This is an article that I, Laura Valls Alvarez, published in Medium.

**Photo by RODNAE Productions from **Pexels

· What is the Metaverse?
· Gaming Taking Full Advantage of Technology
· Top 5 Gaming Metaverses
  ∘ DECENTRALAND (MANA):
  ∘ The Sandbox (SAND):
  ∘ The Otherside by Yuga Labs ( APE):
  ∘ Aavegotchi (GHST):
  ∘ Axie Infinity (AXS):
· The Takeaway — The Future of Metaverse & Gaming

Humanity has always strived for better ways to communicate, connect and engage with one another. From the early days of telephones and mobile phones to social media and mobile gaming, communication has transformed dramatically. Online gaming and social media transformed communication and social engagement.

As the technology improved, these communication and engagement mediums turned into multi-million-dollar industries because people found value online. These technological revolutions gave us the age of Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat while gaming got big. Metaverse is the latest technological advancement to improve online communication further.

This latest iteration of the Internet is enabled by Augmented Reality (AR)/ Virtual Reality (VR), blockchain technology, and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). And like with the introductions of any new technology, gaming is at the forefront of the Metaverse. Gaming has always been favoured for introducing new technologies because of its unparalleled potential and community. Previously gaming helped the mainstreaming of personal computers, the internet, and now the metaverse.

This article will help you understand what the Metaverse is and how the gaming industry is being shaped by the emergence of different metaverses.

The Metaverse is thought to be the next significant development of the Internet, moving from text-driven websites and often closed ecosystems of today to shared, overlapping 3D places where users communicate through avatars. While there might be different views on how the metaverse will work, this much appears to hold true. VR and AR technologies are expected to play a key role as online experiences appear and feel more real, perhaps replacing certain real-world activities.

The word “Metaverse” has become a buzzword for a broad range of futuristic tech, gaming, and NFT projects. According to JP Morgan, the metaverse is a $1 trillion market, and a broad variety of organizations have stated their desire to explore the possibilities it presents.

According to its advocates, the metaverse will allegedly be utilized for various purposes, including socializing, events, gaming, commerce, and even employment. It will not be a single site or platform but a collection of online locations allowing you to transfer your avatars and assets across them interoperably.

Blockchain and NFT technologies will be used as the underlying technologies to enable many different functionalities in these virtual spaces. NFTs are already used to represent the ownership of virtual assets like in-metaverse objects or virtual land. Popular NFTs like the Bored Ape Yach Club (BAYC) and CryptoPunks will be converted into 3D avatars that owners will use in metaverse worlds, “The Otherside” for BAYC’s metaverse for instance. These virtual assets can also be exchanged, personalized, and monetized.

Many startups and organizations in the crypto space working to create the metaverse, whether it is through virtual worlds, interoperable assets, or blockchain-based games. Since the idea of the metaverse is still vague and hard to explain in a few words, it seems like almost anything related to blockchain could be a part of the coming metaverse. This presents several exciting opportunities for game developers and companies.

Let us look at the top metaverse games and understand how you can be part of this exciting new market.

Although the Metaverse is open to everyone, the game industry jumped on the bandwagon first to get the full advantages of the technology. Many players who used to like other types of online games, such as multiplayer games, are now more interested in the Metaverse.

Prior to the introduction of blockchain-powered games, people preferred multiplayer games. However, blockchain has fundamentally altered the landscape of online gaming. Using NFTs and cryptocurrencies, features like the tokenization of game objects and the ability to exchange them for cryptos excite players with their ability to make money in the form of cryptocurrency.

This is a significant transition from traditional gaming, in which in-game assets are controlled by the game producers and cannot be exchanged or traded outside the game. Through the integration of NFTs, gamers have total ownership over their in-game assets and are allowed to do as they like. This is just one example of how the gaming industry is developing in the cutting-edge and captivating web3 realm.

