A lot more interests have been drawn to the metaverse due to Facebook’s rebranding to Meta, but there are many promising metaverse platforms in the immersive virtual environment that offers amazing digital experiences to users.
What is the Metaverse?
The term metaverse originated from the science fiction novel Snow Crash published in 1992 and written by the American writer Neal Stephenson. It is a combination of the words ‘Meta’ which means ‘Beyond’ and ‘Verse’ which is the shorthand of ‘Universe’ giving the metaverse the literal meaning of “Beyond the Universe”
The universe right now is the physical world and the metaverse just basically means “Beyond the physical world” or “beyond our physical environment.”
The world of technology is gradually moving from two-dimensional interaction to multi-dimensional interaction and that is what the metaverse is all about.
The metaverse is a fully immersive virtual environment that allows for a three-dimensional interaction between users.
With the metaverse, users can immerse themselves into digital content rather than just viewing it.
What are the metaverse platforms?
The metaverse platforms are digital environments that provide developers with assistance in the process of developing new kinds of virtual experiences through the utilization of augmented reality, virtual reality, and a variety of other technologies.
You can think of metaverse platforms as the bridges that connect the real world to the digital one.
List of 15 most promising metaverse platforms
The Metaverse is becoming more intertwined with our everyday lives. It is becoming something that more people are participating in with an increasing amount.
Here is a list of 15 most promising metaverse platforms that we could look out for:
- Decentraland
- Sandbox
- Blocktopia
- Star Atlas
- Roblox
- Hyperverse
- MetaHero
- Nakamoto
- Cryptovoxels
- Somnium space
- Axie Infinity
- Illuvium
- Epic games
- Sorare
- Upland
Decentraland
Decentraland was founded in 2015 by founded by Esteban Ordano and Ariel Meilich and made public in February 2020.
Decentraland is a browser-based, Ethereum-powered 3D metaverse platform that enables users to explore, engage, and play games in the virtual world while also buying and selling digital real estate.
The platform has developed over time to include user-interactive apps, in-world payments, and peer-to-peer communication.
Decentraland uses two different kinds of tokens: MANA, a cryptocurrency that makes it easier to buy LAND as well as other virtual goods and services utilized in Decentraland, and LAND, a non-fungible token (NFT) used to define the ownership of land parcels representing digital real estate.
Sandbox
The Sandbox, which runs on the Ethereum blockchain, is the third-largest metaverse.
It enables users to create, share, and make money off of their gaming and real estate experiences. In the virtual world, people can play, construct, own their properties, and possess in-game items. Additionally, people can sell these assets and receive cash in the real world.
The entire in-game economy is supported by the crypto metaverse’s native cryptocurrency SAND.
It consists of three products that give players a full gaming experience: VoxEdit, a program that enables the creation and animation of 3D objects, the Sandbox Game Market which allows users to make 3D games at no cost and the Sandbox Marketplace, a location where users can sell their assets after uploading them to an interplanetary file system.
Blocktopia
Blocktopia, which is supported by the Polygon network and was created by the creators of Sony Playstation VR on the cross-platform Unity game engine, is one of the rapidly growing decentralized metaverses.
Bloktopia was developed to enable people experience virtual reality using blockchain.
It is a metaverse that aims to give its users a distinctive experience by offering a 21-story skyscraper where they can learn, interact with others, do commerce, and much more. It has 21 stories in honor of the 21 million Bitcoin.
The VR metaverse seeks to develop into the center of learning for all levels of cryptocurrency expertise. Users will have access to both fascinating content and information on cryptocurrencies in one location for the first time.
It also enables business owners to acquire land and develop it as virtual real estate, with adverts and events that provide users the chance to make money. Users are allowed to acquire fundamental or advanced skills, make money, play games with friends, develop networks, and do a lot more.
The BLOK token owners and inhabitants of the Bloktopia metaverse are known as Bloktopians.
Star Atlas
Star Atlas is a space-themed multiplayer gaming metaverse 6based on the Solana blockchain. According to its white paper, it was created by Automata and enables users to “team up, organize, and fight their way into unknown territories.”
The founder decided to form a development team in 2020, which marked the beginning of the Star Atlas project. The game was however released in January 2021.
Players can time travel into the futuristic setting of the year 2620 in the metaverse-meets-crypto RPG game Star Atlas and explore the cosmos virtually.
The three main groups that make up Star Atlas’ Realm are the human race, alien species, and robotic species.
The two game-controlling tokens in Star Atlas are POLIS, the governance token, and ATLAS, the payment token.
