Original title: "Republic Realm Metaverse Annual Report"

Original Author: Republic Realm

Original translation: Tug at Foresight Ventures

In 2021, "Metaverse" will become a buzzword in many industries. Similarly, in the Western world on the other side of the ocean, the "Metaverse" is also developing in full swing. So in the past year, what developments have been made in the metaverse ecology based on blockchain? Republic Realm, a leading metaverse development company, recently released the "Republic Realm 2021 Metaverse Virtual Real Estate Report", which summarizes the metaverse ecology of the past year. The following is the original text of the report.

2021 is quite a groundbreaking year for the entire metaverse ecology. As the Metaverse concept gains more and more mainstream attention, the prices of land and assets in the Metaverse gradually approach real-world levels. Celebrity arrivals, high-profile brand partnerships, skyrocketing valuations for various Metaverse tokens, and growth in P2E gaming all contributed to the meteoric rise of the Metaverse in the last year.

This report reviews the development of the Metaverse virtual real estate business ecosystem in 2021 and discusses the major market trends related to it. These trends include:The entry of mainstream traditional players; the commercial application of Metaverse technology (including games and transactions); and the impact of non-homogeneous token NFT on the overall metaverse.

This report consists of three parts:

1. The definition and development status of blockchain metaverse and virtual real estate.

2. Comprehensive data analysis and investment logic introduction for the four metaverse projects.

3. Observation and prediction of new trends in the Metaverse industry.

Key findings:

1. In 2021, the total sales of digital real estate and the prices of other metaverse assets will increase significantly.

2. The Sandbox is pulling away from the rest of the Metaverse on several key metrics.

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introduce

introduce

Virtual worlds are not a new concept. Second Life and Eve Online launched in 2003 are virtual worlds specially designed for adults. These games managed to build complex internal economies and attract millions of users at their peak. These two virtual world games became popular when people were still used to interacting in real life. But both games have seen a dip in popularity as new crypto-based upstarts continue to emerge.

In 2004, Ailin Graef, avatar Anshe Chung, began amassing virtual real estate in Second Life. She started with less than $10 and became the first person to achieve a net worth of over $1 million through a business transaction conducted entirely in the virtual world. Today's interest in virtual real estate and NFT speculation can be traced back to the myths surrounding Anshe Chung.

Since then, human-to-human interactions and socializing have become increasingly virtual. Most people have moved their social and work relationships to their phones or laptops.If there was ever a tipping point when people would interact more on computers than in person, it's now.The sudden global new crown epidemic has contributed to the early arrival of this critical point. These new habits may lead to permanent behavioral and cultural shifts, irreversibly altering our previous norms.

Blockchain Metaverse

The "metaverse" refers to the vast virtual worlds created by companies such as Somnium Space and Star Atlas. Metaverse properties refer to salable land assets in these worlds. They are built on the blockchain (which is the basic standard for all metaverses we will cover in this report), and the "land" in the metaverse can usually be bought and sold in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFT).

Enough people believe that this virtual real estate is scarce and has value that they spend a lot of money on it. Due to this reason,Ownership of virtual property has become a digital status symbol for early investors.

Ownership also represents something bigger than status - a contribution to the community ecology of the Metaverse. The development of Metaverse real estate has a huge impact on the way players interact within it. They become spaces for people to engage, explore, build and socialize. Here, people mimic real-life interactions while increasing the value of the land.

Investments in virtual real estate are made through the purchase and exchange of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which are a special type of cryptographic token that represent something unique. Therefore, NFT tokens are not interchangeable, which is in essence in contrast to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, which are equally interchangeable. Every NFT is different; it is indivisible and non-fungible.

While not as liquid as some cryptocurrencies traded on major exchanges, virtual real estate NFTs can be traded on the NFT marketplace in a more streamlined and transparent manner than real-world real estate transactions.

Ownership of virtual real estate NFTs is recorded on a decentralized blockchain, not as cumbersome as traditional deeds or title transfers.The landholder is the permanent owner of this digital asset, and even if the game's servers are down, that won't change.

Potential buyers of land in the virtual world must become familiar with these new rules. In virtual worlds, it is important to bring humanity and life into the digital space, bringing players together and then encouraging them to immerse and interact. (These settlements are often referred to as "content clusters.") In the virtual world, property originality and design matter even more than location and budget.