To give you a better understanding of how gaming will work in the metaverse, I have listed the top 5 metaverse gaming projects that are making headlines in the web3 space:

Ariel Meilich and Estevan Ordano co-founded this gaming metaverse. They have both left their positions, yet they continue to serve in the capacity of consultants. Decentraland was established in 2017 with a $24 million Initial Coin Offering (ICO) before the offering was made public. Decentraland employs an Ethereum-based cryptocurrency token called MANA that is is burned or spent in exchange for LAND parcels.

Source: Decentraland Twitter

MANA is also utilized in the creation of avatars and wearables, among other things. This Metaverse is designed for companies and content providers and offers a new creative medium to its consumers. 90,601 pieces of land make up this world, and each piece of land equals one NFT. Each plot of land is 16 square meters in size. Those who own land have almost limitless options for transforming it into anything they choose. It is possible to find some land further subdivided into smaller districts so that communities can create themes and use it as a shared space for their common interest.

Token holders have the power to propose new rules for the Metaverse, such as how certain land should be updated or what activities are permitted. Therefore MANA is not only Decentraland’s exchange cryptocurrency but also its governance token.

On 116 blocks of virtual property in the heart of the fashion district, the land valued in this Metaverse is $2,500,000.

The Sandbox was founded in 2011 by Sebastien Borget and Arther Madrid, who brought blockchain technology to the game industry at a time when it was still relatively unknown. This Metavese began as a 2D pixel mobile game, but it took off as the popularity of NFTs skyrocketed. The Metaverse has grown tremendously, notable in the NFTs space since it was first introduced in early 2012. Sandbox economy relies on the SAND token, but Ethereum or other cryptocurrencies may be required for out-game purchases.

Source: The Sandbox

In December 2021, The Sandbox sold a piece of land for $3.8million.

A gamified version of the Metaverse called Otherside was launched on April 30, 2022. Yuga Labs, the developers of the Bored Ape Yach Club (BAYC) NFT collection, partnered with Animoca Brands -the trailblazer in the blockchain gaming space to create this Metaverse. A total of 55,000 Otherdeed lands were sold for a flat price of 305 ApeCoin, and it was the largest NFT mint in the industry’s history.

Source: The Otherside

Playable NFTs are available for people to create in this metaverse game. There’s a good chance that this Metaverse will offer a Hybrid environment similar to World of Warcraft or other online games. Real-time gaming using NFTs as characters is the goal for users of this platform. Yuga labs intends to integrate other NFTs such as Cryptokitties, Cyberpunks, Meebits and probably many more.

Otherside appears to be a multi-land Metavese of 200,000 parcels accessible for owners to engage in the designing experience by participating in demos, test builds, and prototypes to help bring the Otherside to reality.

This past May 2022, a virtual land on the Otherside was sold for 625ETH (at that point of time valued at $1,500,000) on the X2Y2 NFT marketplace.

Source: Aavegotchi

Pixel Craft Studios developed this project. Aavegotchi is a decentralized financial play-to-earn NFT RPG game that follows Aave Protocol. Inspired by a pet game called “My Tamagotchi Forever”, Aavegotchis live in Gotchiverse, an open-world which is governed by the players. Aavegotchi, like all other NFTs, might be obtained via GHST’s utility token listed in the most secure and well-known exchanges. This Aavegotchi is a pixelated “ghost” character that gets upgraded by competing, collecting rewards and levelling up, thus increasing their rarity. Upgraded NFTs are more valuable and may be sold for profit on the market as a result of player efforts.

The price per GHST is $1.33 at the time of writing. GHST can also be staked for additional rewards.

Source: Axie Infinity

Axie Infinity is probably the most well-known play-to-earn game created by the Vietnamese developer Sky Mavis, inspired by Pokémon and built on Ethereum. This game Metaverse consists of seven lands, each with its unique spectrum of rarity and usefulness. It comprises four categories: common, rare, epic and mystic. Each of these separate groupings has distinctive characteristics and attributes.

