00:00Precision delivery of medicine
00:02entertainment franchise games absolutely
00:05exploding small modular reactors and the
00:07nuclear Renaissance plus AI moving into
00:11very complex workflows now these were
00:14just a few of the major Tech innovations
00:16that Partners at a16z predicted last
00:19year and our partners are back we just
00:21dropped our list of over 40 plus big
00:24ideas for 2024 a compilation of critical
00:27advancements across all our verticals
00:30from Smart energy grids to Crime
00:31detecting computer vision to
00:33democratizing Miracle drugs like gp1s or
00:36even AI moving from blackbox to clearbox
00:40you can find the full list of 40 plus
00:43Builder worthy Pursuits at a16 z.com Big
00:47Ideas 2024 or you can click the link in
00:50our description below but on Deck today
00:53you will hear directly from one of our
00:55partners as we dive even more deeply
00:58into their big idea what's the why now
01:01what opportunities and what challenges
01:02are on the horizon and how can you get
01:07in as a reminder the content here is for
01:10informational purposes only should not
01:12be taken as legal business tax or
01:14investment advice or be used to evaluate
01:16any investment or security and is not
01:18directed at any investors or potential
01:20investors in any a6z fund please note
01:24that a6z and its Affiliates may also
01:26maintain investments in the companies
01:27discussed in this podcast for more
01:30details including a link to our
01:31investments please see
01:38disclosures I'm Robin I'm on the a6z
01:41games team and my big idea for the year
01:44is on anime so anime is a uniquely
01:47accessible art style for both kids and
01:48adults the medium allows for many
01:50different story archetypes and player
01:52profiles there are Adventure components
01:55romance hooks social Loops many other
01:57things within anime games that lead to
01:59deep player engagement
02:00um we're excited because things like
02:02genin set the new standard for a fully
02:04cross-platform performant game across
02:06multiple device types gpus and
02:08Frameworks and there are now many
02:09passion developers that are building new
02:11experiences for players everywhere and
02:13so we believe that anime will be a
02:14medium that transcends both uh different
02:17games genres uh art styles and we're
02:20excited to invest across that ecosystem
02:23and we see this in the data too where
02:25anime has become one of the highest
02:26grossing genres in the ecosystem when
02:29calculative by average revenue per user
02:31or arpus for instance moyo generated
02:33over $3.8 billion from releases like
02:36genin impact and Hawkeye daral in 2022
02:39and early this year Nintendo launched
02:41Zelda teers of the Kingdom which is on
02:42track to be one of the highest grossing
02:44games this year and in 2024 I expect
02:47anime momentum to continue continue
02:49forward too all right so Robin I love
02:51this big idea and I'm sure many of our
02:53listeners are familiar with anime but
02:55for those who aren't or just a set a
02:57foundation what actually constit Utes
03:00anime and maybe how does it differ from
03:02other formats like manga or web Tunes
03:04yeah so I think anime is unique because
03:07it started from Japanese Comics right
03:10and so it's defined by a few different
03:13types of art styles so one is solid
03:17outlines exaggerated features blocked
03:19out colors and textures and lines um
03:22things like enlarged lines and so in
03:24large size and so forth um it's a little
03:26bit different than web Tunes because web
03:28Tunes are origin from K
03:30and so there's slight artistic
03:32differences such as uh web Tunes tend to
03:35be a little bit more pastel and shaded
03:37they also tend to have like more rounded
03:38shapes instead of like the hard lines
03:40like anime and so but there's no real
03:42like hard and fast lines for like what
03:44defines anime right so some people
03:46consider avatar The Last Airbender which
03:48is like a American cartoon or RWBY which
03:52is another American cartoon anime 2 and
03:54so like I think the genre is like pretty
03:56broad I'd say it's more defined by like
03:58its fan base um because most of the core
04:01anime fan base likes a wide variety of
04:04things across these different uh
04:06archetypes yeah definitely and you
04:08mentioned that anime specifically is
04:11able to incorporate different components
04:13like Adventure components or romance
04:15hooks or social loops and that generates
04:17this really deep engagement and we see
04:19this in the data we'll get to the the
04:21revenue in a second but what do you
04:23think it is about anime's style that
04:25actually sets that genre apart and
04:27allows for some of those components and
04:29some of that engagement in the
04:31gameplay yeah so I think in general like
04:35different art styles are very targeted
04:36at different audiences and so for
04:38instance if you take something like
04:39Elden ring it's a very hardcore Dark
04:42Fantasy audience or if you take
04:43something like fortnite or Roblox those
04:45tend to be more cartoony or legoy and so
04:48it tends to skew way younger and so you
04:50only have like a certain sub segment of
04:52experiences that's available because
04:54your art style is like tailored to that
04:56specific experience whereas with anime
04:59like many different types of people and
05:01many different age groups and many
05:03different demographics really like it
05:05right so you can make a casual game like
05:07a match 3 game that has like anime
05:09components or you can make a romance
05:10game where people feel very deeply about
