Swiss company Sbarter addresses issues that gamers are initially sceptical about. And this scepticism is healthy, says Dominique Cor, CMO and Head of Partnerships. He explains how Sbarter does things differently in order to enrich the gaming experience rather than restrict it.
At the beginning of October, Sbarter presented its idea for a skill-based contest system. How did the industry and investors react to Sbarter, and are you satisfied with the responses?
Dominique Cor: We see Sbarter as a new model of fair, player-driven competition, where outcomes depend on merit and talent, not chance. A friendly competition with small stakes makes matches more exciting, turning play into memorable events within games people already love. The reaction has been very encouraging, and importantly, very aligned with what we set out to build. When we introduced Sbarter in October, the industry understood that this wasn’t just another gaming feature, but a new way to bring player-driven competition into everyday play.
What resonated most with publishers is that Sbarter finally brings a sustainable revenue model built directly on user activity, without adding friction, changing game design, or touching the core economy. Every time their community runs a contest, the publisher earns a fee for validating the result. It’s simple, compliant, and fully aligned with how users already behave. For many studios, especially mid-size or mobile-first, this is the first time they can monetise competitive engagement in a way that is predictable and regulator-friendly. They also value the fact that Sbarter doesn’t compete with them or sit between them and their players. On the contrary: it reinforces their role, strengthens retention, and brings financial support back into the ecosystem.
What matters most to studios is very simple: Sbarter strengthens their existing game rather than disrupting it.
Investors responded in the same direction. They see that Sbarter isn’t trying to replace existing monetisation pillars, it adds a fourth one, grounded in performance, community activity, and transparent validation. It’s a model built to complement ads, IAPs and subscriptions, not compete with them.
We’ve also had strong inbound interest from studios, creators and regional partners looking to pilot integrations or run early contests.
So yes, we’re very satisfied. The feedback is consistent: Sbarter feels both instantly familiar and genuinely new, a way for players to create their own competitive moments, and a model that finally aligns incentives between users, creators, and, crucially, publishers.
Until now, the gaming community in particular has always been very critical of topics such as pay-to-earn and blockchain. What does this mean for your communication, and to what extent does it make it more difficult for you to find investors and studio partners?
It’s true that players have been very critical of pay-to-earn models and of the way blockchain has sometimes been used in gaming. And frankly, that skepticism is healthy, it comes from years of seeing models that extract value from players instead of supporting the ecosystem.
But that’s exactly why our communication is built around clarity and transparency. We never present Sbarter as a crypto product or a speculative system. It’s a player-driven competition layer. And most importantly, players don’t have to deal with blockchain at all, but they still benefit from it. The technology runs in the background to guarantee maximum security, transparent results, and automatic payouts. From the player’s perspective, it’s seamless: you just play, challenge a friend and the winner is rewarded fairly.
For publishers and investors, this is actually an advantage. They see that Sbarter isn’t repeating the mistakes of earlier Web3 attempts, we are not selling assets, not altering game economies, and not creating volatility inside their titles. Instead, we provide a transparent, regulation-aligned way for players to enjoy friendly, performance-driven challenges, a contest format that naturally enhances gameplay and community engagement without changing how the game works, and a new revenue stream for publishers that rewards them directly whenever their communities engage and compete.
That’s why many studios respond positively because Sbarter enhances their games’ value: higher engagement, longer lifetime, and a new source of income, all without touching their gameplay or monetisation model.
So yes, we take the community’s concerns seriously, but we also see them as an opportunity. They force us to communicate clearly about what Sbarter is and what it isn’t. And once that’s understood, both players and publishers realize that this model isn’t pay-to-earn or blockchain gaming at all, it’s simply a fair, secure way to bring real competition back into everyday play, while also helping support the games and studios they care about.
Sbarter wants to launch next year. What is the current status of the preparations and what are the next steps?
We’re on track for launch next year and the foundations are already in place. Over the past months, we’ve focused on building the core pieces that matter most: the protocol infrastructure, the compliance framework and early integrations with studios. The protocol is ready and now entering its rollout phase with selected partners. The focus is on securing the first game integrations and finalizing compliance frameworks ahead of the 2026 launch.
