GM. First message here to you all, so let’s get after it! I’m incredibly fortunate to be here and play a role in evolving the vision and execution of Otherside with this passionate community. In my years of entertainment, media, music, and tech, I can honestly say I’ve never been so warmly welcomed by a crew of connected and supportive people (degenerates? Too soon? :)). I’m blown away and appreciative. 

I’m emotionally and professionally committed to enabling people to be seen, be heard, and connect, and in doing so, build culture on the blockchain with Yuga in Otherside. I’m passionate, and frankly, obsessed about this. To make it happen, and at massive scale, requires deep collaboration from creators and technologists. As Mike Seavers noted last week, new and existing AAA partners who continue to align with us in support of our long-term goals for a persistent, interoperable Otherside, are one critical aspect for all of us.

The other is you - the holders and global communities. The tech is hard. No doubt. There are a lot of steps to get Otherside to the persistent-capable, stable, and web3-enabled state that we all want. But those steps are clear, and we are well down that road. What’s actually harder, though, is building tech that will meaningfully serve the needs/desires of users for years. I’m new here, but not new to seeking to build a persistent, open world. And I’m not down for building something that exists just for the sake of it. Neither are Greg (aka Garga), Daniel Alegre, Mike Seavers, or the rest of the Yuga and Otherside team. Our hearts and souls lie in building a platform where people do things they can’t do now but want to - creatively, experientially, and economically.

In the coming weeks and months, you are going to start to see more Otherside content and experiences and, as always, your feedback will be important to ensuring Otherside has the fun and substance you want. It will be time to be seen and be heard in Otherside’s development, as it will when Otherside is online.

I've already had a great opportunity to meet some of our community at the LA test event. (I was a bit incognito there, as I hadn’t officially started in my role at Yuga!) I was inspired by the breadth of what I heard, and the conversations helped further inform a vision for Otherside. In a couple weeks, I’ll have another chance to get to know more of you at another small test event and this time we are doing it in Europe to get valuable input from around the world. I don’t want to say too much, but I think it’s only fair to bring some Meebs into this party :) Soon after that is ApeFest, where we’ll share more Otherside experiences with you and continue to dive deeper into building together. I hope you will continue to engage heartily with the growth of Otherside. Again, thank you all for welcoming me into this vibrant and passionate community, and I’ll do my best to get to know you and to contribute to it.

It’s GO TIME.

Eric Reid
Otherside General Manager