Star Atlas offers a deep and cinematic exploration of this virtual space and boasts breathtaking visuals. The Star Atlas metaverse brings blockchain technology to a level of sophistication by combining with the Solana Blockchain network, which can process 50K transactions in a second.
Roblox
Roblox, which is seen as the first IPO in the metaverse, is a multiplayer interactive game that allows you to design scenarios and enter them as an avatar of your choice.
Roblox is very popular among Gen Z. Teenagers love its gaming platform, and growth on it skyrocketed in the early days of the pandemic when everyone was stuck at home.
According to the Roblox website, more than 20 million games have been released since the service’s debut. One of this platform’s most distinctive features is the option to accessorize your avatar with items from real-world companies like Burberry.
Roblox has doubled the number of monthly active users since 2019. There are currently about 43.2 million active daily users that like playing games, interacting with others, and creating interesting things on the platform. It is a strong contender for the metaverse’s future.
Hyperverse
HyperVerse is a virtual platform that is made up of millions of planets. It is built on the premise that mankind will have perfected interstellar travel technology by the year 2078, giving the idea of multi-planet exploration more vitality.
A Voyager is a term used to describe somebody who lives in the HyperVerse.
Voyagers can interact with one another, experience other cultures and lifestyles, make tokenized things, launch enterprises, and explore the cosmos in the HyperVerse. VerseDAO ensures that every citizen of the galaxy has an equal opportunity in the HyperVerse.
Players can earn HVT, the HyperVerse’s native token, by taking part in numerous activities available across the virtual environment.
MetaHero
Metahero is a 3-dimensional scanning technology that creates ultra-high-definition avatars from real-world items, including people.
Despite having smaller popularity than Decentraland, Metahero makes up for it by providing 3D scanning technology that transforms real-world objects into virtual counterparts. These virtual objects can then be applied in a variety of contexts, including education, training, and entertainment.
The physical and digital worlds are joined together by cryptography and 3D scanning technology. With the help of this platform, users will be able to customize and employ highly realistic digital clones for a variety of metaverse activities. Because of Metahero’s 3D modeling collaboration with Wolf Digital World (WDW), each 3D avatar has a lifelike body type and a photorealistic face, resulting in exceptional AAA avatars.
Users can scan their own bodies on the platform and then mint the scan as an NFT for usage in the metaverse. Avatars can be equipped with various abilities from a variety of classes.
The native token of Metahero, HERO, has also demonstrated its viability in virtual world transactions. It is anticipated that both the innovative NFTs and coins of this metaverse will soon enter larger markets.
Nakamoto
The Nakaverse is a pay-to-earn blockchain-based gaming environment that contains both original games created by Nakamoto Games and user-generated content.
It aims to establish itself as the first play-to-earn gaming metaverse with its numerous tools and capabilities
Nakaverse combines the most alluring elements of single-player and multiplayer gaming onto a practical metaverse platform that is simple to use. It is one of the first metaverses to feature a true in-game economy. Users have the option to buy virtual land, construct structures, and more. The NAKAverse’s official currency is the $NAKA token.
Users can use NAKA to buy and sell real estate, buy in-game items and accessories, and other things in Nakaverse’s own NFT marketplace.
Cryptovoxels
Cryptovoxels is an Ethereum-based metaverse that is almost like Minecraft. This metaverse platform consists of a vast array of digital structures and plots of land that people are free to keep constructing on.
Real-world infrastructure including roads, buildings, lands, etc. can be found in this virtual world. Users are allowed to own land parcels and erect buildings on top of them. Land plots can be bought with Ethereum or Cryptovoxels Parcel (CVPA) which is the metaverse token.
Players have the option of selling their virtual properties or building inside of them, including adding signs, posters, and audio tracks.
Cryptovoxels has succeeded in building a fantastic community that has only expanded over time, inspiring the development of ever more innovative and captivating NFTs. Because of this, Cryptovoxels is a project to remember in 2022 and beyond.
Somnium space
Somnium calls itself “an open, social and persistent virtual reality platform,” that combines features like entertainment, communication, and e-commerce to create a wealth of mind-blowing experiences in the metaverse.
This 3D blockchain platform which is based on a multi-chain strategy is very user-friendly and allows users to completely modify their surroundings and their avatars.
It also gives users access to other activities like creating an NFT Gallery, utilizing a VR avatar to attend VR concerts while dancing with a full-body tracking kit and making new NFT-based worlds and experiences that other people can enjoy.
