Video game creative writing has quickly become one of the most innovative arenas for writers in the 21st century. Imagine Todd Meier’s “Civilization” without leader motivations, steampunk scenarios and wistful narrator musings to distract and amuse while the game loads. No comic book-based action-adventure game would have any elan were it not successfully adapted from its source material of lengthy scripts to bring the characters and story to life. Role-playing games with their various outcomes just doesn’t feel organic without realistic consequences to smooth the action back into the cutscenes. And lest we forget, cutscenes themselves can be longer than entire trilogies worthy of their own edited presentations on YouTube.

As with any other profession, skills must be developed, nurtured and honed. An education in creative fiction writing might not be necessary for everyone, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to have the skills and experience that go along with that particular degree when job hunting. Even spending time in a university drama department can yield valuable skills when it comes to directing voice actors to give life to your characters.

On the flip side, having a grasp on the nuances of back end game creation and development can be just as useful when building a realistic and cohesive narrative for a digital universe. Understanding the creative bounds and potential of coding will give you, the writer, context for how the overall product is developed with developers on the technical side.

Here are some recommended steps you can take now:

• Really, truly, obsessively study video games. Play them to be sure, but take notes on the successes and failures of each. Is there a thread or theme that runs from the opening credits until your sign off? Do characters interact hyper-specifically to each other, their environment, and the prompts and buttons of the player?
  
• Be the writer you want to become. Writers write – don’t just dream it, be it. Write short stories and novellas because you love telling stories. Write poetry to make your prose shine. Keep a journal of ideas, notes, brief excerpts of conversations real and imagined.

• Seek assignments from local publications for the professional experience, whether or not it yields a paycheck. The criticism and feedback provided by the editors and fellow writers will be essential in your personal writing process. Writing for a timed publication will also teach you the importance of meeting a deadline

• Make friends with other writers! Even well-known writers you’d think would never give you the time of day. Join creative collaborations with amateur artists and game designers, many of whom frequent game shops where good old fashioned dice rolling RPGs are sold. Established writers don’t have all the time in the world for folks that aren’t serious; but if you’re tenacious and respectful of the craft and show some actual promise in your work, you’ll find that 99% of professional writers are somewhat approachable and there are many ways for this to manifest. 

• Explore digital art! As digital artwork and artists have become part of the vernacular and are bridging the gap between fine art and gaming, taking the time to catch a show or deep dive into digital art archives will provide you with a base level understanding of the imaging and universe creation that you’ll be writing for – context is everything!

• Make your own hypothetical video game or find someone who can build your ideas into a real interactive prototype. Be prepared to hire someone and don’t be afraid to fight for the integrity of your vision while also yielding to the limits of the technology. Remember you’re still learning about the creative process here and see this is a stepping stone towards future success.

• Build your writing portfolio. The more work you can show prospective partners and employers the better. Consider the range and type of work in your portfolio as well. Don’t be afraid to include a variety of writing projects and experiments – nothing is too short or off-base as long as it is of quality.

• Apply for jobs in the industry and go on interviews. Learn to take criticism and “No” for an answer and how to persist without being a pest. Do it for the practice and don’t be afraid to come back for more. Many employers eventually hire the person who appears to want the job the most.

Be patient. No one gets anything they want quickly especially in a competitive field like video game design, but be persistent and eventually this practice will bear fruit.

The post How to Get Into Writing for Video Games appeared first on Grit Daily News.

According to the Blockchain Game Alliance and DappRadar’s Q1 of 2022 report, $2.5 billion were raised by blockchain games during the first quarter. If this trend was to continue, investments would increase by 150% when compared to last year, with activity having grown already by 2,000%.

This growth is not fortuitous but the result of technologies like NFTs, Web3, and the metaverse gaining relevance in the blockchain and mainstream tech spaces. In fact, blockchain gaming’s impact on the blockchain space has been so strong that its activity accounts for 52% of all blockchain activity.

Games like Axie Infinity, Splinterlands, Alien Worlds, Crazy Defense Heroes, Sky Mavis, and The Sandbox are some of the games leading to the rise of blockchain gaming. Not only have these games allowed players all around the world to generate economic gains but they have also introduced innovative mechanics and partnerships.  An example of this is The Sandbox’s recent partnership with Time Magazine to develop “Time Square”, a metaverse version of NYC’s iconic intersection.

“The Sandbox is often viewed as a ‘virtual Manhattan’, a vibrant space alive with culture, entertainment, and brands, where anyone can discover, learn, work, meet new people, play, dance, and find amazing new opportunities,” said The Sandbox’s Co-Founder and COO Sebastien Borget in the announcement. “By partnering with TIME, we’re adding TIMEPieces as the beating heart and soul of this virtual Manhattan, where a design call for virtual architects will be held in TIME Square, a place in our creative metaverse for brands and creators.”

