"SNPIT" is a blockchain game with a new concept called "Snap to Earn" where you earn money by taking photos. In a roundtable discussion, we asked each of the participants about how the game was born, its future developments, and the vision it aims for, which has already attracted attention.
"SNPIT" is a new blockchain game jointly developed by Garcis and Tulingham, both subsidiaries of GigWorks, and released in 2023. The idea of "Snap to Earn", where the person who takes the better photo using the camera function of their smartphone wins, has the potential to become even more popular in the future due to its simplicity.
In this project, we gathered the top executives of Garcis, the developer of SNPIT, its parent company GigWorks, and Tulingham, and asked them to share their honest thoughts with us about the future prospects of the project and the "marketing theory" that will be important in the Web 3.0 field.
First of all, please tell us about the background and circumstances that led to the development of SNPIT and the idea for the Snap to Earn genre. I understand that Otsuka and Mise were the main players in the creation of this. What do you think about that?
Toshiyuki Otsuka (hereinafter, Otsuka): Regarding SNPIT, we were originally making a different camera app called pictier, and initially we were trying to make a completely different Snap to Earn model, where you get paid by taking pictures of advertisements in the world that haven't been digitized yet.
However, when the idea for it started to emerge, STEPN started to become popular, and I got into it and played it quite a bit (laughs). At that time, Murata suggested that we make a camera version of STEPN, and we started from there.
So when we decided to make it a blockchain game, we thought it would be best to consult with Tulingham, who has specialized knowledge in tokenomics, and so we started the project in its current form.
Mise Shuhei (hereinafter, Mise): When I first heard about it, I thought it was a very interesting initiative.
Listening to Otsuka's ideas, I heard that he was aiming to skillfully incorporate advertising into STEPN and make it something that would be used as social infrastructure for a long time, so I thought we might be able to create a system that would sustainably support that, and we agreed to work together, which is how we got to where we are now. I think the process from planning to development went relatively smoothly.
Otsuka: That's certainly true. We first started moving after we consulted with you about it around May of last year, brought it up as a project, and started a closed beta with a small number of people in August, so I think things were going smoothly up to that point.
When developing SNPIT and designing its tokenomics, what were the things you focused on, the difficulties you faced, and how does it differ from other "X to Earn" projects?
Otsuka: Taking into account the issues of past blockchain games, we originally thought about not setting a limit on token issuance, but Mise-san advised us that it would be better to set a limit on the amount of tokens issued, so we changed our minds.
We have been discussing how to make the business sustainable and long-term without being affected by inflation or deflation.
Mise: When STEPN was released, many projects were using the dual token model, but this has significant disadvantages, so we discussed it in particular when we first spoke.
In the end, a single token is easier to preserve value and seems to match Otsuka-san's vision for the future, so we decided on this model.
Mr. Mise mentioned "the future that Mr. Otsuka is aiming for." Could you tell us more about it?
Otsuka: I think it's good that Web 3.0 is a world where you can contribute to a product by owning your own data, and you can receive the benefits. However, it is also true that it will not be sustainable unless the number of users continues to expand.
I think that the gap will eventually occur, so I've been thinking about whether users will be able to receive the benefits of the product when the gap is even greater than the number of users.
If we look at this as a major turning point for the Internet, I think we need to create a world where people can receive the benefits of the change from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0. In that case, it would be meaningless to stop at the current blockchain game, which has a maximum scale of 100,000 or 200,000 users.
We need to take this to a scale of 10 million or 100 million people. When I think about it like that, I hope that 10 million or 100 million users will join SNPIT, receive tokens based on their contribution, and help improve their lives.
That's the scale we're aiming for, but on the other hand, I think that unless we reach that scale, there won't be much impact.
Mitsuse: What's great about SNPIT is that it addresses the value of the photo itself.
For example, with social media, it depends on the number of followers and the influencer's power of communication, but SNPIT looks at a single photo and judges whether it has value, so it's a model that can measure how much value there is.
Even if you don't have influence at the moment, if you take a really good photo you can win a battle and become famous, or you can decide on a theme and have various people take similar photos and compete for the most valuable, so I think SNPIT has infinite possibilities.