Axie Infinity provides several options for investors interested in profiting from virtual gaming. To enter this magical land, gamers must purchase AXS tokens, and this Metaverse enables participants to purchase one-third of the available land. Through AXS, the player may search for available plots/parcels to buy. Furthermore, this new gameplay includes additional aspects such as the ability to acquire raids, monsters and chimera.

To acquire land in this Metaverse, a player must first establish an Axie infinite wallet using Ethereum, then go to the Axie infinity marketplace, pick the land you want and complete the transactions. The higher sum paid for a single plot in this Metaverse is $2,500,000.

Metaverse games have recently emerged as a result of the gaming industry’s recent growth. To experience next-level gaming, participants are exploring new and different Metaverses. While Metaverse may be centralized or decentralized, game companies tend to concentrate on decentralized games since the future is decentralized.

The metaverse offers a new and unique gaming experience that is still in its early stages of development. If you want to be at the forefront of this exciting industry, now is the time to get started. Explore the different virtual worlds within the gaming realm and find one that fits your style. There are plenty of options for gamers of all types, so dive in a have some fun!

Twitter | LinkedIn | Beacons| LinkTree | Discord

A long-term resident of South Korea, she is very active in the Blockchain/Web3 industry here in Seoul. An Executive MBA holder from IE Business School, she has a history focusing on the Food Industry with major growth in imported food products from Europe to APAC, as well as other experience in industries such as chemicals, fashion and tech. Initially as interested in the cryptocurrency markets as an investor and a self-starter she quickly became an educator, a community builder and more in the Web3 space. She has founded CryptoGals, a women-only Crypto-NFT community, and Crypto Moon Walkers, a Web3 community very focused on education in crypto trading and analysis, GameFi, Metaverse and DAOs. Never one to shy away from a social engagement both in the metaverse and in real life, she is a self-starter who has been busily applying all of her skills from the business world (business development, strategy, marketing and more) by providing vision and experience to various Blockchain technology and Web3 projects that she participates in.

This is an article that I, Laura Valls Alvarez, published in Medium.

**Photo by RODNAE Productions from **Pexels

· What is the Metaverse?
· Gaming Taking Full Advantage of Technology
· Top 5 Gaming Metaverses
  ∘ DECENTRALAND (MANA):
  ∘ The Sandbox (SAND):
  ∘ The Otherside by Yuga Labs ( APE):
  ∘ Aavegotchi (GHST):
  ∘ Axie Infinity (AXS):
· The Takeaway — The Future of Metaverse & Gaming

Humanity has always strived for better ways to communicate, connect and engage with one another. From the early days of telephones and mobile phones to social media and mobile gaming, communication has transformed dramatically. Online gaming and social media transformed communication and social engagement.

As the technology improved, these communication and engagement mediums turned into multi-million-dollar industries because people found value online. These technological revolutions gave us the age of Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat while gaming got big. Metaverse is the latest technological advancement to improve online communication further.

This latest iteration of the Internet is enabled by Augmented Reality (AR)/ Virtual Reality (VR), blockchain technology, and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). And like with the introductions of any new technology, gaming is at the forefront of the Metaverse. Gaming has always been favoured for introducing new technologies because of its unparalleled potential and community. Previously gaming helped the mainstreaming of personal computers, the internet, and now the metaverse.

This article will help you understand what the Metaverse is and how the gaming industry is being shaped by the emergence of different metaverses.

The Metaverse is thought to be the next significant development of the Internet, moving from text-driven websites and often closed ecosystems of today to shared, overlapping 3D places where users communicate through avatars. While there might be different views on how the metaverse will work, this much appears to hold true. VR and AR technologies are expected to play a key role as online experiences appear and feel more real, perhaps replacing certain real-world activities.

The word “Metaverse” has become a buzzword for a broad range of futuristic tech, gaming, and NFT projects. According to JP Morgan, the metaverse is a $1 trillion market, and a broad variety of organizations have stated their desire to explore the possibilities it presents.