Although the number of daily active users in the Metaverse is still relatively small, when users start to enter the Metaverse in large numbers, selling real-world products in the virtual world will become a very cost-effective marketing strategy. In fact, such marketing could accelerate the mass adoption of Metaverse as consumers become more willing to buy virtual products from their favorite brands.

The merging of virtual world environments and real world spending is nothing new. Players have been buying skins, gear, and health in video games for years. All these transactions will take place in the metaverse mall in the future.

Imagine the possibilities for a company like Nike. Instead of opening a store on every high street in America, Nike could build an amazing virtual retail experience in a metaverse that sells to anyone, anywhere, anytime.At some point, every company will realize it needs to have a virtual presence in a metaverse like Decentraland, just as they all know they must have a website on the internet.

The result is self-fulfilling. As content in the Metaverse becomes more compelling, more people will show up, attracting more corporate sponsorships.

More importantly, participants in this virtual economy will realize that this is an exciting time. The possibility of escaping to a new world and reinventing ourselves will always appeal, even to the most stubborn of us. Add to that colorful graphics, art, music, and new friends from around the world, and it's easy to see why the Metaverse is a hit.

First movers in virtual real estate have the ability to enter at prices that are still relatively affordable compared to real-world markets. Like the first movers in fast-growing places in the real world (villages in Florida; Austin, Texas; Las Vegas), those who invest early and hold on long-term will benefit.

"Meta Effect"

In October 2021, Facebook announced that it will change its name to "Meta". The announcement immediately raised public awareness of the Metaverse. Metaverse became a buzzword overnight. News outlets around the world started asking "What is the Metaverse?" Facebook's message to the world was clear:The Metaverse Is the Future of the Internet。

Facebook’s announcement not only increased the number of metaverse land sales, but also caused the price of tokens on various blockchain metaverse platforms to rise sharply.

For example, SAND, which was trading at $0.99 prior to the announcement, traded at a 2021 high of $8.40, a 748% gain. And Decentraland's MANA rose from $0.76 to $5.79, an increase of 662%. These price increases resulted in a fully diluted market capitalization of $18 billion for SAND and $7 billion for MANA.

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Figure: $PLAY index, composed of SAND, AXS, MANA, ILV, ENJ, GALA, YGG and AUDIO

As metaverse token prices rose, investors also turned to metaverse land. Between the Meta announcement and the writing of this article, The Sandbox's average land price has increased by 349%, from $2,702 to $12,136, while Decentraland's virtual land price has increased by 26%, from $10,755 to $13,602.

In-game NFT assets have also benefited from this surge in interest in the Metaverse. Republic Realm's Fantasy Islands, an island development in The Sandbox, sold in September for 5 ETH each (roughly $15,000 at the time). By the fourth quarter of 2021, the islands were trading for as much as 50 ETH ($195,152), equivalent to the price of a house that could be purchased in the real world.

Additionally, a digital yacht from the same series called The Metaflower Super Mega Yacht was sold for 149 ETH ($650,000). Meanwhile, homes in the Wilder World metaverse are selling for as much as $160,000. In Solana-based space game Star Atlas, all assets are tokenized, and some buyers have paid as much as $3 million for virtual spaceships.

The fusion of physical and digital life

In the Metaverse, each user is represented by an animated "Avatar". Users can dress up and design their avatar according to their preferred aesthetic, just like real-world fashion. Prices for clothing and accessories vary, with some having more social value than others.As people's physical identities are inextricably linked to their digital identities, the value of NFT accessories is becoming increasingly important throughout the Metaverse ecosystem.

Popular NFT avatar projects such as Meebits, CloneX, and Bored Ape Yacht Club further emphasize the convergence of NFTs, metaverse properties, and digital wearables. While these collections of NFTs now exist as PFPs, or “Avatar Pictures,” each of their roadmaps points to Metaverse utilities. These Avatars can function as 3D characters in Metaverse games, VR and Metaverse social interactions in the future.

Luxury brands have also started migrating to the digital realm in the form of digital wearables. As a veteran sports brand, Adidas recently launched its own avatar program, in cooperation with the Bored Ape Yacht club to create a series of NFT wearable devices. Industry-leading virtual footwear creator RTFKT (recently acquired by Nike) has sold NFT metaverse sneakers for up to $10,000. Digital fashion companies such as Tribute Brand, DRESSX and The Fabricant have also launched successful digital wearable collections. In May 2021, a virtual Gucci handbag sold for 350,000 Robux ($4,115), $700 more than the physical bag ($3,400).

