ICI (ASX) Ann: Quarterly Activities/Appendix 4C Cash Flow Report

Originally posted by frontline1999: ↑

@FingerLicking

I appreciate the responses, but the info that you provide only adds substance to my points. You seem to fall for all the marketing spin and ignore the remote chances of any game being a huge financial success. This is not specific to ICI, but an acceptance of the brutal facts of the high failure rates in the gaming industry. ICI's track record is a perfect illustration of developing money burning games.

The Flying Sheep engine might be useful, but it is far from cutting-edge. Many studios build their own engines to serve specific purposes. If Flying Sheep had cutting-edge tech, it would've raised funds from VCs at US$20m seed valuation.

You regurgitate the meaningless marketing material as if it demonstrates that Star Girl has a valuable USP. Of course brands are welcome, but have any brands been signed-up? If a load of brands were being signed-up, then it'd be reasonable to infer that something potentially interesting is being developed. Companies have been building metaverse platforms for the past 5 years. Shops, exhibits, games, land, avatars etc is hardly novel. There's the big metaverses that everybody is aware of, but there is 100+ others that all offer these standard metaverse experiences. Thus far, none have been able to attract, sustain and grow a reasonable user base. Most are digital wastelands because there's not enough fun user experiences. That's why Star Life needs a much stronger value proposition.

The one-click is misleading, as users are still required to register otherwise they are unable to communicate with any other avatars, which is the whole purpose of the platform. Also, the monetisation challenge remains. How do you get Web2 users comfortable with crypto purchases? KYC, connecting credit cards etc remain significant points of friction, even with a fiat on-ramp.

Star Life could be huge, but the odds are remote because: 1) there's several well-resourced platforms that have a 3-5 year head start 2) all Web3 metaverses are in decline (hopefully not terminal) 3) majority of the 100+ metaverses will be complete failures 4) thus far Star Life has nothing of substance to attract and retain users 5) four out of every five games are commercial disasters.

The odds are remote, is not about opinions, it's just an industry fact. The same applies to MG, Engineers, Kyo etc. Lots of holders don't seem to appreciate the difference between what is possible and what is probable.

Kin's $1b valuation was possible, but it was never probable. The same goes for holders expecting 5-10x gains this year, when the likelihood was extremely remote given the bearish Web3 conditions and basic knowledge about the time it takes to develop games.

If you want a reasonable insight into what Kin expects is probable between 2023-25, just look at the hurdles for his performance shares (which were fortunately pulled).

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i'm unaware of any games comparable to Star Life; can you please provide links to some examples of other browser based (HTML5) massively multiplayer 3D metaverse games like it? (bonus kudos if you can find one that also provides no-code tools "where players, companies and brands can create their own experiences [inside the virtual world]. These can be shops, community centers, event locations, etc" like Star Life will, & "these experiences will also be made very easy [to access], as the owner will get a direct link, which enables anyone to join and enter that specific experience with one click") - The Sandbox, Roblox, Minecraft etc i do not consider apples to apples. But, if Star Life continues to combine the best aspects of those games in HTML5 so it functions inside of browsers & is accessible across billions of devices, that alone will be game changing & should lead to achieving a fraction of their success, which will be enough to send SP beyond the moon!

it's off to a promising start! (https://youtu.be/-xqr_C7XNT - https://starlife.game/tutorial/)

"KYC, connecting credit cards etc remain significant points of friction, even with a fiat on-ramp." - false:

Star Life/Flying Sheep/iCandy are not reporting entities (https://www.austrac.gov.au/glossary/reporting-entity) as they do not provide any designated services listed under section 6 of the AML/CTF Act, such as "financial, gambling, bullion or digital currency exchange services" therefore obligations under the Act, such as KYC, are not required:

https://www.austrac.gov.au/business/core-guidance/customer-identification-and-verification/customer-identification-know-your-customer-kyc

https://www.austrac.gov.au/business/core-guidance/amlctf-programs

also you will find that social logins already have credit cards & payment information attached to them, that's the point! & Star Life will have social logins; so that's also a non-issue: "Easy onboarding with social login. Login with your favourite social account and we will do the rest so you can start playing instantly."

the rest of your comments relate primarily to how tough the industry is & i agree, it's dog eats dog, but that's because gaming is a US$350 billion industry; i also agree that many of KWL's decisions have been disgraceful. most other people would probably agree with those two points. where our opinions differ is that i think the company now has the talent, experience & connections to make multiple of the 'one out of every five games that will be commercially successful', starting with Star Life & Metal Genesis.

of course the success of any game is not guaranteed, but my experience indicates to me that the odds are well & truly in the company's favour of finally having all of the necessary ingredients to now make smash hits internally with owned IP:

based on everything that has been released about the two games, including Flying Sheep's & Lemon Sky's top tier client roster & impressive portfolios, their respective founders Thomas, Wong & Foong leading these projects not KWL, etc, i think these games will contribute to the company having a significantly higher SP in the near term;

current MC of $52m looks way oversold, but that's understandable to a large degree given three consecutive high burn quarterly reports: i wonder what the sophs who tipped in $40m cash (including $10m from AB1) at 11.5 cents/share think of KWL & Friday's 3.9 close; that's a 66% loss for them in less than two years!