The next steps are very practical and execution-driven:
We are entering the final phase before public rollout: refining the experience, onboarding partners and preparing the ecosystem.
As is so often the case, success will ultimately depend on the right content. How many studios are you talking to and what does it take to convince a partner?
We’re already in conversations with a wide range of studios, from mobile to PC, across Europe, Africa, and South America. Some of these discussions are in advanced stages, and several pilot integrations are already underway. We’ll announce names closer to launch, but the level of inbound interest has been strong.
What matters most to studios is very simple: Sbarter strengthens their existing game rather than disrupting it. When we present Sbarter, we’re not asking for a redesign, a new game mode, or an overhaul of the existing economy. What we offer is a new revenue line tied directly to real player activity for publishers, increased engagement that extends a game’s lifetime, and a way for players to actively support the games and studios they love, because every community-driven contest feeds value back into the ecosystem rather than extracting it.
In short: Sbarter strengthens the business of a game without adding complexity, and it turns community activity into sustainable value for the studio, something no other model currently offers.
This combination is what gets studios interested: they keep full control, players get a more exciting and social experience, and everyone in the ecosystem benefits from the activity generated.
Assuming a studio is interested in your solution and wants to integrate Sbarter, how far along does a game need to be in development for integration to make sense? Or to put it another way, can Sbarter also be easily integrated into finished and published game systems?
Sbarter is designed to be extremely flexible, so integration works both for games in development and for fully released titles. For studios building a new game, the earlier we talk, the easier it is to align on where player-driven contests might naturally fit. But there is no requirement to redesign gameplay or build new systems, Sbarter only needs a clear, measurable match outcome (a win, a score, a ranking).
And yes, it can be integrated just as easily into finished and already-published games. Because Sbarter plugs in through a lightweight API and doesn’t interfere with the in-game economy, studios don’t need to rebuild anything. They keep full control of their systems, and the game continues to operate exactly as before.
What changes is simply this: players can run their own friendly performance-based challenges, publishers earn revenue every time those challenges happen and the game gains a new layer of engagement without altering its core design. So whether a title is in early development or already live with an established community, Sbarter can be added smoothly, safely, and without disrupting what already works.
How can interested studios and publishers contact you?
Studios and publishers can reach out directly through our website, sbarter.com, where they’ll find a dedicated contact form for partnership inquiries. We also meet many of them through industry events and direct introductions — but the simplest way is just to get in touch with our partnerships team. We’re open to discussions with any studio that values fair, player-driven competition and wants to explore how Sbarter can enhance their player experience.
How does a studio benefit from using Sbarter?
Studios benefit from Sbarter in three major ways: engagement, revenue, and ecosystem support, all without changing their game. Every time players run a friendly performance-based challenge in a studio’s game, the studio earns a fee for validating the result. There’s no new content to build, no marketplace to manage, and no redesign of the economy, it works on top of what already exists.
Player-driven challenges add excitement, rivalry, and social dynamics to everyday gameplay. This keeps communities active for longer, increases retention, and boosts organic activity without extra development effort. Unlike many monetisation models that extract value, Sbarter returns value to the games where activity happens. Players can actively support the studios and titles they care about, every community-created challenge feeds revenue back into the game. Studios keep complete control over their data, game economy, and player experience. Sbarter integrates through a lightweight API and stays invisible inside the gameplay loop.
In short: Sbarter strengthens the business of a game without adding complexity, and it turns community activity into sustainable value for the studio, something no other model currently offers.
And how do you plan to finance yourselves in the long term? Or will you stick with the non-profit approach?
The non-profit model isn’t just about neutrality, it’s about building something that ultimately belongs to the industry itself. All revenues are reinvested to grow and secure the ecosystem, but over the next two years, our goal is to hand governance over to the publishers who use the protocol every day. Sbarter was never meant to be owned by a single company, it’s meant to become a shared standard for fair, player-driven competition.
