ApeCoin DAO contributor TheChainGamer has been writing about Web3 games and working in the Web3 ecosystem for the past few years. Now, he's diving into the ApeCoin DAO’s Special Council race with the goal of leading the community toward a future filled with games powered by $Ape!
The winter election season of 2023 is underway at the ApeCoin DAO, with 27 contributors officially running to replace BoredApeG, Gerry, and VeraTheApe on the DAO's Special Council in 2024.
Among the candidates vying for a position on the ApeCoin DAO's Special Council is TheChainGamer.
“There are a lot of opportunities to grow the $APE ecosystem, especially at this point in time when we are still in a bear market,” TheChainGamer wrote on his candidate page. “We can bring indie builders on board and create a powerful gaming ecosystem around $APE. Once that is done, the sinks needed for $APE will come automatically. I would highlight Parallel and the Forgotten Runes pre-alpha earlier last week as prime (no pun intended :D) examples of creating games, free to play, with great sinks. We don’t yet have that in the $APE ecosystem and it can be easily done if we onboard the right builders with the right incentives. I believe my contacts and contributions in the web3 gaming space will allow me to add significant value to the ApeCoin DAO council.”
To find out more about TheChainGamer’s Special Council candidacy, his past experiences in Web3 , and his thoughts on Web3 gaming, the Bored Ape Gazette reached out to him for an interview. Check it out below:
1. In a sentence or two what is your candidacy all about?
“Creating value for $APE holders. I believe the way to do this is to use our treasury responsibly, move quickly and onboard great indie game developers. We need to fulfill the DAO’s vision of making $APE the gaming currency of the metaverse.”
2. When and why did you decide to ape into the Special Council race?
“I thought about it long and hard and didn’t apply last time. This time though, I felt I at least owed it to myself and the community to try and run, present a vision for what we can do with the DAO’s resources and hopefully if given the chance, add value to the DAO by getting some good quality game devs and games into the $APE ecosystem.”
3. What makes you the right $Ape for Special Council? How has your past prepared you for this role?
“I’ve worked at one of the biggest tech companies on the planet, Microsoft. From there, I went to work at a 10 person AI startup, SparkCognition. I’ve been there for the last 8.5 years and in that time, the company has grown from a valuation of $50MM to $1.4B. I’ve been an individual contributor prototyping things late into the night with all sorts of new technologies – AR/VR, Blockchain, AI etc. I’ve managed small tiger teams, large teams. Created a 50/50 joint venture with the Boeing Company and SparkCognition called SkyGrid, where I was a founding member and Chief Product Officer overseeing all our engineering and product development. I’ve been in crypto since 2016 and gaming has been a lifelong passion. Playing them, making them, designing them. I’ve been an Ape since early 2021 (2455 – Cowboy Caesar, was bought from Pranksy for 1.8 ETH). I’ve been an indie game developer since I was in college (16+ years). I am intimately familiar with the web3 gaming ecosystem and I am one of the TreasureDAO Arbitrum Council members (TreasureDAO holds the largest supply of $ARB and has a large part to play in the Arbitrum ecosystem via AIPs, etc.). I’ve been part of ZenAcademy since the beginning, also one of their Brand Ambassadors. Most recently, I have been part of the founding team of Navigate (http://nvg8.io) a web3 GIS data platform that aims to make maps smarter using crowdsourcing and AI. We raised a $7.625MM seed round for that. I think the breadth of experience puts me in a great position to contribute to the DAO. I believe we need to move with the agility of a startup, spend little money, find out what works, what doesn’t. Aggressively pivot away from what doesn’t work and double down on what does. We need to reduce the time it takes to make decisions.”
4. What would you like to accomplish during your term?
“Bringing good indie game developers onboard and having playable prototypes at the very least which the DAO members can playtest and give their feedback on the game loop.”
5. Where would you like to see the DAO a year from now?
“I would like to see us have several games that run on $APE and are enjoyable to play. $APE becomes an afterthought for the gamer because they just love the gameplay. To them, it is just a virtual in-game currency. That is what web3 gaming success looks like for me.”
6. What are your thoughts and views on an ApeChain?
“I think Apechain is a great idea. Personally, I would go with an L3 chain running on an existing L2 such as Arbitrum, etc. The L3 would be dedicated to the $APE gaming ecosystem.”
7. What’s your favorite book, movie, and show?
“This is tough! There are so many! Even though I haven’t been reading as much as I should recently. My favorite books would have to be The Jedi Academy Trilogy. It was part of the Star Wars continuation (before Disney ruined Star Wars) where Luke Skywalker sets up his Jedi Academy! My favorite movie of all time is Father Goose that starred Cary Grant (my favorite actor)! Show is easy. M*A*S*H. Best show ever made!”
8. Do you have anything else you’d like to add or say?
“I am grateful for the chance to run. I hope the community sees value in what I propose, and I hope the DAO can execute on creating a robust, viable ecosystem for $APE! BAYC for life!!!”
ApeCoin DAO Contributors who would like to find out more about Uzi’s campaign can reach out to him via Twitter @TheChainGame
The window to vote in the first round of the ApeCoin DAO’s Special Council election is currently open and $Ape holders will have until December 13th to cast their coins in support their preferred nominees.
After the first round of voting, the top five nominees with the most votes will proceed to the second round of voting and officially become ApeCoin DAO Special Council candidates. The DAO will then conduct one more election from December 14th through December 20th. During this second vote, the community will officially elect its three new Special Council Members!
Take a look at the full Election season timeline below:
