How did you first discover Habbo and when?
To be honest with you I first heard about it when I was applying for the job back in 2015. I genuinely never heard of it when I was growing up, which is pretty weird because I’ve been super, super keen on games from a very young age and Habbo was absolutely massive back in the early 2000s. When I was a kid, at my school it was all about Runescape and CounterStrike 1.6!
How has your journey been from your time working for Habbo?
I really enjoy working on Habbo and I always have, even during the difficult times. I guess if you’re talking about journeys, I’ve learnt a huge amount while working on Habbo. There’s been tough times for sure and I know it’s been really difficult for the community with trading, progress with the Modern client in 2020 and 2021, but I’m super happy and excited to be working on Habbo right now. More than ever actually – now that we have a roadmap and we’re completing the stuff we set out to do, there’s much more of a buzz in the air here in the team!
Is there a favorite memory that comes to your mind that you have from your past years on Habbo?
I’m quite a nostalgic person to be honest, so for me it has to be running a little fireworks night event on Habbo.com in 2015. I remember making this super basic little room and repeatedly clicking on fireworks furni to set them all off haha. I think there’s a GIF someone made that shows it somewhere, someone used it randomly in response to a Habbo NFT tweet recently and I got a real pang of nostalgia!
Also, being part of the Habbo Avatars drop last September was really, really special. I’ll never forgot those last frenetic minutes of the mint. Massive, massive privilege to be a part of that!
What has been your favorite campaign or furni line so far?
Probably has to be Habbocalypse. It was the first Habboween campaign I worked on and I love dystopian type films and games!
What was your reaction when you first found out about Habbo making the Habbo NFT project? Were you part of the talks behind this?
I’d actually seen people tweeting us about how we “should do NFTs in Habbo” even as early as 2020 if I remember correctly. But, like most of the Habbo community, I had no idea what they were really so I had to do a lot of reading. After realising what the technology allowed us to do and the benefits it could bring to our community, it got me super excited. And yes, the talks were pretty open, lots of people were involved.
How did you get to the position you currently have? Did you apply or was it a promotion to you?
I got promoted to my current role, but I applied for a less senior position originally in 2015.
Whats a day at work look like for you? What are your daily tasks in your position?
It’s a pretty varied role to be honest – there’s lots of writing, a fair amount of graphic design work, some community management type activities, and then of course lots of meetings. For Habbo and Hideaway I work with Dalmia and LittleMin. We plan content calendars for those games together and they do a lot of the execution. Then I also do a fair amount of work on the NFT project, working alongside Kaneljente and Hajautus. I guess I tend to get most involved in the bigger stuff we communicate for Hideaway, Habbo and the NFT project – feature releases, big announcements, etc.
Are you satisfied with the outcome that Habbo NFT has had so far?
Broadly, yes I am. I think we’ve brought an absolute ton of utility to our holders and I was super happy with how the pre-alpha went. Macklebee and his team are a talented bunch of developers and everyone should be really excited for Alpha 1! In general I’m proud to be part of a project that not only has an ambitious roadmap but also delivers on it. I feel like the community is pretty strong and I don’t feel like many gaming-focused NFT projects can say the same.
What’s your opinion with the community that we have built, and the community tools that have come from it?
I love our community. There are some very strong voices and the Discord has proven to be a fantastic tool for the NFT project. Furni.app was an early addition and I love that website. Habbo3 is putting out some fantastic content on Twitter and I love the commitment to the project. Just like the wider Habbo community, there are some really talented and passionate people here and it’s a privilege to be a part of it. In general, what I really love is that the NFT project community is full of people that are passionate about Habbo as a game first, and see NFTs as something completely optional that enhances their Habbo experience. This is my view, too.
What do you look forward to the most for Habbo NFT?
I think like everyone else, Habbo X!
Is there anything you feel like the project is missing or that you would add?
It’s not necessarily something that we are missing, more like something the whole space is missing: better onboarding. What Reddit recently displayed in truly spectacular fashion, on a basic level at least, is that if you remove the word NFT from your service and the marketing around it people seem to see them for what they are: cool little bits of digital merchandise, or digital collectibles that you can use in your favourite game or social media network.
Web2 items in Habbo are also digital collectibles, but unlike NFTs they’re stored on Sulake’s databases and you cannot own them in the way you can own our NFT items. One thing I think that prevents a lot of Habbos from buying NFTs is the often very convoluted process and the fact you have to use ETH. If we were able to remove some of the steps in the process to buying a Habbo NFT on IMX or mainnet, I think the wider Habbo community might feel like it was easier to get involved and benefit from the technology when playing Habbo. An example of simplifying the onboarding process could be an in-game NFT marketplace, or adding better payment options to marketplaces or layer 2 solutions like Immutable.