The metaverse economy of Somnium is built on CUBE, one of the metaverse’s most stablecoins. The in-platform cryptocurrency is utilized to support transactions and transfer assets.
Somnium is unquestionably in a class of its own and it has earned the attention of major cryptocurrency players like Gemini, Microsoft, and Opensea.
Axie Infinity
Axie Infinity is a blockchain game founded by Vietnam-based Sky Mavis in 2018. It is a play-to-earn game that uses crypto and NFTs to enable income-generation opportunities on the platform.
It is seen as a game with a self-sufficient economy as its foundation. In-game resources are completely owned by players and can be monetized.
Axies are the game creatures that must be previously obtained in order to play. Axies are essentially NFTs that give participants specific proof of ownership. They provide entry to the game, which allows you to purchase land plots, develop your own kingdom, engage in commerce, and increase the worth of land. Axies are bred and trained, much like Pokemon, to battle other axies that belong to other network users.
The Axie Infinity game setting resembles that of any online multiplayer game where experienced players declare hostilities and wars against newer players while new players accomplish chores to acquire experience.
Axie Infinity is a virtual environment with a lot of promise and is recognized for being the metaverse that has sold the most expensive virtual lands.
Illuvium
Illuvium is a Role-playing game (RPG) developed by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) called the Illuvium DAO. The game was first announced in January 2021 and it was described as “a decentralized, NFT collection and auto battler game built on the Ethereum network.”
It employs a play-to-earn system where users can wager their tokenized assets in the game to earn NFTS.
Users can look for in-game objects and creatures (Illuvials) in the form of NFTs that can be used for in-game activities including combat, gathering, and trading thanks to the open world.
ILV is the token of Illuvium and it is used to award players for their achievements in the game.
The timeline of the game’s Metaverse is intriguing, giving players a taste of storytelling and innovative design that enhances the overall immersive experience.
Illuvium, which is thought to be the first AAA blockchain-based video game of this scale, marks a huge advancement for metaverse technology.
Epic games
Epic games which is a big proponent of the metaverse, is a top gaming platform that has boosted cloud gaming culture and opened up gaming to users of different smart gadgets.
The platform intends to take advantage of VR’s potential to provide consumers with an experience that might completely change the gaming industry.
Epic Games is responsible for the smash hit video game Fortnite. The firm has expanded beyond its main battle royale game to include social gatherings like virtual dance parties and concerts. To illustrate that these events might draw millions of people looking for entertainment in new formats, it has successfully hosted virtual music concerts and movie screenings within Fortnite. Recently, Travis Scott held a successful virtual event in the Fortnite Metaverse.
Epic Games is developing the idea of a metaverse where players can communicate online. To improve the game, Epic intends to incorporate virtual shopping, gaming, and other experiences using digital assets in the form of NFTs.
The valuation of Epic games rose to $31.5 billion following $2 billion in funding from Sony and the owner of The Lego Group, KIRKBI, in April 2022 to develop its metaverse.
Sorare
Sorare is a fantasy football game that allows users to control a virtual club using digital player cards that are powered by NFTs and blockchain technology.
Due to the real-world business of football as well as the fervor and fanaticism of millions of football enthusiasts worldwide, it is one of the most dynamic and vibrant Sub-DAOs of Metaverse alliances.
The Sorare metaverse was established in 2018 by Nicolas Julia and Adrien Montfort and uses Ethereum-based blockchain technology.
Sorare has more than 180 fully licensed football clubs, including Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, more than 6,000 licensed football players, and more than 600,000 registered users.
Upland
Upland, a blockchain-based game, is a virtual property metaverse that provides NFT property pieces with true ownership that are mapped to actual addresses.
It uses the play-to-earn gaming paradigm and allows users to trade virtual properties that are matched to actual properties. Users can also create properties and earn UPX coins by becoming “digital landowners.”
Upland is advancing into a variety of rapidly expanding blockchain-based games with more than 10,000 daily active players and over 40,000 monthly active users.
Recently, the metaverse attained a number of remarkable milestones that demonstrated the power of its economy.
Conclusion
The metaverse is growing to become a fundamental part of our everyday lives. There is a wide range of virtual environments in the metaverse that is not just for entertainment purposes but also for education, career training, marketplaces amongst others.
The metaverse platforms can be accessed through different computing platforms including VR, AR, PC, mobile devices, and game consoles
The metaverse aims to bridge the gap between reality and distance, uniting people from all over the world for purposes of employment, self-improvement, or only for entertainment.
This new Metaverse age will unleash original creativity and explore new horizons.