So-called blockchains and cryptocurrencies guarantee the liquidity of value, so I think the question of where that value lies is important, and I think SNPIT is a project that properly addresses that issue.
What were your thoughts when you heard about this concept, Mr. Murata?
Mineto Murata (hereinafter, Murata): We had already developed Pictier, so I felt that this would be connected to our main business and could become a business.
However, when it comes to the advertising issue mentioned earlier, while there are many billboards in urban areas, there are fewer in rural areas, which inevitably leads to unfairness. However, using blockchain can solve this problem.
Last year, I also talked about SNPIT with Yasushi Akimoto, who was appointed general producer of Nihon Chokuhan, a group company of ours. At that time, Akimoto said, "It would be amazing if this game became a game with a market capitalization of 1 trillion yen," and our Otsuka declared, "No, it's 1 trillion dollars" (laughs).
But this is not necessarily a ridiculous dream, and I think that if we get the world involved, we can create that much value. Personally, I think SNPIT is more interesting and fair than Instagram.
The idea of SNPIT came about when you were thinking about ensuring fairness.
Murata: Yes. I like cameras, and the fact that Japanese projects are starting to be replaced by overseas projects also spurred me on. In my personal opinion, the only areas of home electronics where Japan is still surviving are cameras and rice cookers.
Recently, there are more and more overseas products in rice cookers, so the only ones that remain are cameras. With Web 2.0, Japan has been pushed aside by overseas companies, which is also frustrating. It is very sad that Japanese products are said to be in decline and young people can no longer have dreams.
Not because of this, but I think cameras, which remain as a strength of Japan, can still survive. That's why I hope that in the future SNPIT will be able to connect with all existing camera manufacturers.
The overwhelming majority of people who take photos are elderly. But even if they take photos, there is no place to show them. I think it would be even more interesting and profound if there was a place to show them and have them evaluated, so I hope SNPIT can play that role.
Ryo Tanaka (hereinafter Tanaka): Web 3.0 does not have the boundaries between urban and rural areas, or Japan and the world, so I think that even if it is the first project in Japan, it is a field where it can immediately compete on the world stage. In that case, I think that the good thing about Web 3.0 is that it uses tokens to provide incentives.
For example, let's say that inequality is occurring in the traditional world. In that case, I think that by utilizing Web 3.0, the motivation for incentives of people who have felt unfairness until now will increase. Rather, I think that such people can become new targets, and the good thing about Web 3.0 products is that anyone can easily participate.
I think that SNPIT is also interesting because users who take good photos and win by using tokens can earn incentives. The fact that anyone can participate is also good in terms of fairness.
Could you tell us how you plan to develop SNPIT in terms of future branding and marketing?
Otsuka: In terms of marketing, we are now moving overseas and preparing measures to attract overseas users, and we are about to make a big move. I think that there are about 1 million core users of blockchain games worldwide, and in Japan, it is still at the level of only a few tens of thousands, so it is a high hurdle to get beyond this number.
There are many people who are interested, but the perception that "blockchain is easily used for fraud" is deeply rooted, so it is quite difficult to penetrate. In the end, it is very important to penetrate the general public, and the existence of "KOL (Key Opinion Leader)" is often mentioned by people in the industry.
It is a standard practice to spread correct awareness of blockchain through such influential people, but in terms of spreading it to a wider range of people, we are currently very conscious of how to bring in people who have not been interested until now, such as partnering with people like Yasushi Akimoto.
Tanaka: As Otsuka-san said, we are good at expanding into existing Web 3.0 areas, but we recognize that expanding beyond that to more than one million people is still a challenging area, even on a global scale.
On the other hand, it was only thanks to the efforts of Murata-san and Otsuka-san that we were able to link influential people to the project. In a way, this is something that only this team can do, and I think it's an area where we can feel the new possibilities that we haven't had before.
Otsuka: I think many people heard the name SNPIT for the first time when famous people played it. They were like, "SNPIT? What's that?" (laughs). But I think that's important.
In fact, there are a lot of people who say that they first learned about blockchain through SNPIT. SNPIT is easy to understand, as you just take a photo, so I think that lowers the barrier to entry for Web 3.0.