But what is the reason behind gamers’ captivation with blockchain gaming? The reason is simple: The play-to-earn model. Historically, gamers have been unable to profit from playing their favorite games as most developers don’t allow real money transactions. While the reasons for this decision vary, they are often related to an attempt to prevent botting, account hacking/sharing, and legal issues.

The result is that most players don’t truly own their in-game assets as they can’t sell them nor take them out of the game ecosystem. Blockchain changed this by introducing NFTs and crypto, facilitating the creation of open marketplaces for gamers to trade their assets. This, in addition to being able to move assets out of the game ecosystem, result in true ownership.

As part of Grit Daily House during Consensus 2022, attendees had the opportunity to hear directly from one of the pioneers shaping the future of blockchain gaming. PixelSmarter’s Founder & DashLeague Creator Joseph Lazukin sat with Entrepreneur Magazine’s Jeff Hunter to talk about the opportunities and challenges in the blockchain gaming industry.

If you missed the chance to attend Grit Daily House in person and to hear what Joseph had to say, worry not. You will be able to watch the fireside chat in the video below and find our other panels on Grit Daily’s official YouTube Channel.

The post The Future of Web3 Gaming and How It Is Driving Blockchain Activity appeared first on Grit Daily News.

If NFTs meant real ownership of a digital asset, then that ownership should also come with full agency.

So producers of NFTs and blockchain games have been working hard to add usability to the assets. Games like Axie Infinity and Gods Unchained allowed players to buy and sell their NFTs in-game and battle them against each other. The addition of tokens to blockchain games has meant that players could also earn items of value as they play. The more they play, the better they become, and the more that can play to earn.

More recently, Draco Dice took the concept in a new direction, offering NFT accessories that players could bring to blockchain-based games. The project provided carefully designed, virtual game dice that also came with maximum owner agency.

“Typical P2E assets are locked into a single economy and can only be used in a single game,” explained project founder Zachary Comm. “That ultimately limits their utility. If I can bring my physical dice to any table and play any game with them, why shouldn’t the same be true for NFTs?”

To demonstrate the NFT’s usability, Draco Dice launched with a minigame in the project’s Discord community. That was soon followed by an alpha build of a player-vs-player mobile game called “Draco Dice: Skirmish.” The project sold more than half a million dollars’ worth of NFTs on its launch last November.

Now Draco Dice is pushing the agency of NFT accessories even further with the launch of a new game. Dicesweeper is a strategic, turn-based game similar to Battleship and Minesweeper played on Discord servers. Players take turns attempting to locate hidden dice in a grid, with play-to-earn benefits rewarding players for winning. Earning speed depends on the rarity of dice played, preventing whales with rare assets from dominating players with less valuable NFTs.

The development of NFT gaming on Discord is still relatively new. Previous games have largely focused on strategy and Pokemon-style games that required players to use their tokens in particular ways. Dicesweeper uses NFT dice as tools in a game that allows them to win tokens as they play.

“This isn’t a ‘farming’ game,” says Comm. “P2E doesn’t have to be about manipulating tokens. ‘Play’ should mean that everyone’s having a good time.”

The role of NFTs in games is still developing. But the tokens are no longer simple and they’re giving players far more agency than they’ve had before.

The post NFT Game Accessories Get a Whole New Use Case appeared first on Grit Daily News.

Set to start on March 11th, SXSW has quickly become one of the bastions of the creative, tech, and music industry ever since being founded in 1987 when it started as an event with only 700 attendees on opening day. After gathering over 400k attendees in 2019, the height of the COVID19 pandemic forced the event organizers to cancel the 2020 edition and to run the 2021 edition virtually.

With 65% of all Americans fully vaccinated and the world returning to normality, Austin is now ready to receive attendees once again to the first in-person edition of SXSW since the start of the pandemic. While the city is still at Stage 3 of its COVID-19 Risk-Based Guidelines, the organizers and local government are positive about the upcoming conference, with Austin Public Health’s Interim Authority Dr. Mark Escott saying:

“I’m very confident that SXSW will look normal, or near-normal next year.”

If you are thinking about joining the party, you should start planning your itinerary to be sure you don’t miss the action. We have compiled a list of 10 tech talks that will be taking place during SXSW you won’t want to miss.

Remember that Grit Daily House, an accredited media partner to SXSW, will be hosting talks featuring start speakers spanning multiple industries. Four blocks from the Convention Center, you won’t want to miss the chance to join us!

A Vision of Money’s Digital Future – Tushar Nadkarni

When Satoshi Nakamoto published the whitepaper for Bitcoin back in 2008, no one would have imagined that cryptocurrencies would take the world by storm less than 10 years later. Now, even central banks are taking a page out of Bitcoin’s book as they race to develop their Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).

Tushar Nadkarni, Chief Growth & Product Officer at Celsius Network, will share his vision on the digital future of money, the latest trends, and how the transition will impact businesses and people around the world. Having worked for financial companies like Goldman Sachs, McKinsey & Company, and PayPal, as well as his current role helping shape one of the biggest fintech platforms in the crypto space, few people are more qualified to predict the future of money.