According to its advocates, the metaverse will allegedly be utilized for various purposes, including socializing, events, gaming, commerce, and even employment. It will not be a single site or platform but a collection of online locations allowing you to transfer your avatars and assets across them interoperably.

Blockchain and NFT technologies will be used as the underlying technologies to enable many different functionalities in these virtual spaces. NFTs are already used to represent the ownership of virtual assets like in-metaverse objects or virtual land. Popular NFTs like the Bored Ape Yach Club (BAYC) and CryptoPunks will be converted into 3D avatars that owners will use in metaverse worlds, “The Otherside” for BAYC’s metaverse for instance. These virtual assets can also be exchanged, personalized, and monetized.

Many startups and organizations in the crypto space working to create the metaverse, whether it is through virtual worlds, interoperable assets, or blockchain-based games. Since the idea of the metaverse is still vague and hard to explain in a few words, it seems like almost anything related to blockchain could be a part of the coming metaverse. This presents several exciting opportunities for game developers and companies.

Let us look at the top metaverse games and understand how you can be part of this exciting new market.

Although the Metaverse is open to everyone, the game industry jumped on the bandwagon first to get the full advantages of the technology. Many players who used to like other types of online games, such as multiplayer games, are now more interested in the Metaverse.

Prior to the introduction of blockchain-powered games, people preferred multiplayer games. However, blockchain has fundamentally altered the landscape of online gaming. Using NFTs and cryptocurrencies, features like the tokenization of game objects and the ability to exchange them for cryptos excite players with their ability to make money in the form of cryptocurrency.

This is a significant transition from traditional gaming, in which in-game assets are controlled by the game producers and cannot be exchanged or traded outside the game. Through the integration of NFTs, gamers have total ownership over their in-game assets and are allowed to do as they like. This is just one example of how the gaming industry is developing in the cutting-edge and captivating web3 realm.

To give you a better understanding of how gaming will work in the metaverse, I have listed the top 5 metaverse gaming projects that are making headlines in the web3 space:

Ariel Meilich and Estevan Ordano co-founded this gaming metaverse. They have both left their positions, yet they continue to serve in the capacity of consultants. Decentraland was established in 2017 with a $24 million Initial Coin Offering (ICO) before the offering was made public. Decentraland employs an Ethereum-based cryptocurrency token called MANA that is is burned or spent in exchange for LAND parcels.

Source: Decentraland Twitter

MANA is also utilized in the creation of avatars and wearables, among other things. This Metaverse is designed for companies and content providers and offers a new creative medium to its consumers. 90,601 pieces of land make up this world, and each piece of land equals one NFT. Each plot of land is 16 square meters in size. Those who own land have almost limitless options for transforming it into anything they choose. It is possible to find some land further subdivided into smaller districts so that communities can create themes and use it as a shared space for their common interest.

Token holders have the power to propose new rules for the Metaverse, such as how certain land should be updated or what activities are permitted. Therefore MANA is not only Decentraland’s exchange cryptocurrency but also its governance token.

On 116 blocks of virtual property in the heart of the fashion district, the land valued in this Metaverse is $2,500,000.

The Sandbox was founded in 2011 by Sebastien Borget and Arther Madrid, who brought blockchain technology to the game industry at a time when it was still relatively unknown. This Metavese began as a 2D pixel mobile game, but it took off as the popularity of NFTs skyrocketed. The Metaverse has grown tremendously, notable in the NFTs space since it was first introduced in early 2012. Sandbox economy relies on the SAND token, but Ethereum or other cryptocurrencies may be required for out-game purchases.

Source: The Sandbox

In December 2021, The Sandbox sold a piece of land for $3.8million.

A gamified version of the Metaverse called Otherside was launched on April 30, 2022. Yuga Labs, the developers of the Bored Ape Yach Club (BAYC) NFT collection, partnered with Animoca Brands -the trailblazer in the blockchain gaming space to create this Metaverse. A total of 55,000 Otherdeed lands were sold for a flat price of 305 ApeCoin, and it was the largest NFT mint in the industry’s history.