05:12the characters or you can make like an
05:13action game and you can see that even
05:15with genin right it's both like an
05:17action and romance Dating Game and so
05:19many of them U these genres can
05:21basically combine and so I think in
05:23general like anime is just able to
05:25combine many different types of player
05:27profiles cuz like a lot of people like
05:29anime there's a lot of different player
05:31types that just like gravitate towards
05:33the medium yeah and there's a lot of
05:36people playing I mean some of the data
05:38that you shared and your big idea really
05:40surprised me I knew anime was popping
05:41off but some of these games are making
05:43tens of millions of dollars per month
05:45that's not per year and so how are these
05:48games monetizing and is the monetization
05:52strategy any different from other genres
05:54of games yeah so there's typical things
05:58like battle passes or or IAP or
06:01progression Loops that you can put in
06:03and so they have like standard
06:04monetization techniques that are pretty
06:05common in all mobile games right like oh
06:08you buy some boost or you buy the battle
06:10pass for the month or so forth the one
06:12thing that's distinguishing about anime
06:13gifts in particular which tends to drive
06:15the high arpu is the gacha component and
06:17so this evolves from gsha ponds in Japan
06:20where basically you know you used to put
06:22like a 100 yen coin into the gashapon
06:25machine and get a random character out
06:27and so this is the same idea with Goa
06:29where like you know I spend $5 I roll
06:31the gacha and I try to get like my
06:33favorite character my favorite like
06:35husbando or waifu essentially um and so
06:39I think there are fair critiques that
06:40like this is like you know similar to
06:43gambling in certain ways but basically
06:45anime has tackled this by essentially a
06:47lot of the best studos have tackled this
06:49by making it so that there's like a lot
06:51of pity techniques and that the earn
06:54rates and the drop rates for five star
06:56characters are like decently reasonable
06:58and so you basically have a lot of um
07:01different emergent behavior that comes
07:03from that too because basically people
07:04will be like you know post YouTube
07:06videos of like Drop openings and box
07:08openings and like hey I got my favorite
07:10character and so it's like makes for
07:11great content plus it allows for people
07:14to have like very high spend depth in
07:15the game and so that's why you see like
07:17arpus as high as like 3040 $50 whereas
07:20like some other games the arpo might be
07:22more in the like 10 to $20 range so it's
07:25like you know 3x for you know
07:27potentially two to 3x what like a
07:30regular game makes right right and just
07:32to clarify gacha is like those almost
07:34like vending machines in in Japan where
07:37you like insert money and then you get
07:39those like round balls with something in
07:41it okay just wanted to to clarify that
07:43for anyone who wasn't familiar um it
07:46does feel like certain companies I think
07:48Netflix has announced um certain
07:50investments in anime so large companies
07:52are I guess you could say waking up to
07:55this opportunity but I'd love to just
07:57get your take on why it's felt like
07:59maybe at least from the outside people
08:01were sleeping on this trend and and
08:04maybe still are in a way do you think
08:06that'll change and and what do you think
08:07maybe has has not um has not been
08:12capitalized on by by the masses yet yeah
08:15I think in the past you know when I was
08:17growing up anime was definitely a weird
08:19otaku like nerdy thing that people
08:21didn't like to talk about and so you
08:23have to figure out who also watches
08:25anime and only talk about with their
08:26friends because you didn't want to come
08:27off as like uncool or watching this
08:29weird Japanese cartoon thing right and
08:32so um I think anime has changed a lot
08:35and gone way more mainstream so you see
08:37things like jusu Kaizen or attack on
08:40Titan or even the old like Naruto bleach
08:42series or one piece getting really big
08:45these days and I think there's just like
08:46way more anime viewers right if you look
08:48at the stats I think something like 50%
08:50of Millennials and now like 70% of gen Z
08:53watch anime and so like more and more
08:55young people are um watching and
08:58converting to the media and I think
08:59that's why people were sleeping on it
09:01before is cuz people were just like oh
09:02it's this like little side genre and
09:04hobby that like some people like but
09:05actually now it's something that like a
09:07lot of people actually really enjoy
09:09because there's just many stories that
09:10you can tell through the medium and then
09:12the other thing I think people didn't
09:13realize is like um the fan base kind of
09:15keeps to itself and so like anime fans
09:17are extremely extremely passionate and
09:19you can just like look up the numbers of
09:20like how much anime fans SP spend on
09:23like figurines and merch and games and
09:26so forth um but they don't they keep it
09:28to themselves right and they like spend
09:30it within their Community rather than
09:31bringing it out to like a wider
09:33Community because I think there was
09:34still that stigma before whereas now
09:36it's like changing it's sort of similar
09:37to like gaming right like when fortnite
09:38got big and football players started
09:40doing fortnite dances like then you know
09:42like gaming is also going mainstream I
09:44think this the similar thing is kind of
09:45happening to animy now yeah definitely
