Games are now becoming the most popular place for kids and young adults to hang out today. This phenomenon became very evident during this pandemic, where time spent on popular games like Fortnite, League of Legends, Animal Crossing and Roblox exceeded that of other popular apps like Youtube and Instagram. Moreover, gaming platforms like Twitch and Discord have begun to replace traditional social or communication platforms as the primary way in which people socialize.  What’s more astounding is that people are starting to use gaming platforms for much more than gaming. High production value digital concerts like the Travis Scott or Lil Nas X concerts took place inside of Fortnite and Roblox. People started to have business meetings and school graduations in Animal Crossing. And watching streamers and influencers play Among Us on Twitch became this cultural phenomenon that mimicked a purely digital, real-time, reality show. In this episode, I explore with Jon Lai, who has been an instrumental figure in bridging the gap between the gaming and consumer tech industries, the factors that are making gaming become mainstream and his predicted trends of the trajectory of the industry.   ABOUT THE GUEST Jonathan Lai is a partner on the consuming investing team at Andreessen Horowitz, focusing on games, next gen social, and the creator economy. Jon serves on the board of Singularity 6, StarStock, Elodie, and Mountaintop. Before a16z, Jon led the North America business development & investments team at Tencent. Prior, Jon was a product manager at Riot Games, the developers of League of Legends, before the company was acquired by Tencent. Jon is a lifelong gamer and can often be found roaming the fields of justice after hours. SHOW NOTES [6:20] Historical context of gaming, what does a gamer looked like before and now [9:00] Why stereotypes around gaming changed [10:30] Core elements of game psychology and gameplay [16:40] Rise of streaming and why it’s so appealing [21:45] Capturing and sharing content gaming and virtual experiences [27:30] User generated content’s role in building the metaverse [29:40] Blockchain and NFT games, Play-to-Earn model