Source: The Otherside

Playable NFTs are available for people to create in this metaverse game. There’s a good chance that this Metaverse will offer a Hybrid environment similar to World of Warcraft or other online games. Real-time gaming using NFTs as characters is the goal for users of this platform. Yuga labs intends to integrate other NFTs such as Cryptokitties, Cyberpunks, Meebits and probably many more.

Otherside appears to be a multi-land Metavese of 200,000 parcels accessible for owners to engage in the designing experience by participating in demos, test builds, and prototypes to help bring the Otherside to reality.

This past May 2022, a virtual land on the Otherside was sold for 625ETH (at that point of time valued at $1,500,000) on the X2Y2 NFT marketplace.

Source: Aavegotchi

Pixel Craft Studios developed this project. Aavegotchi is a decentralized financial play-to-earn NFT RPG game that follows Aave Protocol. Inspired by a pet game called “My Tamagotchi Forever”, Aavegotchis live in Gotchiverse, an open-world which is governed by the players. Aavegotchi, like all other NFTs, might be obtained via GHST’s utility token listed in the most secure and well-known exchanges. This Aavegotchi is a pixelated “ghost” character that gets upgraded by competing, collecting rewards and levelling up, thus increasing their rarity. Upgraded NFTs are more valuable and may be sold for profit on the market as a result of player efforts.

The price per GHST is $1.33 at the time of writing. GHST can also be staked for additional rewards.

Source: Axie Infinity

Axie Infinity is probably the most well-known play-to-earn game created by the Vietnamese developer Sky Mavis, inspired by Pokémon and built on Ethereum. This game Metaverse consists of seven lands, each with its unique spectrum of rarity and usefulness. It comprises four categories: common, rare, epic and mystic. Each of these separate groupings has distinctive characteristics and attributes.

Axie Infinity provides several options for investors interested in profiting from virtual gaming. To enter this magical land, gamers must purchase AXS tokens, and this Metaverse enables participants to purchase one-third of the available land. Through AXS, the player may search for available plots/parcels to buy. Furthermore, this new gameplay includes additional aspects such as the ability to acquire raids, monsters and chimera.

To acquire land in this Metaverse, a player must first establish an Axie infinite wallet using Ethereum, then go to the Axie infinity marketplace, pick the land you want and complete the transactions. The higher sum paid for a single plot in this Metaverse is $2,500,000.

Metaverse games have recently emerged as a result of the gaming industry’s recent growth. To experience next-level gaming, participants are exploring new and different Metaverses. While Metaverse may be centralized or decentralized, game companies tend to concentrate on decentralized games since the future is decentralized.

The metaverse offers a new and unique gaming experience that is still in its early stages of development. If you want to be at the forefront of this exciting industry, now is the time to get started. Explore the different virtual worlds within the gaming realm and find one that fits your style. There are plenty of options for gamers of all types, so dive in a have some fun!

Twitter | LinkedIn | Beacons| LinkTree | Discord

A long-term resident of South Korea, she is very active in the Blockchain/Web3 industry here in Seoul. An Executive MBA holder from IE Business School, she has a history focusing on the Food Industry with major growth in imported food products from Europe to APAC, as well as other experience in industries such as chemicals, fashion and tech. Initially as interested in the cryptocurrency markets as an investor and a self-starter she quickly became an educator, a community builder and more in the Web3 space. She has founded CryptoGals, a women-only Crypto-NFT community, and Crypto Moon Walkers, a Web3 community very focused on education in crypto trading and analysis, GameFi, Metaverse and DAOs. Never one to shy away from a social engagement both in the metaverse and in real life, she is a self-starter who has been busily applying all of her skills from the business world (business development, strategy, marketing and more) by providing vision and experience to various Blockchain technology and Web3 projects that she participates in.