Researcher(s)
Date of Talk
Bio
James Hursthouse is a seasoned entrepreneur, executive, and thought leader with over two decades of experience in the global interactive digital media and technology sectors. Beginning his career in the early days of online gaming and MMORPG development in Asia, James has been at the forefront of technological shifts that continue to shape the industry. After moving to Canada in 2010 to lead Roadhouse Interactive where he worked with organizations such as Fox, Red Bull, and Iron Maiden, he has since founded and advised a number of ventures in gaming, digital media, and Web3.
James contributed to the landmark Metaverse Roadmap whitepaper in 2007 and has maintained a consistent focus on the pillars of the future it identified ever since.
Currently, through his advisory Greenstone Initiatives, James works with organizations across gaming, blockchain, and interactive media, with AI, DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks), real-world assets (RWA), instant gaming, and the evolving Web3 ecosystem as common denominators.
He is a frequent speaker at international conferences and a vocal advocate for the role of gaming as a cultural testbed for transformative technologies.
Abstract
Abstract: Video games have always been more than entertainment. They are society’s testbed for new technologies, making complex systems accessible to billions of people. The rise of graphics hardware, online multiplayer, virtual identities, and digital economies all found their first large-scale adoption in games before becoming cornerstones of our digital lives.
Blockchain technology is now moving through the same process. At its core, blockchain offers transparent, decentralized systems of ownership and trust — qualities that matter far beyond finance. They address structural challenges, from fragile monetary systems to digital rights and identity. Yet, as with many breakthroughs, the first wave of blockchain games fell short. Gameplay was shallow, many projects were speculative, and the broader industry dismissed them as gimmicks or scams.
But early failures are not the end of the story. They are the necessary growing pains of a new paradigm. What looks today like awkward experimentation is, in reality, a live rehearsal for systems of digital property rights, decentralized governance, and cross-border economies. By embedding blockchain into games, developers are translating abstract concepts into lived experiences. Owning a virtual item or participating in a player-run guild becomes a stepping stone to understanding and engaging with new societal models.
This talk will examine how blockchain gaming’s experiments — imperfect as they are — may play a pivotal role in popularizing and normalizing technologies that can help address some of humanity’s most pressing challenges.
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