Tanaka: I think it's also connected to efforts to overcome the chasm of gradually spreading it from so-called innovators and early adopters to the early majority.
Otsuka: However, the Web 3.0 industry as a whole has not yet overcome the chasm.
Tanaka: That's right. The Web 3.0 market is waiting for a kind of killer app that can overcome that, and without that, it will be difficult to spread, so I think that's the direction of SNPIT.
Please tell us your thoughts on the future of "Web3.0 marketing" and its form, from both the perspectives of existing business areas and the Web3.0 area.
Murata: In my opinion, if all the functions are implemented in the SNPIT app, that problem will be solved. If there is something you don't understand, you can understand it through SNPIT. If we can get to that stage, I think Web3.0 marketing will be viable.
Otsuka: The process itself is very simple, so there are some differences in how well you take photos, but if you play normally, you can earn money and win games, so the low hurdle is what makes it easy for users to continue.
For example, it has been 135 days (at the time of the interview) since the open beta version of SNPIT started, and there are nearly 200 people who have been playing almost from the beginning, and even if you play for more than 100 days, there are nearly 1,000 people.
People who want to make a quick profit, which is common in blockchain games, have already left, and instead there are a lot of people who enjoy playing the game, which I think is a huge strength.
Tanaka: I think what Otsuka-san said is the most important point. The important thing is to do this globally. To put it bluntly, people who join for the purpose of "making money" don't particularly like the service itself. They like the act of "making money", not the service.
At SNPIT, the important thing is how many people who are passionate about the act of taking photos play. This is not enough domestically, so we need to get overseas involved as well.
I think the most important thing is how successful this global marketing is and how to build a system to capture that enthusiasm. I think creating this system is a kind of marketing.
Finally, please tell us about your future aspirations and a message to SNPIT users.
Mise: I think this project has a really good eye for value, and it's a project that confronts value. I want to make this a project that helps people develop the habit of confronting things, and I think that Tulingham can support this from the system side.
Tanaka: Furthermore, as experts in the Web 3.0 field, we not only support the detailed design of tokens and economic design and their sustainability, but also want to work on changing the rules of the entire industry.
Murata: Currently, SNPIT is an app that lets you take a photo and compete, but in the future we are considering adding a function that allows users to choose which photo is better. If this is added, for example, when a company is selecting a package, it could say, "We will adopt the proposal of the first person to receive 1,000 votes."
Through such efforts, we may be able to contribute to reducing companies' marketing costs. We are also working on a wide range of other ideas, so we hope that users will continue to look forward to them.
Otsuka: When people think of blockchain games, they tend to have the image that they can make money for a while but then it doesn't continue, or that they will lose money. We want to break that image and make it a game that everyone will recognize as the one that has brought about mass adoption of Web 3.0.
Ryo Tanaka,
CEO and CBO of Turingum Co., Ltd. After working at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and a Web3 startup, he was involved in launching LINE's blockchain and NFT business. He served as vice chairman of the JCBA NFT division. He joined Turingum in 2022 and is leading business development.
Shuhei Mise
Advisor, Turingum Co., Ltd. Graduated from the School of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University. Engaged in treasury management at Mitsubishi Tokyo UFJ Bank and BNP Paribas. Launched a new blockchain business at bitFlyer. After joining Turingum, he became CEO in 2020. In May 2023, he retired from his position as CEO and became an advisor.
Mineto Murata
CEO of GigWorks Inc. In September 1997, he joined WillCreate Inc., and became a director there the following year in September 1998. In October 2002, he joined SBI Promo Inc. (now SBI Real Marketing Inc.). In March 2007, he became CEO of Welcom Partners Inc. (now SPRING Inc.). In January 2014, he became CEO of GigWorks Inc., and in August of the same year, he became CEO of the company (current position).
Toshiyuki Otuka
President and CEO of GALLUSYS Inc. In 2017, he worked at a call center consulting subsidiary of GigWorks Inc. In September 2020, he established GALLUSYS Inc. as a group company of GigWorks Inc. He is currently serving as President and CEO. In March 2021, he released the non-verbal SNS "Pictia" globally, and in October 2023, he released the Snap to Earn service "SNPIT."
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