Hosted by Grit Daily House, this talk will take place on Thursday, March 10 at 1:00 PM.

Women, Gamers, and Crypto in 2022 – Tal Bentov

Gaming and cryptocurrency have become increasingly relevant over the past year as talks about the upcoming metaverse continue to dominate tech media. With women starting to play an increasingly relevant role in both industries, 2022 is expected to be a pivotal year for gender equality in the blockchain gaming ecosystem.

Tal Bentov, VP of Lending and former Senior Director of Lending Operations at Celsius Network, is known in the crypto space as “The loan queen”. As one of the most successful women in the crypto space with years of experience under her belt, she will be providing attendees with important insights on the role women will play in the growth of gaming and crypto this year.

Hosted by Grit Daily House, this talk will take place on Thursday, March 10 at 3:15 PM.

What is web3? It’s Silicon Valley’s Latest Identity Crisis – Karim Nurani

Web3 was one of the hottest topics in and out of the blockchain space in 2021. Promising to be the next stage in the evolution of the internet, the popularity of Web3 has resulted in Silicon Valley giants struggling to retain top talent. With even the inventor of the internet, Sir Bernes Lee, joining the efforts to create a decentralized internet that brings control back to users, web3 is supposed to be the future.

Entrepreneur, Investor, and Chief Strategy Officer at Linqto Karim Nurani has a unique perspective of what Web3 is and what its effects will be in the tech world, especially when it comes to entrepreneurship. Having invested in some of the world’s biggest startups and unicorns across multiple industries, Karim has established himself as a visionary with an eye for what the future will be like. 

Hosted by Grit Daily House, this talk will take place on Friday, March 11th at 11:00 AM.

How NFTs Can Move Beyond Arts and Entertainment – Karim Nuran

Coverage of NFTs might have slowed down but the craze is still going in the crypto space with over $2 billion in sales over the past month, according to NonFungible. While NFTs have been mainly used by the arts and entertainment industries to satisfy the demand for collectibles, the potential of the technology is far greater.

With his experience spanning across industries, it is not a surprise that Karim Nuran believes there is much more to NFTs than meets the eye. Karim, who is also an Advisor for several blockchain-related startups like Andra Capital, will take the stage once again to discuss what the potential use cases on NFTs are.

Hosted by Grit Daily House, this talk will take place on Friday, March 11th at 4:30 PM.

The Next Level: How Video Games Help You Succeed – Reggie Fils-Aimé

Gaming has been one of the major drivers behind crypto and technological development over the past years, especially when it comes to the metaverse. With games like World Of Warcraft, Second Life, Roblox, Eve Online, Minecraft, and Final Fantasy XIV being considered precursors to the metaverse, the gaming ecosystem is worth looking for to know what to expect.

When it comes to gaming, Reggie Fils-Aimé is one of the most well-known games in the history of the space.  As the former president and chief operating officer (COO) of Nintendo of America, Reggie has played a major role in the success and growth of gaming and esports in the west ever since 2004. 

In this featured keynote, the American businessman will be talking about the role he expects gaming to play in the adoption and development of technologies like Web3 and the Metaverse. In an interview with SXSW, Reggie said about the role of video games in the tech industry:

“Video games have been the most experimental and most provocative form of entertainment — AR, VR, games as a form of exercise — and I fully expect that to continue. I think the pace of innovation in the space is unparalleled. The challenge of a leader is to create new targets, set new bars, and to reframe what success looks like.”

Hosted by SXSW, this keynote will take place on Saturday, March 12th at 1:00 PM at Ballroom D.

Can You Actually Change Big Tech From Within? – Various

With Big Tech becoming one of the most important factors in everyday life for individuals and governments, it is not surprising that all eyes are set on it. The debate of regulating or not regulating Big Tech has been a matter of controversy, with many believing that change must come from within… But is this possible?

This panel brings Rumman Chowdhury, CEO, FounderatParity AI; Raylene Yung,

U.S. Digital Response Leader at AspenTech Policy Hub; and Dr. Rachel Gillum

Senior Director, Ethical And Humane Use Of Technology At Salesforce, to discuss the matter. Moderated by Google engineer and Stanford Professor Mehran Sahami, we expect this panel to be full of provocative questions and interesting insights.

Hosted by SXSW, this panel will take place on Friday, March 11th at 10:00 AM at Hilton Austin Downtown’s Salon K.

Trusting in Digital Governance – Margrethe Vestager

It is not a secret that as the world has become more connected through the internet and other technologies, it has become more difficult to know which information to trust. With polarization, informational warfare, misinformation, and centralization, people around the world are at a crossroads never seen before.

The recent COVID19 pandemic and the situation in Ukraine are just some examples of how this issue can affect democracy, human rights, and public health. European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager, one of the most respected leaders and experts in democratic digital governance, will be taking the stage to discuss the topic at a critical time.

Hosted by EU@SXSW, this talk will take place on Saturday, March 12th at 4:00 PM at Hilton Austin Downtown’s Salon H.

