What is the Metaverse?

Although there are many technology companies that are adopting and betting on the Metaverse, some have already been doing it for a long time, the word Metaverse became known to the mass public after Facebook changed its name to “Meta” to symbolize, in some way shape, its profound change and immersion into this new online world.

Why is Facebook now Metaverse? Despite the fact that this is what many call it, in reality the company is not “Metaverse”, but Meta. Meta is the brand that brings together the Zuckerberg conglomerate. And although they have explained that it is the new environment where they want to work, and for which the social network is committed, no one escapes that it has also served to wash the brand reputation that it dragged with all the Cambridge Analytica cases among others.

Platforms in the Metaverse

The fact that it is a new and fresh experience for many has made the term popular and has led to the creation of multiple platforms that we will talk about next.

1# Decentraland
Decentraland is an open source virtual reality platform built on the Ethereum Blockchain. He is one of the oldest metaverses and has collaborated with the likes of Samsung and the Australian Open.

In this metaverse, users can perform actions related to the purchase of parcels on which they can build and later sell. Assets such as avatars, wearables, and names can also be sold on the Decentraland marketplace.

Contrary to similar games like Minecraft or World of Warcraft, Decentraland is not owned by the company that developed the platform, but by the players themselves. It is a decentralized metaverse since, as we mentioned before, it seeks to develop a global community that operates within the shared virtual world.

Decentraland works with two types of tokens:

Land: NFT that represents a property or property
MANA: Own token of the metaverse that is used to buy LANDS and to acquire virtual goods and services within.

2# The Sandbox
Sandbox was founded by Arthur Madrid and Sébastien Borget in 2012 as a simple game. In 2018, Animoca Brands acquires the company and introduces 3D and the Ethereum blockchain within it.

The platform works through smart contracts and allows developers to monetize experiences within their digital parcels. It also allows you to create digital galleries and other types of assets that can generate passive income for players.

Users usually associate this platform with the Minecraft game since they are very similar visually. In fact, The Sandbox allows you to export the models from Minecraft to be able to use them in this metaverse.

LAND is the name of the digital plots of The Sandbox (same as in Decentraland) and they have two native tokens

SAND: It is the currency of the ecosystem. Metaverse Development Company is a token built on Ethereum that is used to buy and sell NFTs, lands, objects, and also to participate in the governance of the metaverse.

ASSET: They are entities designed to provide content to experiences, such as games, objects and everything that is used to populate LAND. They can be collected, monetized and traded.
Just like Decentraland, The Sandbox has its own marketplace.

3# Dream Space
The Somnium Space platform was created by Artur Sychov in 2017 and launched to the public in 2018.

Like the two metaverses mentioned above, Somnium Space is built on the Ethereum blockchain. It is open source and has been designed to work through virtual reality devices such as the Oculus, Rift and HTC Vive.

The goal, according to its founder and director, is for the platform to allow people to fully immerse themselves in the virtual world and carry out any type of activity within it: going to the movies, eating in a restaurant, exhibiting works of art, going to university, etc. etc. The idea is that the metaverse is unlimited and created entirely by the users of the platform.

CUBE: It is a native utility token and is used to make transactions within the game.
Special Land Plots: If players wish to build an independent world within Somnium they will need to obtain one of these plots from the OpenSea marketplace.
Somnium Avatars: In November 2020, the platform introduced the tokenization of its avatars. Players can not only be created full body using CUBE and are compatible with other virtual worlds.

4# Roblox
The online gaming platform, created by David Baszucki and Erik Cassel in 2006, is one of those leading the development of a new metaverse-based economy. What he proposes is to build an online space in which users can build worlds of different sizes and materials.

The company’s goal is to be able to build a “human co-experience” where users can share immersive experiences without borders. This platform has been so successful in recent years that, Metaverse Development Service according to data from its website, it has 9.5 million developers, they have generated 24 million experiences and used the platform for approximately 73,100 million hours.

It is important to note that big brands like Nike or Vans have joined the multiverse. In September 2021, the sportswear brand Vans launched “Vans World” a 3D universe within Roblox designed after real spaces of the brand such as the Vans Off The Wall Skatepark in California. Users have at their disposal a complete store where they can design their clothes and wear them on their avatars.

5# Cryptovoxels
In this universe it is allowed to live, socialize with other users and generate assets through the use of tokens. The one for Cryptovoxels is the CVPA .

It is one of the platforms that have the most potential to become a metaverse social network in the future due to the way it is designed.

Being designed for creators, you can find great works of art developed exclusively for the virtual world and hang all the NFTs on your plot to show them through galleries.