09:47and I'm curious to hear your take on who
09:49you think you could say wins or or
09:52really you know dominates this genre as
09:54we move forward there's obviously big
09:56giants like EA or tensent that have been
09:58around for ever I think you mentioned M
10:00moyo is that how you pronounce it yep
10:03moyo moyo um which has been around since
10:062011 so a little newer but still around
10:09for a decade or so but then I assume
10:11there's still room for new developers
10:13how would you think about that and also
10:15what lessons can developers learn from
10:18the success or the rise of
10:20anime yeah I think um one it's important
10:25to be a devout follower of the medium to
10:28be successful and so I think one of the
10:30reasons Moya was so successful is their
10:32tagline is literally otaku saved the
10:34world and so it's just a bunch of it was
10:36started by a bunch of college kids who
10:37are just super passionate about the
10:38medium and they're very specific things
10:40about the genre that you have to get
10:42right such as like I think mhoo really
10:44gets right like the specific character
10:46design of a lot of its characters it
10:49gets right a lot of the like archetypes
10:50of like oh this is a t this is a you
10:53know little sister type of character
10:55like there's a lot of like archetypes
10:57that you to get right to make sure that
10:58you're like doing right by the genre
11:00essentially and doing right by its fan
11:01base and so I think Moya was super
11:03successful at that and then they also
11:05built up its capabilities over time
11:08right so some of the first honai games
11:10you know did progressively better but
11:12nothing at like billion dollar scale and
11:14eventually they build up the teeken
11:15capabilities to build genin which is now
11:18a billion dollar scale but took like
11:19several hundred million dollars to make
11:21and so it takes a while to like build up
11:23to that genre and that scale and so I
11:25think new developers have to like spend
11:28time with it but I think what also great
11:29about anime it's just like it's not as
11:32expensive of a medium to develop because
11:34like a lot of it isn't even about the
11:36gameplay a lot of it's about like the
11:37art and the story and so forth and so
11:39you're not building something as deep as
11:40like an MMO per se which might cost you
11:43several hundred million dollars you can
11:45build like more casual like mobile
11:46things that are like cheaper to develop
11:48and cheaper to put out to Market and
11:50it's just like an art style right and so
11:51you can put out many different types of
11:53things and so I think um to answer your
11:56question I think both big players like
11:58moyo will continue to you know generate
12:00new hits such as like hongkai Star rail
12:02launch this year but then also I think
12:04there's a lot of opportunity for
12:05Innovation and we've bet on a few
12:07companies in that space similar to um so
12:10poto labs and also Odyssey interactive
12:13are both building like anime style games
12:15one is building a anime action RPG and
12:17other one launch Mega Strikers which is
12:19like table Hockey League of Legends and
12:21so U we're pretty excited for both um we
12:24believe that both startup devs and large
12:26companies can have a lot of uh potential
12:29awesome and I mean just to close that
12:32out the style itself can probably be
12:35enabled by some of the new technologies
12:37that are coming online are becoming more
12:39omnipresent so AI XR what are your
12:42thoughts on how those new technologies
12:43impact the system and maybe help us
12:45invent the new next wave of anime yeah I
12:49think AI is definitely an obvious one
12:52for anime because it's a 2D art style
12:55and it's a very known art style and so
12:58um the AI is very coherent and can
13:00generate very good like assets for the
13:02medium and so you can look at things
13:04like nii Journey which is a fork of mid
13:06journey and probably the most common um
13:08anime 2D art asset generation right now
13:12and so I'm pretty sure that like you
13:13know many people will be generating both
13:15like mods and Fan Art but also people
13:18will be using this in a production
13:19setting to get anime games out for
13:21cheaper and getting them out at like
13:23very high quality so I think that will
13:25definitely happen for sure on XR I mean
13:27you can look at the success of like
13:28Pokemon go for instance I think XR is
13:30like an interesting new medium and we'll
13:32have to see what kind of games come out
13:34of the medium but you know for large
13:36brand such as like Pokemon then I think
13:39it's like a very Innovative use case for
13:41like hey like we go the wild we collect
13:43Pokemon out anywhere um and it's just
13:45like living your core fantasy that you
13:46had when you were a child I don't think
13:49XR will necessarily like I'm not sure
13:51exactly what will come of XR because
13:53like we don't know what we don't know
13:55and I'm sure people come up with way
13:57more inventive things than I can come up
13:59with um so I'm just excited to see like
14:01how the platform develops and see what
14:02kind of new dabs make like cool new game
14:04movs on the platform all right I hope
14:06you enjoyed this big idea we do have a
14:09lot more on the way including a new age
14:11of Maritime exploration that takes
14:13advantage of AI and computer Vision Plus
14:16AI first games that never end and
14:19whether voice first apps May finally be
14:20having their Moment by the way if you
14:23want to see our full list of 40 plus Big
14:25Ideas today you can head on over to as6