Wake Up Call: Women in Tech & Innovation – Various

While women have started gaining increasing relevance in the world of tech, there is still a long way to go until equality is reached. Studies show that not only are women still underrepresented in tech leadership but they also have a worse experience at all levels. With most experts agreeing that closing the gender gap can be beneficial for any organization, it would seem the time to act is now.

This panel will see Julie Ferland, VP Innovation Excellence at Shell; Van Truskett, Executive Director at The Texas Innovation Center; and Anna Jarman, Lead Innovation and Emerging Technology at Walmart, engage in an honest discussion moderated by Katie Mehnert, Chief Executive Officer and Founder at ALLY Energy to discuss this topic. If you are interested in knowing more about the unique role that women can play in the world of tech, this is the panel for you.

Hosted by Shell House, this panel will take place on Monday, March 14th at 9:30 AM at Antone’s. 

The Commercial Space Age Is Here

This decade promises to be one of the most important in the history of space exploration, with the James Webb Space Telescope being one of the most recent events. While NASA has long led these efforts, private companies like SpaceX, Sierra Nevada, Blue Origin, and many more have made important contributions over the past years.

Join Dr. Douglas Terrier, Associate Director for Vision and Strategy at  NASA’s Johnson Space Center; R. Matthew Ondler, CTO at Axiom Space; Timothy Crain, Chief Technology Officer at Intuitive Machines; and Arturo Machuca, Director at Ellington Airport and Houston Spaceport, to find out how cooperation between the public and private sector will shape the future of space exploration.

Hosted by Houston House, this panel will take place on Monday, March 14th at 1:00 PM at The LINE Hotel’s Onyx Ballroom.

The post 10 Tech Talks During SXSW You Won’t Want to Miss appeared first on Grit Daily News.

What Is the Metaverse?

The concept of Metaverse is nothing new despite its recent appearance in pop culture. In fact, the word “Metaverse” has been around since 1992 when it was introduced in a science-fiction novel by the title of “Snow Crash”. Written by American author Neal Stephenson, the novel depicts the metaverse as the successor of the internet which operates as a virtual world that users can access via portable terminals.

Stephenson’s metaverse was bound to the laws of physics just like in real life, with users even having to walk or use monorails to commute in the virtual world. However, the concept of metaverse has evolved to represent a virtual world in which users can live a second digital life. Unfortunately, the definition of what this actually entails is non-existent as everyone seems to have their own idea of the requirements.

Despite the lack of clarity on what actually constitutes a Metaverse, you probably are already familiar with the idea. If you have watched movies like “Tron”, “Ready Player One”, or “The Matrix”, you have seen what the metaverse represents. You probably also have heard or even played games that could arguably be considered a metaverse in itself, as is the case of “Second Life”.

What is important for you to keep in mind is that the idea of the metaverse is still changing and evolving. This fact is important as when investing in a metaverse stock, you are investing in the company’s vision for the metaverse, not the metaverse itself… as there is no such thing.

Why Should You Care About the Metaverse?

We understand if our previous explanation of the Metaverse and the examples we mentioned made you underestimate the potential of the metaverse. While it is true that most iterations of the metaverse depicted in movies and existing platforms are game-like, there is so much more to it. As a digital world means to offer the chance of a “second life”, a metaverse should also offer a wide range of services that extend beyond gaming.

Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games (MMORPG) like World of Warcraft have been around for years, offering players a virtual world to roam freely. This makes gamers closely familiar with the concept of metaverse but not necessarily users until this point. What would set a virtual world like WOW apart from the Metaverse is its range of functions.

The idea of the concept being pursued by the big companies at this time includes complex economic systems that open the doors to monetization through commerce, advertisements, virtual real estate, virtual jobs, and much more. As such, the metaverse creates a virtual world that mirrors the real world, instead of being a world with pure entertainment value. 

As the metaverse is basically the real world taken into the digital realm, independently of the form, the possibilities are endless. Imagine the chance of creating virtual businesses, items, organizations, and anything else in a virtual environment populated by millions of people from all around the world. 

By merging the internet and real life, the metaverse promises a new way to live. It is not a surprise that Grayscale estimates the metaverse is a $1 trillion revenue opportunity for the advertising, social commerce, and tech industries. Even if you choose not to invest in the Metaverse, it will play an important role in shaping your and our future.

This potential the metaverse represents to reshape the digital realm was some of the biggest companies heavily investing in its development. Let’s take a look at 8 metaverse stock you should consider investing in!

What Companies Will Benefit the Most From the Metaverse’s Success?

With the Metaverse representing such a great financial opportunity, it is not a surprise that some of the biggest companies in the world are taking part in its development. For example, Microsoft’s recent acquisition of Activision Blizzard, one of the biggest gaming companies in the world, for $68.7 billion was motivated by the Metaverse. This makes the company one of the latest tech giants to join the race.

