Details are emerging about the ambitious new metaverse, Arcade, which aims to be the home for all NFTs to live and thrive.
Arcade recently minted 10,000 NFTs – plots of ‘Arcade land’ – to the public and their latest reveal on Twitter had the community in raptures. In the reveal, imaginative Lands with unique themes were revealed, such as ‘Moon’, ‘Frozen’, and ‘Volcanic’. Lucky Arcade Land NFT holders will own a piece of unique land in Arcade Metaverse and perhaps a piece of history.
Bear in mind, this metaverse is being built by the same team who made the Apes vs Mutants mobile game. That’s the development team behind Bored Ape Yacht Club. Yes, that’s the project who just bought the I.P rights to CryptoPunks. They’re called Yuga Labs and if you haven’t heard the name yet, you might be hearing about them in the near future.
Make no mistake, the Arcade Metaverse project is enormous. Arcade has a Discord following of 86k, 120k on Twitter and these guys are just getting started with Web3 technology.
Arcade Project Lead Willy Wu recently took to Discord for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ (AMA) with the community, revealing plenty of delicious nuggets of information which has the Web3 community salivating.
Indeed, Web3 is screaming for a metaverse project like this, which is inclusive, simple, fast, fun and exciting – all key tenets in the Arcade ethos.
Quite simply, the fascinating world of Arcade Lands is tapping into a huge market, which is gasping for more. Thus far, we’ve had a lot of metaverse projects which have been experimental, incomplete and there’s limited fun to be had while you’re there. What is more, you need a VR headset to get the most out of certain metaverse experiences.
Willy Wu and his team are looking to turn that trend on its head with an easy-on-board experience for anyone who wants to explore a piece of Arcade Land. This will be an enthralling metaverse where you can explore, socialize and enjoy multiple games with your friends, using your favourite NFT avatars.
Thus, the details released by Willy and his team seem to have struck a note. All 10,000 NFTs in the new Arcade Metaverse sold out shortly after the public mint on April 1st.
A total of 5.7k landowners now hold pieces of Arcade Land, which are going for around 1 ETH on Opensea, which seems reasonable considering the ambition of this project. Not to mention, Arcade is being backed by 45 strategic investors – all listed on their website.
However, before you make the leap and purchase some land, let’s look at some specifics which were transparently communicated by Project Lead Willy Wu on their Discord AMA.
Speaking of which, let’s start with the team.
The Arcade Team
Willy Wu, the Arcade Project Lead, built the successful Web2 platforms Uber and Cloud kitchens, and he is the co-founder of Mintyscore – a resource which rates NFT minting platforms. Quite the resume! He is the Project Lead alongside Producer Jimmy and around 45 other team members.
Following an overwhelming response to their Arcade project, which aims to revolutionise the Web3 space with a simple, inclusive platform, Willy has declared that they’re looking to “hire stronger, better people” in order to “take the metaverse by storm”.
Indeed, Willy specifically said they’re actively searching for those business developers who have access to brands in the real world, which they plan to “pull into the Arcade Metaverse.”
The Arcade Metaverse Vision
The concept is that you can choose your personal NFTs and take them into the Arcade Metaverse. In this metaverse, various lands and regions will exist for all NFT holders to explore, interact with and impact.
Additionally, a key focus of the Arcade Metaverse will be providing “things to do” while you’re there. This includes “multiple” gaming experiences for the community to enjoy with their own, favourite NFTs.
Willy referred to the popular movie “Ready Player One” during his Discord AMA and it’s an interesting analogy. In this movie, directed by Steven Spielberg, there exists a complete, and immersive metaverse called Oasis, where players can enjoy various real world experiences together. Although we’re not close to a “Real Player One” situation yet, Willy said that’s about to change – it’s just a matter of time.
“We’re exploring a new frontier and we’re the people who are stepping in front of the traditional Web2 market. There will be a lot of skeptics, but we are the believers and we know this is the future,” he said during his AMA.
“It’s still a long way from the ‘Ready Player One’ world, but we’re bringing you the experience of that and we want to bring real-life brands, merchandise, events, concerts, so we will expand beyond the Arcade environment.”
The Arcade Roadmap
The 10,000 Arcade Lands have been minted. What else do we have in store? Well, the first game inside the Arcade Metaverse, Willy revealed, will arrive in Quarter 2, 2022.
Until then, there will be a playable demo of the RPG-style game released at the end of April 2022. In the Arcade Metaverse, we know that different lands and regions will have different rarities and regions will produce different resources – making the element of exploration particularly exciting.
Things will be gradual in this Arcade project due to the sheer scale. Indeed, Willy has asked the community for patience while they build their empire. One thing is for certain, ApeCoin – the new crypto currency recently announced by Bored Ape Yacht Club – will be incorporated eventually. Incidentally, ApeCoin rose 1000% in the last month to $10.88.
Also promised to the Arcade community is multiplayer gaming experiences, PVP (player vs player) and PVE (player vs environment). Apparently, in the near future we will see NFT collections battling with one another for various rewards.
However, Willy also made it clear that you won’t need to purchase Arcade Land or an NFT to interact with the Arcade Metaverse. Thus, with such an inclusive project, scalability will be important. Indeed, this is what the Arcade team will be working on over the coming weeks and months.
Beyond that, the roadmap is clear: anything and everything is possible. Arcade will reach out and collaborate to create immersive experiences, both in Arcade and in real life too. They will develop an engrossing, rich metaverse experience for everyone to enjoy. Expect big events, big collaborations and big brands.
Will they succeed where others have failed?
Arcade is not short of interest from NFT projects. Indeed, Willy Wu revealed that they are currently working with 40 NFT projects with a potential of 150-200 when the game development is complete. The Arcade project is focusing on fun and enjoyment over slick visuals and graphics, which may be smart considering the extremely successful mobile gaming industry is based on this model.
“We want to get there quicker than everyone else. Do things simple, fast and fun,” Willy said. “There are a lot of games out there that people enjoy that don’t require crazy graphics or complex VR technology.”
“Mobile gaming is one of the hottest industries in the world. Why is that? So we’re trying to tap into this market and if we do something fun, we can bring other people (other than the crypto community) into this world and let them explore what the real metaverse is.”
Hence, the Arcade Metaverse seeks to deliver where others have failed. They’re targeting a gap in the Web3 market – the inclusivity, the simplicity, the fun, the joy of being in the metaverse while you’re there and having things to do while you’re exploring it.
If they can achieve this, we could be looking at the next metaverse phenomenon – or perhaps the first metaverse phenomenon. After all, we’re just getting started with the decentralized world of Web3, the metaverse and NFTs. The possibilities are truly limitless
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