Imagine a world that exists completely within the digital realm, a place where millions of users live, shop, work, learn, and engage with one another, with all of it taking place in the various comforts of the physical world.
Within such a realm, the computer screens that we are so accustomed to and use to link to the global web of information would instead turn into these portals to 3D worlds that may even be palpable, i.e., similar to real life but bigger and better. We would have our very own avatars moving freely from one place to another, taking whatever funds we own along with our identities.
And this is exactly what the metaverse is supposed to be. Metaverse platforms, on the other hand, embody such ideals, and while they are still a bit far off from achieving them, they strive towards realizing them nonetheless.
Criteria for evaluating metaverse platforms
Evaluating metaverse platforms – Image via Freepik
What can make certain metaverse platforms the right ones for you? Well, there are quite a few aspects that should be worth considering here.
For one, platforms should give firms or developers the right tools to design immersive, attractive, and branded environments. Moreover, it would be preferable for economies to be decentralized, where firms that buy or rent locations from platforms have the necessary authority or rights over such virtual spaces.
There is also another crucial element that should always be considered: the user experience, where the platform should come with ample features that can boost that, like aesthetically pleasing avatars, 3D environments, immersive social features, digital twins, real-time communication, and more.
To access such experiences, however, accessibility is also important. It would be highly appreciated if such platforms could be accessible through desktop, apps, mobile, tablet, and, not to mention, AR glasses and VR headsets.
Other than content and media files, platforms should openly incorporate third-party business systems, tools, or software, such as voice assistants, chatbots, content and data management systems, CRM, payment gateways, and various e-commerce tools. And since cryptocurrencies will eventually be an integral aspect as well, the platform you select needs to support most of the leading wallets and tokens.
Alongside such essential elements, the platforms should also come with a skilled backend team, one that can easily support firms in establishing themselves within the metaverse. Since the metaverse is in its early stages, these platforms should be hospitable to improvements or technological advancements in the future.
Top metaverse platforms to watch out for in 2023
Best metaverse platforms to check out in 2023 – Image via Freepik
Mentioned below are some of the metaverse platforms that may be worth your time.
Decentraland
Decentraland is an Ethereum-based virtual world that is user-owned. It is a place where you can explore, play, and engage with a plethora of activities and games. You can buy these parcels of land as well, which you can then use to create your own environments, applications, and marketplaces.
Additionally, Decentraland has three native cryptocurrencies, all of which play a crucial role in its economy. These tokens are MANA, Estate, and LAND. Not only that, but it even has its own decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), known as Decentraland DAO, which the users can use to govern the platform.
Somnium Space
With Somnium Space, you can produce environments that are completely customizable, programmable, and self-reliant VR experiences inside a bigger, connected world. And four key offerings make this possible. These include:
-An SDK for customization and the creation of properties and avatars
-A builder module that can create structures or environments
-A marketplace for trading in-game assets, or NFTs
-Virtual reality experiences.
Through blockchain, Somnium Space enables you to monetize such VR experiences while empowering you to design a world using your own imagination — a place where you can be the primary recipient of value and creator.
The Sandbox
The Sandbox needs no introduction. It is a popular, community-driven, decentralized virtual world where you can design, sell, and share in-world assets. It’s composed of three primary products, which include VoxEdit, The Sandbox Marketplace, and The Sandbox Game Maker.
The VoxEdit allows you to produce and animate 3D items, while the latter two are pretty self-explanatory. Like Decentraland, it has its own native token, known as SAND, and a DAO.
Cryptovoxels
Anyone who has been a part of the whole metaverse scene for long enough may have come across the name Cryptovoxels at some point.
It was in 2018 that the platform came into the spotlight. Since then, it has been continuously developing and revealing new features. Moreover, it’s based on the Ethereum blockchain, and its virtual world features various real-life infrastructures, which users can own, build things on, and access using VR.
Metaverse – Image via Freepik
NeosVR
Not every metaverse platform will necessarily incorporate blockchain or cryptocurrency, and NeosVR is one of them. Like VRChat, it’s a social VR game that is free to access, with features that are significantly more complex in comparison to other similar titles.
This focuses on having every editing tool for 3D modeling possible built in and working while playing it. Making maps, avatars, and rigging bones are all possible while playing. A few have even likened it to being a playground for developers, comparable to the likes of Garry’s Mod but made for VR.
VRChat
VRChat is one of, if not the most popular, social VR platforms. Although it launched all the way back in 2014, it gained immense popularity during the pandemic, thanks to various Twitch streamers and YouTubers. It contains thousands of worlds linked together, and while it is free, it has its own subscription service that you can pay for, providing you with some additional features.
High Fidelity
Founded by former CEO and Second Life founder Philip Rosedale, Irena Freidrica Heiberger, and Ryan Downe Karpf, High Fidelity is a firm that started its operations in April 2013.
It was made to produce a next-generation VR platform that featured spatialized 3D audio, low latency, realistic avatars, a working economy constructed on blockchain, and high-detail environments. Hence, you are provided a platform where you can create, deploy, engage with, or visit virtual worlds alongside other users. Such virtual spaces host approximately 500 individuals simultaneously.
Furthermore, the software is open-source and free, and it can be accessed with numerous VR headsets or even in desktop mode using a standard monitor.
Sinespace
Sinespace is another one of those massively multiplayer online (MMO) VR platforms based on the Unity Engine. It is free-to-play and enables you to create and make money with 3D content while engaging with others through avatars in what is practically a virtual playground.
With Unity and hundreds of components that are pre-built within its SDK, you can even make your own MMO game, creating beautiful, high-quality content within minutes.
Worldopoly
Have you ever imagined the real world having its own virtual equivalent? Taking some inspiration from Pokemon GO, a massively popular AR mobile game, Swiss firm Dotcom Ventures Holding AG has built its own blockchain-based mobile AR game called Worldopoly.
The whole premise of this game is to turn the world into a Monopoly game, where you can try purchasing entire cities, prevent digital bankruptcy, and earn actual money in the process. In other words, it is a mobile real estate simulation game that tries to create a fun, memorable, and an engaging experience for you, where you can even understand the workings of cryptocurrencies within a safe environment while having the option to earn and invest real money.