Several tech companies have already been working on the metaverse directly or indirectly for a while. These are the companies we will focus on for this list while taking a look at their journey into the metaverse so far. No, with no particular order in mind, let’s take a look at the top metaverse stock you should consider investing in!

Nvidia

Nvidia is widely known as the leader in the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) market ever since its founding back in 1993. However, despite its prominent role in the industry, it has been expanding into other fields over the past years. The favorite of millions of gamers and power users around the world, Nvidia is now working on Artificial Intelligence (AI), data science, cloud computing, self-driving vehicles, computing, and more.

Nvidia’s stock grew in value by more than 125% during 2021 as a result of the increasing demand for GPUs and data centers. The company reported record revenue of $7.1 billion for the third quarter of 2021, which represented an increase of 50% from the revenue it generated over the previous year. 

GPU and data center demand is still on the rise as the transition to remote work continues to take place for millions of people and businesses move to operate online. However, the company also has an important role to play in the development of the metaverse due to its relevance in the AR and VR spaces.

Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s CEO, has also proven to be one of the most vocal supporters of the metaverse, having talked about it for years. Back in April of 2021, Huang delivered a keynote on the topic of the omniverse, a company’s version of the metaverse specially designed for engineers. Ever since the announcement, the project has continued to gain relevance among the engineering community as the company keeps prioritizing its development.

With metaverse platforms being likely to require high specs for the processing of graphics, Nvidia’s 83% share of the GPU market will allow the company to benefit from the metaverse craze. 

The great thing about investing in Nvidia metaverse stock is that you are investing in diverse applications of its technology which are poised for growth. In addition to this, its approach to the metaverse (omniverse) is unique in nature, which means that any competitor would be at a disadvantage. 

Coinbase

Let us be clear: Coinbase is not working on any metaverse project that we know of at this time. However, this doesn’t mean that the company has nothing to gain from the success of the metaverse.

As you probably know, Coinbase is one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges out there. As one of the only exchanges operating in the United States, the exchange has grown exponentially over the past years. In fact, it became the first major exchange to go public back on April 14 of 2021.

Blockchain technology is being used by several projects on the development of decentralized metaverses. Names like Decentraland, Axie Infinity, and The Sandbox have been making headlines over the past months, with all of them making use of blockchain and crypto to run their virtual economies.

As one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges out there, Coinbase will surely be one of the go-to platforms for the trading of cryptocurrencies powering future decentralized metaverses. If you believe that decentralized metaverses will be able to go mainstream, this is certainly a metaverse stock to add to your portfolio.

Unity

Unity is one of the most important names in the gaming industry. The game development platform has become one of the most popular game engines with more than 1.5 million monthly creators. The engine has grown so big that many consider it to be a strong competitor to Epic Games.

Despite not having the best year in 2021, Unity’s metaverse stock has seen its value increase by over 9.92% over the past 6 months. The company also reported revenue of over $286 million during the third quarter of 2021, an increase of over 43% when compared to the past year.

With Unity powering many of the most popular mobile and desktop game titles, as well as other platforms, the metaverse explosion could get its total addressable market even higher.  The company is not planning on taking a leading but a “support” role in metaverse development, as Unity’s senior VP of revenue Julie Shumaker told Forbes back in December.

Despite not being actively working on the creation of its own metaverse, Unity is committed to making the transition to the metaverse easier. The company envisions the metaverse as a transition space that connects multiple games and ecosystems together through accessible doors. 

In line with this idea, the company has launched its work toward making connectivity between games easier through features like Unity Gaming Services. However, for the company to play a real supporting role, it would need to introduce new features that allowed creators to include such “lobbies” that would host players moving between spaces.

For now, Unity’s potential to benefit from the metaverse craze is related to the relevance it has as a game engine. If this is not enough for you to seriously consider it, just know that Unity’s CEO John Riccitiello seems committed to having the company play an essential role. Back in November of 2021, he stated “We’re the underlying toolset for creating the metaverse”.

Epic Games

Epic Games is the company behind Unreal Engine, one of the biggest game engines out there. While Unity has the biggest market share in the mobile game market, Unreal has managed to be a worthy competitor while completely dominating the PC and console markets.

Fortnite, an online game with more than 350 million players, is another popular product in Epic Games’ belt. Despite having been around for years, the game has continued to be one of the most popular titles by keeping the game fresh via unique partnerships and updates. This has made the game transcend its original nature to become an internet phenomenon and even work as a social network of sorts.

Epic Games is betting on Fortnite to grow until it achieves metaverse status, a process that has taken place organically over the years. The already huge user base of the game also provides the company with a competitive advantage.

Tim Sweeney, Epic Games CEO and founder, is known to be one of the most enthusiastic executives when it comes to the metaverse. Last year, he referred to the importance of the metaverse and the race to build it by stating:

“Over the coming decades, the metaverse has the potential to become a multi-trillion-dollar part of the world economy. The next three years are going to be critical for all of the metaverse-aspiring companies like Epic, Roblox, Microsoft, Facebook,” he said in an interview after. “It’s kind of a race to get to a billion users, whoever brings on a billion users first, would be the presumed leader in setting the standards.”

