Picture this! It’s the mid-1980s. The internet, which was going to connect everyone around the world and revolutionize how they communicated, had just started, and everyone wanted a part of it.
Fast forward to the early-mid 2000s, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and Tumblr had just arrived on the scene, and social media was born.
Today, the Metaverse is the new kid on the block, and it just seems like people can’t stop talking about how it is redefining the digital real estate landscape and how it will change how we interact with the internet, and each other, forever.
But wait, “Metaverse,” “Digital Estate”, what do those mean, and more importantly, what’s the hype all about?
What Is Digital Real Estate, and How Does It Relate to the Metaverse?
Digital real estate is, simply put, property that exists on the internet. Traditionally, this used to be in the form of websites, social media accounts, or even email lists.
However, today, digital real estate includes virtual spaces and assets in the Metaverse which you can own, lease, or develop, just like in the physical world.
The Metaverse is a term used to describe the virtual world where people can interact with each other and with digital content in an immersive experience.
This virtual world can take many forms, but it typically includes some combination of 3D avatars, virtual spaces, and other virtual assets such as in-world tokens.
So, from having meetings with employees in a virtual office to selling digital art or fashion in a virtual gallery to exploring exotic virtual worlds with fantastic avatars and breath-taking creatures, the Metaverse provides opportunities for businesses to do things that were once impossible, or at least impractical.
Now that we know what digital real estate is and what the Metaverse is, let’s take a look at some specific Metaverse projects that are helping to shape the digital real estate landscape.
Projects That Show Why Digital Real Estate is Worth the Hype
There are many different Metaverse projects out there, but here are three that show the potential of digital real estate and the Metaverse.
SIDUS HEROES
A major upcoming project that is set to make waves and leverage digital real estate potential in Metaverse gaming is SIDUS HEROES.
The brainchild of a massive collaboration between some of the best minds in blockchain tech and gaming, with a large supporter base, SIDUS HEROES is set in a virtual universe inhabited by NFT characters from twelve technological races with unique traits and features.
The game is notably listed as one of New Zoo’s top 10 gaming projects to look out for and one of Coin Market Cap’s top NFT games for 2022.
Conceived as a game where players can travel to all corners of the Metaverse and seek out various adventures, SIDUS HEROES has also forayed into adding digital real estate value into its gameplay.
SIDUS HEROES metaverse apartments are the form of digital real estate in the game that can be bought, sold, or rented out to other players. The apartments are located in the capital city of the in-game universe and provide private space quarters where players can store virtual household items within the game.
With only 6000 apartments of different rarity, i.e., Common, Epic, and Legendary, in the game, they have been designed with various features and amenities that make them worth investing in for players.
These include robots, which provide bonuses for investment activities within the game; plants, which produce the fruits that upgrade the in-game heroes and pets; and workbenches, which are used to create new pharmaceutical items.
Of course, players can use these assets to develop different industries within the game, which can translate into actual revenue for whoever is holding them.
Apartments in the SIDUS HEROES metaverse will soon be out for sale, and early investors can start to get their hands on these valuable in-game assets. With the digital real estate landscape getting heated up and projects like SIDUS HEROES leading the charge, it’s advisable to keep your eyes peeled, follow updates on its Opensea, Twitter, and Discord channels, watch out for its upcoming release, and keep your crypto wallet ready.
The successful precedent set by similar projects with established communities, innovative gaming marketplace, and ecosystems like SIDUS HEROES highlights that players have every reason to invest in digital real estate for their game-play value and investment potential.
Let’s check out two of these similar projects below.
Otherside BAYC
The Otherside BAYC is an offshoot of the successful Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT project. Yuga Labs, BAYC Creator, announced the project in March 2022 and was launched on 30th April 2022.
Although the Otherside Metaverse is currently in development, it is already one of the most talked about projects in the Metaverse space.
The world will feature playable characters will feature up to 10,000 playable characters in a massively multiplayer online role-playing game.
Its in-world natural voice chat also takes in-world communication to its next level.
With the awe-inspiring tour that Bored Ape and Mutant Ape owners participated in during July, it’s easy to see why 55,000 Otherdeed–plots of land in the Otherside sales were sold for more than $300 million when the project’s first round of land selling concluded; and why the value of Otherdeeds has grown over time, enabling it to scale over $1 billion in sales in the secondary market, becoming the fastest NFT collection to do so.
Illuvium
Illuvium is another upcoming Ethereum-based MMORPG, set to be officially released in 2022 on Mac and PC.
With 100,000 land plots available in the game, 22,000 were put up for sale for early investors and prospective sellers, making over $72 million in sales.
Like in real life, the owners can use these plots in various ways to make money. These include mining fuel to sell to game players, generating NFT blueprints, renting space to other players, etc.
These possibilities have made many enthusiasts eagerly anticipate the game’s official launch and a possible future land sale.
Key Takeaway
Digital real estate is worth the hype, and Metaverse projects are a big part of why. While the three projects discussed above lend credence to the explosive potential of digital real estate, it happens that SIDUS HEROES is the only one with a launch coming up soon for interested players.
Although it is in its early adoption phase, placing a cap on how much it can multiply in value is impossible. Like NFTs and actual real estate, the primary driver of digital real estate’s value is scarcity. With a limited supply of apartments, coupled with an ever-growing demand for them, the value of digital real estate will only increase with time. For example, while the BAYC project minted at 0.08 ETH, just a little over a year later, its floor price on the Open Sea is 72.6 ETH.
These projects are changing the way we think about virtual worlds and asset ownership, and they have the potential to revolutionize the gaming industry. With so much potential, it’s no wonder that more value is increasingly being attached and generated by digital real estate.