If you have trouble getting your head around what Metaverse is, we highly recommend you to watch two movies – Inception, starring Leonardo Di Caprio, and ‘Ready Player One’.
Inception is a movie where people take a deep dive into their subconscious in their sleep and travel into an alternate world. They can plant ideas in their subconscious and do everything they do in real life, like meet people, work, play games, and even build things like streets, buildings, etc., with their brainpower.
Metaverse comes very close to the concept of inception, but rather than all of this happening in people’s dreams, it happens in an alternate reality powered by VR devices. And ‘Ready Player One’ does a great job showcasing that; it beautifully captures the way people will interact in the Metaverse using their digital avatars.
We have been aspiring to live in an alternate reality for a while now, and these movies are proof. We first heard the term ‘Metaverse’ floating around in Neal Stephenson’s dystopian cyberpunk novel, Snow Crash, in 1992.
The story revolves around a virtual reality dataspace, which could be accessed using personal terminals and VR headspaces. Pretty similar to what is coming to life.
Top 5 Metaverse Projects
Lately, Metaverse as a concept has become really big, with the space worth almost $50Billion!
And why not? It is something that people have always dreamed of. Their obsession with the current 2D internet is a testament to how invested they would be in its 3D version, which is even more immersive. To top it off, it is driven by the hottest technologies of the decade – AR, VR, MR, and blockchain.
However, Metaverse is still a concept, and it has not come to life yet. All the projects around the topic are building their own interpretation of the Metaverse. With that said, here are some of the promising projects building the alternate world.
1. Sandbox
It is one of the most well-known metaverse projects out there. Sandbox is a virtual world where users can buy and develop land, build games and create non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Land is a piece of real estate in the Metaverse.
The project has two core use cases – NFTs and Games.
Users can mint NFTs in the Sandbox universe and even buy them in the form of land. This exchange happens on the Ethereum blockchain. They can also engage in games on the platform to earn rewards. It also allows you to customize your own games using the Game Maker, a visual scripting toolbox.
The Sandbox platform also has a utility token, SAND, primarily used for transactions and interactions in the Metaverse.
2. Decentraland
Decentraland is the first-ever blockchain-based 3D virtual world. Its objective is to create virtual social experiences like e-commerce, marketing, and retail. Decentraland functions on the Ethereum blockchain and lets users enter the Metaverse even without a crypto wallet. How convenient is that?
Like Sandbox, it also allows users to buy virtual plots of land as NFTs in the Metaverse; you can also collect in-game items. Users can even create their own NFTs. What’s unique about Decentraland is that users can participate in its governance through its DAO.
The MANA token helps engage in the Decentraland Metaverse.
3. Metahero
Metahero is yet another awestruck Metaverse project. Unlike other projects that let you create objects from scratch in the virtual world, Metahero provides users with 3D scanning and sculpting services to re-create real-world objects.
Their objective is to create the largest database of scanned objects and people and ship the real world into the Metaverse. Anyone can scan anything and have full control of their scanned property.
Metahero has also collaborated with Wolf Digital World, a leading 3D modeling agency, to become Metahero’s technology arm. The HERO token is the native token used to transact on the network.
4. Gala Games
Gala Games is another well-known gaming metaverse, and it offers a range of blockchain-powered games. These games are not just MVPs but fully developed experiences. Gala Games pride themselves on creating games that people actually want to play.
It is built on the Binance Smart Chain, making it cost-effective to play. Gala Games leverages its community to stand apart from the competition. It gives players control of their game and encourages their involvement in decision-making.
More than 16000 nodes in the ecosystem are player-run. It observes over 1.3M monthly active users and has sold about 26000 NFTs, with the most expensive NFT sold at 3M.
5. Bloometa
Bloometa is a cross-chain marketplace for Metaverse games. It will first launch on Tezos and expand to Ethereum, Binance Chain, Solana, Avalanche, and other EVM chains.
It lets users conveniently trade in-game assets and allows players to purchase, sell, mint and auction NFTs. Players can safely transfer in-game assets from one blockchain to another with the help of their smart escrow contracts.
Wrapping Up
Crypto and blockchain are evolving by the day, and so is the Metaverse concept. A full-fledged Metaverse is still a distant dream; however, the projects mentioned above strive to inch closer to it every day.
But do note that this list is dynamic, and only those who can run at a 1000kmph will make it to the finale and announce the first-ever fully functional Metaverse for the public.
Until then, keep an eye around for the amazing ways projects are trying to get there.