Back in April of last year, Epic closed a $1 billion funding round launched “to Support Epic’s Long-Term Vision for the Metaverse”. This vision includes the connection of many of Epic’s most popular titles, which include Fortnite, Rocket League, and Fall Guys, as well as facilitating interaction between titles built with Unreal Engine.

Meta

This is a metaverse stock that couldn’t miss in this list! While the metaverse has been in the mouth of millions of people over the past year, the company that helped it popularize the most was Meta. Formerly known as Facebook, the company founded by Mark Zuckerberg rebranded itself to make its commitment to the development of the metaverse clear for everyone.

Ever since the rebranding, Meta has redoubled its efforts to develop the metaverse, investing over $10 billion on its metaverse unit during 2021. This investment allowed the company to create a working prototype that is currently in beta (Horizon Worlds), which is why the company is planning to invest more over the next few years.

Patent applications submitted by Facebook to the US Patent and Trademark Office show that Meta’s metaverse will be heavily focused on virtual stores. These would allow users to acquire digital and real-world goods, as part of a commerce-led business model.

As one of the biggest tech companies in the world, Meta is not sparing in expanses when it comes to winning the race. The company is working on technology that would allow for the creation of hyper-realistic avatars that could be able to replicate poses, facial expressions, and more.

While Facebook’s public perception has grown increasingly negative over the past years, the company is making efforts to change this. For this reason and its approach, many experts see Meta as one of the safest bets on the Metaverse. Just like Epic Games, Meta already counts with a huge user base it can easily incentivize to adopt its vision of the metaverse.

AMD/INTEL

Back in December of last year, Intel recognized the important role the metaverse will play in the future of computing. However, the company believes that computing capabilities need to increase by “several orders of magnitude” in order to make the metaverse a reality. This is where both AMD and Intel come in.

AMD and Intel are the Coca-Cola and Pepsi of the CPU world. These companies power most of the devices people would use to access the metaverse, which is why they stand to benefit from the success of the metaverse.

While GPUs have been the go-to solution for gamers for decades, the short supply over the past years has forced CPU manufacturers to improve their discrete graphics chip market. This, in combination with the additional computing power needed by upcoming platforms, would result in developers prioritizing CPU optimization for the metaverse.

The demand for CPUs in the metaverse will not be limited to end-users but will also include the companies developing it. Back in November, Meta announced that it would be using AMD’s Epyc chips in its data centers, many of which will power its metaverse.

Betting on AMD or Intel’s metaverse stock is investing in the infrastructure that will support the metaverse, no matter if decentralized or centralized models succeed. Investing in AMD or Intel is a matter of which approach you believe more in. 

Amazon 

Just like with our previous entry, Amazon is also a metaverse stock you might want to consider if you are thinking about investing in the infrastructure behind the metaverse. As the company behind Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon has the biggest share in the cloud computing market and has a lot to benefit from when the metaverse gets off the ground.

In addition to this, Amazon will also benefit from the commerce opportunities that the metaverse will create. With an online model that has already proven to be incredibly successful, not only would the company be able to offer its services in the Metaverse but also expand its services. For example, Amazon could link real-life goods with virtual ones, as well as offer virtual goods like real estate, 3d models, services, and more.

It is also important to note that while the Metaverse is not exclusively focused on gaming, this will surely play an important role in it. This, in combination with its social nature, will also have a profound impact on the streaming industry. With Amazon also being the company behind Twitch, this trend would also prove extremely beneficial to the e-commerce titan.

Amazon has not disclosed any plans to play an active role in the development of the metaverse yet. However, we believe that the reasons we already listed are more than enough to consider investing in and treating Amazon stock as a metaverse stock.

Tencent

The Chinese internet giant is one of the most influential companies in the social media and gaming industries in the world, and certainly the biggest in China. This places the company in a unique position to capitalize on the increasing interest and cultural relevance of the Metaverse.

This week, it was announced that Tencent would be acquiring Xiami’s BlackShark gaming division. BlackShark is a company that manufactures gaming phones and accessories but will be changing its focus to AR/VR hardware after the acquisition. With this move, Tencent will further expand its capabilities and synergy with metaverse development as this could be the building block it was missing.

Back in 2021, Tencent revealed its vision for the Metaverse in an earnings call when CEO Pony Ma said:

“The way we look at Metaverse in terms of sort of — at a high level is that we feel that anything that really makes the virtual world more real and making the real world richer with virtual experiences can actually sort of becoming part of the Metaverse big world. And as a result, we felt it’s going to be an opportunity that really adds growth to the existing industries. For example, it will be an addition to the gaming industry.”

Tencent is also the second-largest stakeholder for Epic Games, which certainly opens the doors to interesting collaborations. With other Chinese companies like Baidu joining the metaverse race, it is just natural for Tencent to follow through now that it has acquired the last piece in the puzzle.