In general, NFTs have a massive image problem and it feels like it’s pretty much a trend to hate them, or at least hate the word. I think some people are always going to hate NFTs regardless of the facts or the reasoning that is presented to them. That’s fine and completely up to them – people are entitled to think and say what they want. However, I don’t think the technology itself is going anywhere. Indeed, at the moment more and more of the biggest technology companies in the world are beginning to integrate it into their services. Games are, in my opinion anyway, the perfect example of where NFTs can benefit the customer and Habbo is no different. Back in the 90s everyone said the internet was ridiculous, it’d never catch on, etc. I think it’s likely something similar will happen with NFTs and other blockchain technologies.
What NFT integration are you most hyped for?
Of the ones we’ve yet to do, it’s gotta be pets. But the most important one we’ve done yet is clothing, in my opinion anyway. Clothing is super popular in Habbo and the fact that you can wear NFT clothing and then sell it on is pretty cool. I think this is a fantastic bit of utility for Habbos!
What's a feature on the project you are the most proud of that you have had input on?
I don’t really have a huge amount of impact on Habbo NFT features to be honest. I’m more involved in explaining them and promoting them to the community and beyond. Recently I was pretty pleased at how the birthday event went. From a social media and communications perspective, myself and Kaneljente put a lot of work into that. Along with how smooth the release was and the popularity of the actual items we distributed, it paid off I think.
Where do you see both the NFT project / Habbo in a few years from now?
Well, in a few years Habbo X will almost definitely be up and running and released publicly. Super, super exciting to see how that pans out and I can’t wait for us to roll out the alpha 1, 2 and the betas!
In terms of where Habbo will be, I see an already popular game flourishing as we add new features and improve the Modern client. There’s a huge amount of stuff to add there – collectible cards and a recycler feature being just two of them – and we’re building some nice momentum now. Our new mobile apps also gives our community and any new players the ability to play on their phone/tablet pretty much just the same as they do on desktop, which is really exciting.
If you could design the next NFT furni, what would it be?
I’m a big fan of useful building furni. There’s an Xmas furni called Cabin Stone and Wood Tiles that everyone uses at Xmas. I LOVE that item because it’s so versatile and is quite nostalgic. We’re making a new version for this Xmas campaign, but I’d love to see an NFT furni version at some point.
Outside of Habbo what Hobbies or activities do you enjoy?
I’m really into my music (jungle/drum n bass, techno, ambient/drone). I also love running and I read a lot – I studied politics at university and at the moment I’m taking a particular interest in China and Russia and the governments in those countries. Then, of course, I absolutely love my games. I’ve got a PS5 and I’m currently grinding through the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. Always been really into FPS games! I have a 1 year old son though so true leisure time is limited – looking after him is a challenge, but also super fun at the same time.
How did you first discover Habbo and when?
To be honest with you I first heard about it when I was applying for the job back in 2015. I genuinely never heard of it when I was growing up, which is pretty weird because I’ve been super, super keen on games from a very young age and Habbo was absolutely massive back in the early 2000s. When I was a kid, at my school it was all about Runescape and CounterStrike 1.6!
How has your journey been from your time working for Habbo?
I really enjoy working on Habbo and I always have, even during the difficult times. I guess if you’re talking about journeys, I’ve learnt a huge amount while working on Habbo. There’s been tough times for sure and I know it’s been really difficult for the community with trading, progress with the Modern client in 2020 and 2021, but I’m super happy and excited to be working on Habbo right now. More than ever actually – now that we have a roadmap and we’re completing the stuff we set out to do, there’s much more of a buzz in the air here in the team!
Is there a favorite memory that comes to your mind that you have from your past years on Habbo?
I’m quite a nostalgic person to be honest, so for me it has to be running a little fireworks night event on Habbo.com in 2015. I remember making this super basic little room and repeatedly clicking on fireworks furni to set them all off haha. I think there’s a GIF someone made that shows it somewhere, someone used it randomly in response to a Habbo NFT tweet recently and I got a real pang of nostalgia!
Also, being part of the Habbo Avatars drop last September was really, really special. I’ll never forgot those last frenetic minutes of the mint. Massive, massive privilege to be a part of that!
What has been your favorite campaign or furni line so far?
Probably has to be Habbocalypse. It was the first Habboween campaign I worked on and I love dystopian type films and games!
What was your reaction when you first found out about Habbo making the Habbo NFT project? Were you part of the talks behind this?
I’d actually seen people tweeting us about how we “should do NFTs in Habbo” even as early as 2020 if I remember correctly. But, like most of the Habbo community, I had no idea what they were really so I had to do a lot of reading. After realising what the technology allowed us to do and the benefits it could bring to our community, it got me super excited. And yes, the talks were pretty open, lots of people were involved.
How did you get to the position you currently have? Did you apply or was it a promotion to you?
I got promoted to my current role, but I applied for a less senior position originally in 2015.
Whats a day at work look like for you? What are your daily tasks in your position?
It’s a pretty varied role to be honest – there’s lots of writing, a fair amount of graphic design work, some community management type activities, and then of course lots of meetings. For Habbo and Hideaway I work with Dalmia and LittleMin. We plan content calendars for those games together and they do a lot of the execution. Then I also do a fair amount of work on the NFT project, working alongside Kaneljente and Hajautus. I guess I tend to get most involved in the bigger stuff we communicate for Hideaway, Habbo and the NFT project – feature releases, big announcements, etc.
