Top 5 Metaverse Projects Currently in Development - Part 1
Intro
For those of you who are only loosely familiar with the concept of the metaverse, either because you have seen in the news the re-branding of Facebook to Meta, or you have a teenager that has mentioned his Sandbox account, metaverse is a term for a rapidly expanding digital space that is looking to change the way we view gaming, in-game economies and their respective communities.
The formal definition you’ll find via a Google search is “the metaverse is a virtual-reality space in which users can interact with a computer-generated environment and other users”. So lets break that down. Does that not sound like every PvP or co-op game that has been created since the advent of the LAN party? Nearly every game fits that description but we don’t call them metaverses. Nor should we. I mean, whats all the hype as the metaverse is supposed to be this new concept? All you’ve probably seen so far is games you load into with limited actual gameplay, graphics that look like a PSOne title, and people shelling out thousands of dollars to put up a house to shill their latest NFT artwork. Frankly, it seems like a joke to anyone that is either a hardcore gamer or isn’t in the NFT space paying hundreds of thousands for Bored Apes and hopping on their social media bragging about how they own “property” next to Snoop Dogg.
Picture of The Sandbox, a long-standing metaverse project.
At the basic level, this is all the metaverse really is or has been….so far. However, there are projects in development that are changing the face of the metaverse. The projects I am going to highlight are pulling the metaverse forward in both graphics and gameplay. Akin to the “Oasis” in the popular movie and preceding novel “Ready Player One” a universe around gaming is being constructed and we are in its primordial ooze infancy.
Before getting into ranking Metaverse projects I will lay out some criteria at which I am evaluating them on:
Gameplay. There has to be more to it than just walking around and exhibiting NFTs.
Community/Staying power. Modern games, even blockbusters like Elden Ring, are having steep fall off rates for concurrent players. With games needing server support to keep going, its important that the community has a healthy baseline of support.
Balancing Immersion vs. creative license. Yeah, so do you want magic spells in your FPS game or do you want a sniper rifle in a your WoW raid? At the same time, does the game offer some creative license to make ownership uniquely yours.
Price. I don’t know about you but I don’t want to have to pay $5,000 for an NFT to test out a game and find out if I like it or not!
Metaverse #5 - Otherside
If you are an original OG of the NFT space this is likely the metaverse project for you. This metaverse is being developed by Yuga Labs which is owned by the ApeCoin DAO / Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and is in partnerships with other well-known NFT projects and while some areas are exclusive to BAYC and the partnered NFT holders and project developers, 55% of the metaverse is open to the public via payment through Ape Coin. As with many metaverse projects they have multiple thematic areas to purchase plots of land to explore. The areas are “the Biogenic Swamp”, “The Chemical Goo”, “Rainbow Atmos”, “Cosmic Dream”, and “Infinite Expanse”. Currently, the floor price for property on Open Sea for Otherside is 1.8 Eth (at the time of this article, roughly $2,800 US) with 100,000 plots currently minted and another 100,000 mints and biomes pending at a later release date.
Gameplay: 3 out of 5. The graphics are clean, crisp, and has all the appearance of a modern game. While still in early development, the game mechanics are largely unknown with the gameplay centered around the “Kodas”, creatures that their true function and storyline for the game have yet to be revealed. A second trailer just dropped on September 2 by Bored Ape Yacht Club featuring one of the characters. Check out BAYC’s trailer here. While early group testing with multiple thousands participating have been successful, still much is unknown about eventual gameplay other that it will be styled as an RPG. While I have not personally played this one due to its high floor cost, Yuga Labs seems well funded and given the BAYC is behind the project, you are likely to see some decent development come out of this title.
Community: 5 out 5. As I stated, BAYC and the other NFT partners (CryptoPunks, Meebits) are some of the OG communities with well established, solid communities and they are building out this metaverse primarily for their holders. It speaks volumes that the first 100,000 plots are sold out with over 34,000 unique owners and the price floor is holding strong at 1.8 Eth.
Immersion/Creative License: Creative > Immersive. From what has been published so far it seems that the project will be largely open to creators to not only design their own gear, buildings and the like but also contribute gaming aspects to the environment. While this may not ultimately offer an immersive experience centered around the core game, for people interested in creating their own space this project is for you. For gaming purists that want a game to stay consistent with an overarching theme, this may be one to pass on.
Price: 1 out of 5. Easily the most expensive title on this list. Part of BAYC is the exclusivity of their community and this holds strong for their metaverse. At nearly $3,000 floor entry it is well beyond the typical casual or even the hardcore gamer’s price range. If you are a high society type or value being a part of the BAYC social circle then go for it but most of us will have a hard time justifying this high a price tag.
Metaverse #4 - Big Time
Big Time is a game that is a class-based RPG that falls into the metaverse category by offering players an in-built game economy and personal “spaces” that are used for your in-game storage and can be curated by the owner. Unlike other projects on this list, spaces can drop as in-game NFT rewards through regular gameplay. Big Time has a distinguished development team with nearly all top tier game developers accounted for including Epic, Blizzard, Riot, Rockstar and Activision.
Gameplay: 3.5 out of 5. Understand that most of these ratings are going to be based on expectations on the final product as none of these projects are fully flushed out and either in alpha or beta stages. Currently, Big Time is only offering in-game access to Ruby Pass holders but this project wanted to make a top tier game and have aspects of the metaverse as secondary feature. The thought being, if the game is fun, the desire for metaverse ownership and community will follow. The all-star cast of developers have a high probability to make an engaging game and early teasers and walk-throughs show a co-op experience of battling creatures across the environment with a pleasing game aesthetic that has a lot of potential.
Community: 2 out of 5. The community has experienced some setbacks as schedule milestones have slipped and like any game in early development, game design can take different directions and promises early on may not come to fruition. Spending time observing community discords and social media, there have been a few setbacks that have disappointed early adopters including some backtracking by the development team on potential PvP availability and slippage on full release dates. Meanwhile, some early access players have had a jump start grinding for the limited and highly sought Epic and Legendary NFTs while others are still waiting on the sidelines. While it should be expected that many aspects of the game are in flux especially if you get involved in the very early stages, it doesn’t stop some participants from vocalizing their frustrations. Even games like Fortnite, originally released as a cartoon-like zombie survival horror game, existed in obscurity until it adopted a battle royale game mode to produce the right formula for mass adoption. For now, there is a wait and see approach to validate to the existing community if their early purchases have been worthwhile.
Immersion/Creative License: Immersive > Creative. As the game is focused on itself and not necessarily open to a wider metaverse eco-system, expect most of the customization of owned assets to be from within Big Time itself where your ‘space’ can showcase other NFTs collected from within the game but not necessarily from outside projects. Likely too, with the game’s highly stylized visuals, there will be limits on what can be customized between players. This project solidly stands on the immersive side and is a gamer first environment.
Price: 5 out of 5. You can’t beat free. This title is explicit about ensuring there is no pay-to-win aspects of the game and all NFTs are obtainable in-game if you are willing to do the grind. Most of the items listed either on Open Sea or available in the game marketplace are on the order of a few bucks for uncommon items with most rare and epic items below $50. Some Legendary items are upwards of a few hundred dollars and the ‘spaces’, based on size, range from roughly $140 to over $3,500.