Tobias Batton, CEO of Ex Populus — Interview Series

In a bid to strengthen one of the fastest growing web3 ecosystems on the blockchain, Ex Populus, a hearty contributor in the ever-growing field, has collaborated with Xai Foundation for a fresh batch of material. To learn a bit more about it, as well as what the future holds for the chain, we decided to reach out to Ex Populus founder and CEO Tobias Batton.

First of all, congratulations on the recent launch of Xai Vanguard: Genesis! Before we slip into the ins and outs of the latest campaign, please could you introduce yourself to our readers? Who are you, and what position do you currently hold at Xia Foundation?

Tobias: My name is Tobias Batton, the founder and CEO of Ex Populus. Ex Populus is one of the core contributors to Xai along with Offchain Labs and Xai Foundation. Ex Populus makes PC games for the chain, developed the Sentry Nodes and helps work with game developers deploying to Xai. I’ve been an entrepreneur in the game industry for the past ~17 years.

While on the subject of Xai Foundation — could you tell us a bit more about it? When was the company founded, and what led the team into the world of blockchain technology?

Tobias: Xai Foundation was founded by an independent group of entrepreneurs to focus on shepherding the Xai ecosystem to focus on elite game developers and world-class entertainment. Ex Populus is one of their partners. To date, Xai Foundation has done over a dozen high-profile game deals, and expects dozens more before the end of the year. These games are all deploying to the Xai Blockchain because of its best-in-class performance and user experience.

Let’s talk about the recent launch of Genesis. What’s new this time around, and what are some of the features that users will be able to experience over the course of the season?

Tobias: Genesis is a very exciting moment for Xai. The previous campaign [Odyssey]  focused on testing the Xai testnet, and this campaign is focused on fully launching and scaling the Xai mainnet. Participants can expect the release of at least half a dozen new games, including Crypto Unicorns, Lost Glitches, Final Form, and a number of unannounced titles.  Tarochi is also returning so fans of the game will have a number of quests to engage with. Ultimately, we believe the campaign will be exciting for everyone interested in web3 gaming.

Season 2 is here and with it comes the Genesis of the Xai Vanguard.

Vanguard is reserved for the most engaged Xai gamers. Players who make into the Vanguard will be celebrated.

During Season 2, players will:
– Play games on Xai
– Use dApps on Xai
– Earn rewards such as in-game… pic.twitter.com/WyMdeamIbH

— XAI 🎮⛓️ (@XAI_GAMES) June 6, 2024

As for earning points and climbing the leaderboard, how exactly do players earn these rewards in Genesis? Could you walk us through that process, please?

Tobias: Anyone interested in participating can visit the Galxe page to see what is available. Many quests are time-limited, so it's important to keep a close eye and watch for new quests that pop-up day-to-day and week-to-week. 

https://app.galxe.com/quest/xaigames/GCzuatdz2R

Early quests will include chain focused activities such as bridging, staking and LPing, but by July participants will be focused almost exclusively on playing the game launched in our ecosystem. As each quest is complete, players accumulate points and rise up the leaderboards. At the end of the campaign, players are rewarded with a commemorative NFT.

Do you have any useful tips for those who’ve never taken the plunge into Xai Vanguard before? Are there any important dos or don’ts that you’d like to share?

Tobias: It’s important to be diligent and keep an eye on new quests each week. Some have more point value than others, so when a big one comes up you don’t want to miss it. Also, all points are tied to your wallet, so be sure to use the same wallet for all quests. Lastly, if you don’t like using wallets, you can use Xai Connect, which manages the wallet for you. You can find links to Xai Connect on the Galxe page.

So, what’s next for Xai Foundation? Do you have any other ideas in the pipeline, or perhaps an event that’ll outline any upcoming developments?

Tobias: There is a massive roadmap ahead with a number of high profile games launching throughout the year. We also have plenty of other big initiatives that will be announced soon. Stay tuned.

Excited to announce our partnership with @SuperWalk_

SuperWalk is the largest Move2Earn (M2E) dApp with over 25K NFT holders, based in Korea and Japan.

M2E has shown product market fit but there is no large protocol focusing on this within the Arbitrum ecosystem.

SuperWalk… pic.twitter.com/8CKScBOiaH

— XAI 🎮⛓️ (@XAI_GAMES) May 31, 2024

And what is the best way to stay informed of these forthcoming announcements? Are there any social channels or newsletters that we should know about?

Tobias: Always follow us on X: @XAI_GAMES

Any final words for our readers?

Tobias: Xai is quickly on its way to becoming the leading web3 game ecosystem. This is because our infrastructure is unparalleled and wallets are fully abstracted from the player’s experience. Dozens of games are deploying to Xai are made by veteran developers in gaming. We believe Xai will lead the industry by year end. You are still early, but time is running out.

Thanks for your time, Tobias!

To stay up to date with Xai Foundation’s latest projects, be sure to check in with the team over on their official social handle here. You can also visit the website for additional updates here.