Yuga Labs, which operates some of the most successful and well-known NFT brands in the Web3 space, will preview its latest Other metaverse development to a small group of Bored Ape Yacht Club and Otherside community members in Studio City, CA on July 27th. Did. A group made up of 40 VoyagerNow, we had the chance to check out never-before-seen concept art for Otherside, which has been in development for the past year, and take part in a walkthrough of part of the island at the center of the metaverse.
From NFT to 3D avatar
Many of the Voyagers at the demo were playing with 3D versions of BAYC PFPs, and some of the groups were also made up of Otherdeed owners. This demo represents the first of these avatars ahead of the official release of Otherside.Player was shown a teaser Legend of MaraYuga’s 2D strategy game.
Vision for the Otherside
As Yuga continues to build the metaverse, nft sat down with the company’s Chief Creative Officer, Michael Figge, to discuss the Web3 giant’s vision for the Otherside. Fidge made it clear at the outset that while “Others” is a product of his Yuga universe, the Metaverse will be a place for other communities to build representations of their audiences.
“Otherside will be a hub where all communities can build something that resonates with their community,” said Fidge. “I mean, even though there’s a basic level of choice that evokes empathy, [Yuga’s] As other people come to The Other Side and build their brands, they may make different choices. “
It’s an intriguing concept for the metaverse, one that observers inside and outside the walls of Web3 have grown increasingly skeptical over the past year. Like NFTs themselves, the Metaverse exists as a representation of technology that has yet to really find its place in the world. The idea of having meaningful experiences in an immersive digital world presents compelling potential, but no one has yet done it in a compelling way that adds value to users.
Yuga aims to change this situation, and Fidge admits there is no shortage of approaches to “a very open word for the Metaverse.”
“There is no real reason why people want to go to the digital world.”
Michael Fidge
“lots of [these attempts] It didn’t resonate as well as Otherside,” says Fidge. “When you turn on Otherside, the thousands of people who are Owners of Otherdeeds appear and participate in the process of building Otherside together. If you enter other [metaverse] In the rest of the world, it’s a pretty empty experience, and that’s not the real reason people want to go to the digital world. “
One of Yuga’s goals is to establish the feeling of excitement and connection that the early web offered in its first forums and chat rooms. Yuga’s first “trip” to his Otherside this year and last year demoed the metaverse to thousands of users at a time, but with a wide variety of individuals, browsers, hardware and wallet types participating. Figge says it was encouraging to see him doing so. in them.
The reason for this week’s much smaller in-person demo is to take a closer look at the many technical and creative problems that Yuga is testing at scale that need solving. Having a more controlled environment is key to addressing these, he says.
“For us, the only way to actually get feedback is to look it up on Twitter,” said Fidge. “And that’s not the best dataset to make The Otherside better. will be.”
“Even if it doesn’t have any functions, you should be able to enjoy it just by being in that world.”
Michael Fidge
Figge emphasized that Yuga’s IP licensing terms are one reason why its owners and the wider community trust the company to build together. BAYC holders have been able to monetize PFP for a long time and just this week Yuga announced its Made by Apes platform. The platform allows holders to request their own on-chain license, which doubles as a certification for product offerings.
Ultimately, Yuga wants Otherside to be a fun experience on its own, even without the extra features.
“Even if it doesn’t have any features, it should be fun just to be in that world,” says Fidge.