Are you satisfied with the outcome that Habbo NFT has had so far?
Broadly, yes I am. I think we’ve brought an absolute ton of utility to our holders and I was super happy with how the pre-alpha went. Macklebee and his team are a talented bunch of developers and everyone should be really excited for Alpha 1! In general I’m proud to be part of a project that not only has an ambitious roadmap but also delivers on it. I feel like the community is pretty strong and I don’t feel like many gaming-focused NFT projects can say the same.
What’s your opinion with the community that we have built, and the community tools that have come from it?
I love our community. There are some very strong voices and the Discord has proven to be a fantastic tool for the NFT project. Furni.app was an early addition and I love that website. Habbo3 is putting out some fantastic content on Twitter and I love the commitment to the project. Just like the wider Habbo community, there are some really talented and passionate people here and it’s a privilege to be a part of it. In general, what I really love is that the NFT project community is full of people that are passionate about Habbo as a game first, and see NFTs as something completely optional that enhances their Habbo experience. This is my view, too.
What do you look forward to the most for Habbo NFT?
I think like everyone else, Habbo X!
Is there anything you feel like the project is missing or that you would add?
It’s not necessarily something that we are missing, more like something the whole space is missing: better onboarding. What Reddit recently displayed in truly spectacular fashion, on a basic level at least, is that if you remove the word NFT from your service and the marketing around it people seem to see them for what they are: cool little bits of digital merchandise, or digital collectibles that you can use in your favourite game or social media network.
Web2 items in Habbo are also digital collectibles, but unlike NFTs they’re stored on Sulake’s databases and you cannot own them in the way you can own our NFT items. One thing I think that prevents a lot of Habbos from buying NFTs is the often very convoluted process and the fact you have to use ETH. If we were able to remove some of the steps in the process to buying a Habbo NFT on IMX or mainnet, I think the wider Habbo community might feel like it was easier to get involved and benefit from the technology when playing Habbo. An example of simplifying the onboarding process could be an in-game NFT marketplace, or adding better payment options to marketplaces or layer 2 solutions like Immutable.
In general, NFTs have a massive image problem and it feels like it’s pretty much a trend to hate them, or at least hate the word. I think some people are always going to hate NFTs regardless of the facts or the reasoning that is presented to them. That’s fine and completely up to them – people are entitled to think and say what they want. However, I don’t think the technology itself is going anywhere. Indeed, at the moment more and more of the biggest technology companies in the world are beginning to integrate it into their services. Games are, in my opinion anyway, the perfect example of where NFTs can benefit the customer and Habbo is no different. Back in the 90s everyone said the internet was ridiculous, it’d never catch on, etc. I think it’s likely something similar will happen with NFTs and other blockchain technologies.
What NFT integration are you most hyped for?
Of the ones we’ve yet to do, it’s gotta be pets. But the most important one we’ve done yet is clothing, in my opinion anyway. Clothing is super popular in Habbo and the fact that you can wear NFT clothing and then sell it on is pretty cool. I think this is a fantastic bit of utility for Habbos!
What's a feature on the project you are the most proud of that you have had input on ?
I don’t really have a huge amount of impact on Habbo NFT features to be honest. I’m more involved in explaining them and promoting them to the community and beyond. Recently I was pretty pleased at how the birthday event went. From a social media and communications perspective, myself and Kaneljente put a lot of work into that. Along with how smooth the release was and the popularity of the actual items we distributed, it paid off I think.
Where do you see both the NFT project / Habbo in a few years from now?
Well, in a few years Habbo X will almost definitely be up and running and released publicly. Super, super exciting to see how that pans out and I can’t wait for us to roll out the alpha 1, 2 and the betas!
In terms of where Habbo will be, I see an already popular game flourishing as we add new features and improve the Modern client. There’s a huge amount of stuff to add there – collectible cards and a recycler feature being just two of them – and we’re building some nice momentum now. Our new mobile apps also gives our community and any new players the ability to play on their phone/tablet pretty much just the same as they do on desktop, which is really exciting.
If you could design the next NFT furni, what would it be?
I’m a big fan of useful building furni. There’s an Xmas furni called Cabin Stone and Wood Tiles that everyone uses at Xmas. I LOVE that item because it’s so versatile and is quite nostalgic. We’re making a new version for this Xmas campaign, but I’d love to see an NFT furni version at some point.
Outside of Habbo what Hobbies or activities do you enjoy?
I’m really into my music (jungle/drum n bass, techno, ambient/drone). I also love running and I read a lot – I studied politics at university and at the moment I’m taking a particular interest in China and Russia and the governments in those countries. Then, of course, I absolutely love my games. I’ve got a PS5 and I’m currently grinding through the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. Always been really into FPS games! I have a 1 year old son though so true leisure time is limited – looking after him is a challenge, but also super fun at the same time.
2 Responses
So cool to know Olso is a Counter-Strike fan too!
Basically my childhood, next to Habbo.
Yeah that habbo x someone is going to get famous like bill gates