The post 8 Metaverse Stocks You Should Consider Investing In appeared first on Grit Daily News.

The collection, which goes by the name “Blockchain Brawlers”, will be auctioned on the Binance NFT Marketplace on November 30 of 2021 as part of WAX’s GameFi project. The project aims to provide NFT enthusiasts with the possibility to move their digital assets seamlessly between WAX’s blockchain and other networks like Binance Smart Chain via a novel NFT bridge. William Quigley, co-founder of WAX, referred to this approach by stating:

​​“The NFT bridge built by WAX can build a future we envision, in which blockchain and NFT marketplaces are accessible to everyone regardless of the chain types.”

Binance Smart Chain (BSC) is only the first blockchain network to be connected with WAX, with other additions expected as a means to fulfill WAX’s vision of the NFT ecosystem. Creators and developers will be able to reach a more ample market while NFT holders will gain greater agency over their assets, opening the doors to new use cases and applications.

Blockchain Brawlers will see multiple batches being released, with the first one being the “Founder’s Edition” and having 100 exclusive NFTs. These Brawler NFTs will belong to one of four editions: Standard, Hardcore, Cage Match, and Death Match, which will determine their role in the play-to-earn game being developed by WAX.

The NFT industry has now generated more than $11 billion in sales, which has prompted investors, creators, and organizations to join the craze to capitalize on the popularity of the technology The impact of NFTs in the world of art has been so overwhelming that mainstream media has now transformed digital assets in a part of op culture, which experts believe could result in the mass adoption of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies across industries.

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The funding round was co-led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and FTX with participation from a16z, Sequoia Capital, Pantera Capital, Jump Capital, and Solana. This brings the total funding raised by Faraway to $30 million. Amy Wu, partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, referred to the firm’s reasons to lead its second round by stating:

“Lightspeed is searching for the industry’s most promising teams to bring the next 100M users to web3, and that is likely in gaming. We are still at the beginning of the blockchain gaming era and we’re about to see teams like Faraway catapult gaming into the next wave of what’s possible.”

Founded back in July of this year, Faraway seeks to unlock the potential blockchain technology represents to create player-driven decentralized game economies. It started fulfilling this mission with Mini Royale: Nations, the first live multiplayer game to launch on the Solana Network. The game can be instantly played from a web browser without the need for third-party clients being required, removing entry barriers historically associated with blockchain games. Alex Paley, Faraway CEO, said about this mission:

“Blockchain technology will unlock the potential for truly player-driven, open economies and will usher in the next wave of gaming and virtual worlds. Our goal for both current and future games is to create extremely fun and social games with open economies, giving players true ownership over their in-game assets and a true voice in how the game evolves over time. We’re fortunate to have found such great partners who not only understand the potential of Web3 across various markets, but are actively driving businesses forward in this space.”

With blockchain becoming increasingly relevant in the gaming industry, developers are looking to take advantage of the benefits the technology provides. While the Ethereum network has dominated the blockchain gaming scene since its launch, third-gen networks like Solana, Cardano, and Polkadot have gained ground over the past years. Now, Faraway is looking to become a major contributor to the growth of the Solana Network, which has already positioned itself as a major Ethereum competitor.

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The gaming industry has seen exponential growth over the past years, with Accenture estimating its total value over the $300 billion mark. With more than 500 million people having joined the gaming world over the past three years, investors are looking to fund startups and companies that are reinventing the industry.

Seth Schuler, managing director with Accenture’s Software & Platforms industry group, referred to the growing dominance of gaming in the entertainment industry by stating:

“The emergence of new gaming platforms and changing demographics are pushing gaming businesses away from being product-centric to becoming experience-oriented platforms. The industry must balance the needs of its newest adopters, who care more deeply about their online interactions, with the expectations of gaming loyalists who remain the industry’s most lucrative customers.”

Not only is the gaming community continuing to grow but the needs of its members are also changing. While gaming used to be all about entertainment in the past, they now have a financial aspect to them that has resulted in niches like Esports and Streaming industries exploding in popularity.

Gaming Is Now Serious Business

These financial considerations have prompted gamers to be more passionate than ever about their virtual experiences, which means companies can no longer ignore their demands. Game developers like EA Games have found this out the hard way, with the company experiencing massive backlash from gamers all around the globe back in 2017 due to its use of loot boxes. The result of the controversy was that the giant was forced to suspend in-game purchases.

The backlash experienced by EA games is not an isolated case. Gamers all around the world have criticized the increasing use of loot boxes and in-game transactions in their favorite games. While video games have always had an element of randomness to them, requiring players to pay for an element that relies entirely on it has proved to be an unpopular approach.

This is especially troublesome when considering that gamers who acquire in-game assets directly or via loot boxes don’t really own the assets. The fact that developers can modify the assets, ban players, or have the game no longer be supported, means that players are “renting” the assets more than actually buying or earning them.

