for that.”

This commitment to trust and quality extends beyond game selection. Open Loot is bridging web2 and web3, making blockchain gaming more accessible to mainstream players. Their marketplace allows users to buy, sell, and rent in-game items with a user experience designed to be as seamless as traditional gaming platforms.

"One thing that we did very well is that we actually have a very strong bridge of web2 people that came into the game and later became investors and came into web3" Thomas said. "You can check item activity, view detailed stats, and trade with confidence, all in one place."

As blockchain gaming moves beyond speculation and toward sustainability, Open Loot’s vision stands out—an ecosystem where web3 enhances gaming rather than overshadowing it. If Thomas and his team succeed, they may just reshape the industry.

 

Listen to the whole interview on The Crypto Radio's live player or in Token Files podcast.