Getting To Know The Internet Computer Metaverse Ecosystem

Most people who follow the cryptocurrency, Big Tech, blockchain, finance, and Web3 spaces have by now heard of the term Metaverse, which really took off in popularity following Facebook’s name change to Meta in late October 2021.

As can be seen in the chart below, the Metaverse on Google Trends made it to the big stages following Zuck’s announcement — but since then it’s lost some of its initial buzz and has subsequently taken on many different meanings and is being discussed in different contexts.

During the current bear market, the Metaverse has also dropped in popularity, but that doesn’t mean it’s going away — quite the opposite will likely play out.

With regards to how the Metaverse will come into reality, many people believe that cryptocurrency projects will build the next Metaverse, while others say that Meta and Apple will be the front-players because of the hardware component of the tech stack.

Moreover, it’s being said that the Metaverse will have a blockchain component to it where the blockchain will serve as one of the primary tech stacks for building out the digital world, with NFTs and cryptocurrency tokens moving freely around on the blockchain, and human avatars exchanging goods and services similar to the real economy.

Decentraland is one project following this model, but there are many others such as The Sandbox and DeFi Kingdoms (to name the biggest players so far). But in reality, these are just GameFi + Metaverse economies built on another blockchain, so it’s not vertically controlled by the creator.

In addition, experts such as Matthew Ball (one of the leading experts on the Metaverse) have pointed out that the Metaverse will require bandwidth, latency, and reliability, which are some of the easiest components to point out that traditional blockchains are not able to handle.

This is why the Internet Computer is a potential solution for building out the Metaverse. If you think of other blockchains such as Ethereum, Bitcoin, Solana, Avalanche, Binance Chain, or Cardano, none of these are viable due to their scalability limitations (for Ethereum), their lack of smart contract functionality or block size (for Bitcoin), their centralization concerns (for Solana and Binance Chain), and their reliance on centralized cloud servers (for Solana and Avalanche).

In addition, as can be seen above, the Internet Computer can do faster transaction speeds, it has faster transaction finality, its storage costs are significantly less expensive than other chains, its ‘cloud service providers’ are on independent data centers (rather than on centralized Big Tech cloud servers), it’s more energy efficient (thus checking the box of being 21st century environmentally conscious), and the end-user key management system is much less complex than other blockchains — you only need an Internet Identity, rather than keeping long keys and having to store them on your own.

These are just some of the basic reasons why the Internet Computer is positioned to be scalable for the Metaverse.

The other reason is the network’s architecture, being that the Internet Computer is a complete tech stack and Web3 solution, not just a siloed blockchain. It has independent data centers, it has a DAO, it has a protocol, it has blockchains, and it is smart contract compatible with its canister innovation. All these facets taken together give the Internet Computer the fundamentals to building out the Metaverse.

With that being said, let’s take a look at some current Metaverse applications being constructed on the Internet Computer’s tech stack.

10 Metaverse Projects On The Internet Computer

IC Gallery

IC Gallery is an interoperable 3D Metaverse blending GameFi and DeFi, where users can play, mint, and trade all their existing NFTs through various immersive 3D experiences on the Internet Computer and Ethereum. IC Gallery is hosted completely on-chain — thus, it’s the ultimate 3D NFT Metaverse experience.

What’s super interesting about IC Gallery is its niche — being a 3D Gallery for minting and trading NFTs in an immersive 3D environment. This 3D environment really gives the application the Metaverse feeling to it, and moving forward as it develops, 4D will certainly be in the cards.

Secondly, another interesting point is its compatibility with Ethereum — and as we know many applications struggle in successfully doing cross-blockchain applications. So IC Gallery is pushing on a real boundary in this aspect with introducing its app on Ethereum as well. Let’s see how it plays out in the coming year.

NFT Studio

NFT Studio is the first project to develop 3D NFTs. This point is unique because the NFTs themselves are living 3D code as opposed to a GIF file recording of a 3D rendered image. 3D NFTs developed by NFT Studio are only possible thanks to the ICP blockchain because NFTs can run code instead of just linking to an image.

3D NFTs is the great innovation here, and this will be particularly useful in the Metaverse as we move beyond Web2 and 2D images and internet experiences. So if NFT Studio continues on its development path we’re definitely in for the ride in seeing something truly ‘metaversy’ and not just Metaverse on Web3.

MetaSports Basketball

MetaSports Basketball is an open basketball Metaverse built on the Ethereum and Internet Computer blockchains where customizable NFT basketball players can compete to become superstars on teams owned and managed by the players.

This game will be attractive to the athletes and jocks who love playing sports video games, especially as the industry transitions towards Web3 and video game players begin to demand owning their in-game assets.

MetaSports Basketball will allow these gamers to take advantage of this trend, which will result in them creating some awesome basketball players and will create a competitive environment.

NBA 2K watch out.

PokedStudio Bots

PokedStudio Bots are a collection of 10,000 unique NFT bots. One of these bots sold for a record high among NFTs across the industry and these NFTs have done over $1 million in trading volume after launch. These bots will transfer into a future Metaverse gaming experience. PokedStudio Bots can be found on the Entrepot NFT marketplace.

ICP Squad NFT

ICP Squad NFT is the world’s first Engage 2 Earn NFT, which as its name suggests, aims to reward the Internet Computer ecosystem for using different DApps. Moreover, ICP Squad NFT is creating a build-your-own minting engine for avatars that can be used in the Metaverse. Avatars here is the game changer since as we’ve seen from Zuckerberg’s Meta concept videos, the avatars are not so great and thus any company that’s creating attractive, high-def, and customizable NFT avatars will have a great head start in driving more Metaverse engagement. If you look cool in the Metaverse, then you’re more likely to register for a profile, get a blockchain address, and buy an NFT avatar. So ICP Squad NFT is on to something.

NFT Studio Marketplace

NFT Studio Marketplace is a marketplace that features 3D NFTs that can be purchased with ICP, the Internet Computer’s cryptocurrency/blockchain token.

NFTAnvil

NFTAnvil is a wallet, mint, & marketplace in the Anvil ecosystem that’s built from scratch and uses an alternative approach to NFTs as it uses Anvil’s auto-scaling multi-canister token architecture. The Anvil Protocol is behind this and its mission is to create a Metaverse made out of autonomous, zero maintenance, self-sustainable Web3 microservices that are made to last.

Where To Find These Apps?

The Internet Computer’s Metaverse ecosystem can be found by going to the Dfinity website homepage, clicking on Ecosystem, then selecting the Metaverse tag (see picture below).

What’s The Takeaway?

These are just some of the basic Metaverse applications being built on the Internet Computer, but not all of them. Many of these incorporate NFTs, sports, GameFi, 3D NFTs, Metaverse galleries, unique avatars, and studio marketplaces for trading NFTs in the Metaverse. Of course, these will all develop moving forward, so let’s stay on this topic and dig deeper when we have more specifics. The Metaverse is going to be a top industry with all the top Big Tech and finance companies jumping on board.