Intrinsic Value Through Blockchain Technology

Altura NFT is aiming to change this reality by providing players with real ownership over their in-game assets. By allowing developers to easily mint non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the startup believes it can change how users and developers interact, resulting in digital items gaining intrinsic value. The platform’s white reads:

“Altura wants to provide easy-to-use solutions for minting NFTs – Nonfungible tokens – to represent in-game items. We also want to provide Smart NFTs; NFTs with dynamic properties that can be changed based on time-based conditions, function-call-based conditions, or real-world conditions offer a new world of potential NFTs. This is an idea that has yet to be effectively implemented in an easy-to use manner.”

Built as an open-source project with simple APIs, Altura NFT is creating a protocol with a high degree of transparency that allows the creation of NFTs with a high degree of granularity. For example, developers could set a transaction tax that holders will incur every time the NFT’s ownership changes, creating a new source of revenue.

Closing Black Markets for Good

Historically, game developers have shown a hostile stand toward practices like Real Money Trading (RMT) as they provide hackers and players with reasons to act maliciously. However, this stance has led to the creation of black markets and account selling. Altura NFT’s approach removes the need for such markets by providing developers with the transparency that blockchain technology provides.

The result is an ecosystem in which developers and players share control over the assets: Developers control how the asset is used in its games while players can easily transact with them, profiting from their gaming efforts. When it comes to loot boxes, players no longer will need to trust the developer when it comes to the randomness of their algorithm, Altura NFT takes care of that.

With gaming companies and startups having received more than $5.9 billion in funding during the first 7 months of 2021, the interest shown by venture capitalists in gaming couldn’t be clearer. It is also noteworthy that most of these investments have made it to companies looking to change the infrastructure and ancillary services of the gaming industries, instead of being focused on game development.

Altura NFT certainly has benefited from this increased interest from investors, with its ALU cryptocurrency seeing its value increase by over 500% in less than a month. The time seems right for those looking to change gaming forever, with the startup planning to take advantage of the momentum the industry is experiencing.

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The funding round counted with participation from some of the biggest blockchain venture capital firms, including Republic Crypto, Ascensive Assets, Morningstar Ventures, Mechanism Capital, Polygon Studios, and Bitcoin.com. Chase Freo, OP Games’ CEO and co-Founder, said about the round:

“We welcome this hearty endorsement of the work we have done to power up the gaming landscape using Web 3.0’s superpowers: open-source and community ownership.”

OP Games was founded back in 2018 with the mission to boost innovation in the gaming industry by providing developers with new ways to generate revenue from their creative efforts. The startup will do this by providing a platform that allows them to harvest the potential of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) to collaborate with their communities.

With the Play To Earn (P2E) model becoming increasingly popular as a result of the success of games like Axie Infinity, the startup expects to become a major player in the gaming industry of the future, which is expected to be worth over $272 billion by 2030. Freo referred to the role he expects the startup to play in this growth by stating:

“The $150 billion gaming industry is evolving at an astonishing rate. By giving developers the tools and guidance they need, and by giving players the chance to co-create their favorite projects, we are opening up new revenue channels for the sector’s talented creators.”

Gaming already surpassed both the music and movies industries’ combined revenue, making it the default king of the entertainment sector. This exponential growth has created the perfect environment for gaming startups like OP Games to attract the attention of investors and develop new ways for developers and gamers to interact with gaming, bringing a golden era to a niche that decades ago was not taken seriously by many.

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The round was co-led by Blue Pool Capital and Samsung Ventures, counting with the participation of influential investors like Simu Liu (Marvel’s Shang-Chi), Thierry Henry (international football legend), Sabrina Ionescu (WNBA Star), Albert Pujols (LA Dodger/ World Series Champion), Steven Chen (Co-founder, YouTube), Matt Mullenweg (Co-Founder WordPress), Roham Gharegozlou (Founder, Dapper Labs), and many more.

The startup is looking to bring motion-based entertainment to the mainstream by facilitating access to a medium that has historically required expensive virtual reality devices. The platform achieves this by focusing its effort on the development of computer vision and AI technology solutions that make it possible for mobile devices to serve such a purpose.

This new approach allows the integration of fitness and entertainment by requiring the player to use its body movement to interact with the game’s world, making fitness fun and approachable for those who struggle with more traditional approaches. The use of body movement as a controller has historically been used by big companies like Nintendo and Konami via games like Fitness Boxing, Ring Fit adventures, and Dance Dance Revolution but has remained pretty limited in terms of accessibility due to the need for specialized hardware.

The latest product launched by Nex is Active Arcade, a new motion game that is available for most mobile devices running iOS or Android. Active Arcade uses the device’s camera to detect the player’s movements using computer vision, allowing players to play any of multiple games from their devices in any location.

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) gaming have been growing over the past decades. However, the cost behind the equipment for these technologies has prevented it from gaining widespread popularity. By allowing players to use a device that 85% of Americans already possess, the entertainment startup is uniquely positioned to bring these technologies to the masses.

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