A metaverse game is a shared virtual world where people can interact and take part in digital experiences in real-time, powered by blockchain technology. The term was coined by novelist Neal Stephenson in his 1992 novel Snow Crash.
If you’re a gamer, think of the metaverse as a blockchain-powered MMO. Each participant exists in a virtual world, exploring their surroundings and completing a variety of tasks, either alone or with others.
Popular metaverse titles include The Sandbox, Decentraland, and Otherside. In each of these titles, players can purchase Land NFTs, which allow them to own and develop plots of virtual land inside the metaverse – often with the aim of generating an income by creating compelling experiences.
Although the metaverse can be a VR experience – and many of the most popular, including Decentraland, began with that as the goal – the majority are accessed via desktop or mobile devices.
Early metaverse projects pursued the ability to take in-game NFTs from one metaverse and make them useable in another metaverse, or to make jumping between metaverses a seamless experience – though this is yet to come to fruition.
With that said, many popular NFT collectibles can be used as 3D avatars inside a wide variety of the top metaverse projects, including CryptoPunks, Bored Ape Yacht Club, and Pudgy Penguins.