From Idea to Reality: The Evolution of Metaverse Projects and Their Impact on the World
In the modern world, saturated with new technologies and innovations, metaverse projects hold a central place. The concept of creating independent decentralized virtual worlds has evolved into global platforms that unite millions of users worldwide. In this article, we will explore the evolution of metaverse projects from their inception and analyze the influence of this remarkable movement on our contemporary world.
The Era of Metaverses. The Beginning
The concept of virtual worlds and metaverses began to take shape as early as the 1960s and 1970s, with the term “metaverse” first appearing in science fiction literature, though it had no real-world analogs at that time.
Today, metaverses are well-known, but back in 1965, people could not imagine that half a century later, these meta-worlds would transform from the realm of imagination for science fiction writers into familiar places for hosting conferences, business meetings, fashion shows, and gaming missions. In those years, nobody could envision such a future, except for Michael Moorcock. In his novella, The Metatemporal Detective, Moorcock refers to “metaverses” as alternative worlds traveled by the protagonist, Sealsworth Moorcock.
In 1973, the metaverse migrated from literary works into computer games. One of the first virtual worlds created on a computer was called Maze War. It was a multiplayer game where players could navigate a 3D environment and interact with each other. However, it was not yet the metaverse as we understand it today.
Predicting the Metaverses
Remarkably, American writer Neal Stephenson described a decentralized metaverse long before blockchain technologies emerged in 2008.
Stephenson presented the idea of metaverses in 1992 in his novel Snow Crash. In this work, he depicted the metaverse as a space where virtual reality and the internet merged, allowing users to interact, communicate, create content, and trade virtual goods, much like in modern metaverse projects, don’t you think so?
Since then, the concept of metaverses has become widely used in cyberpunk culture, and with the advancement of technologies and the emergence of metaverse projects, this term has been actively applied to reality. Stephenson’s prediction came true.
The First Centralized Metaverse
In 2003, the company Linden Lab launched the virtual metaverse Second Life. It was developed using its own centralized technology, enabling users to create virtual characters (avatars), trade virtual goods, and interact with other participants.
Second Life served as a classic example of a metaverse, but it was merely a precursor to blockchain-based metaverses with limitless possibilities stemming from the idea of decentralization.
The First Decentralized Metaverse
Decentralization, facilitated by blockchain technology, makes the metaverse system reliable and secure. Property rights and transaction data are openly stored and verified. Every transaction and action within the metaverse is recorded on the blockchain.
Decentraland became the first blockchain-based metaverse. It was introduced in 2015 and built on Ethereum. Decentraland offers an extensive space divided into parcels of land, each represented by unique tokens called “virtual real estate” (LAND). Each land parcel is a unique digital asset tied to a specific Ethereum address. Owners of these parcels have full control over their virtual territories and can develop them as they see fit.
The First Metaverse for Role-Playing Games (MRPG)
MRPG, or metaverse for role-playing games, was implemented on the blockchain by the GrabCoinClub project.
GrabCoinClub offers users a multifunctional metaverse accessible to owners of collectible NFT avatars of alien tigers and dragons. In GrabCoinClub, they are called FiHunters, as they hunt for finances, gaining access to boundless wealth in the metaverse through precious GC tokens. These tokens are both the native token of the project and the in-game currency, providing the economic system of GrabCoinClub. The valuable aspect is that GC can be exchanged for USDT on cryptocurrency exchanges, allowing players to earn real money in the metaverse and use virtual world locations for networking, business, and events.
The development path of metaverse projects is captivating! Metaverses have transformed the way people interact with information and blurred the boundaries between the physical and digital worlds. Originally conceived as an idea for independent and decentralized virtual reality, metaverse projects have evolved into global platforms uniting millions of users from all over the world.