In the face of these high-priced NFTs, it is important to pay attention to distinguishing decentralized assets from centralized assets.In a centralized metaverse, such as Fortnite, only game developer Epic Games makes a profit from the sale — even more than $50 million from a set of Fortnite Skins. However,image description

Photo: Gucci's Luxury handbag, physical (left) and virtual (right)

Celebrities Enter Metaverse Properties

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Figure: Snoop Dogg's Twitter information

Reports on the Metaverse have expanded from news media in the cryptosphere to well-known international news media, such as Reuters, CNBC, New York Times, Bloomberg, CNN, Wall Street Journal, etc. In November 2021, The Wall Street Journal reported that Republic Realm acquired The Sandbox land from gaming giant Atari for $4.3 million, the most expensive virtual land purchase in history.

Four metaverses

The current leading four Metaverses: Decentraland, The Sandbox, Cryptovoxels, and Somnium Space share many key characteristics, including:

• Significant user interest and game asset sales data have been seen.

• It is free to use.

• Own a limited amount of tokenized (NFT) land.

• Land can be bought and sold in primary and secondary sales on marketplaces such as OpenSea and Rarible.

• Virtual landowners are free to decide what projects to develop on all their land.

• They have no clear goals. Players can spend time in the Metaverse however they want.

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Decentraland

Picture: One of the characteristic blocks of Decentraland

Decentraland (Chinese translation "Decentralized Paradise") is a multiplayer role-playing game developed by two Argentine software engineers Estaban Ordano and Ari Meilich. The virtual world is centered on a plaza called Genesis City. It shares some similarities with early virtual games like Simcity and Second Life, as well as newer multiplayer games like Minecraft and Fortnite.

What sets Decentraland apart from its predecessors like SimCity is its cryptocurrency-based economic system. Game users can use Decentraland's own encrypted token "MANA" to buy, sell and develop all land plots except roads and squares (called "LAND" in the game). MANA's fully diluted market capitalization is approximately $7 billion, an increase of more than 322 times from the market capitalization of approximately $20 million at the time of the 2017 ICO.

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The Sandbox

Pictured: One of the many vibrant locations in The Sandbox

Developed by a team in France, The Sandbox is designed to resemble Minecraft -- the world's best-selling video game, with more than 228 million copies sold since its release. Although the Sandbox game is not yet fully live, on November 29, 2021, the project released an alpha version to many users, allowing them to experience the earliest version of the gameplay.

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Figure: The Sandbox map. Owners are free to imprint any image, usually a logo, on their land

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Cryptovoxels

Figure: Several players gather at Cryptovoxels

Cryptovoxels is a virtual world built on the Ethereum blockchain by Nolan Consulting, an independent game developer based in Wellington, New Zealand. The main area is a large square continent called "Origin City", which is further subdivided into neighborhoods such as "Memes", "Mars", and "Kitties". The Avatar in this world has a unique mannequin appearance, and players can further customize and dress up as they want.

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Somnium Space

Pictured: The realistic world of Somnium

Founded in 2017 by a Czech team, Somnium Space operates with desktop and VR compatibility. Unlike typical grid layouts, Somnium Space's plots are located along its river and come in a variety of sizes and shapes. There are several mountaintops on the map that allow for a wide view of the world.

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Photo: Republic Realm Academy

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Virtual real estate investment logic

The monthly average price change for each Metaverse parcel reflects one thing: the market is indeed volatile. Any crypto investor should be very familiar with this.

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Figure 1: Average monthly price of land in Cryptovoxels, Decentraland, The Sandbox, and Somnium Space

land scarcity

Similar to land in the real world, the core driver of land value in the Metaverse is scarcity.

Each metaverse has a different amount of total land supply, which is clearly stated in the metaverse's white paper (similar to a company's articles of incorporation). Conceptually, the greater the amount of land in a given metaverse, the more potential players and projects that can be built. However, more plots mean that without a deep user base to develop and activate the plots, the metaverse is likely to become an "empty city".

Scarcity is an underlying driver of value in all virtual worlds. At the start of any Metaverse project, the developer states the total number of parcels that will be created. This is similar to "fully diluted shares outstanding" used to calculate stock valuations.

The total value of all land in the Metaverse is roughly equal to the average price of a parcel multiplied by the total number of parcels. This metric is useful for estimating and comparing the total value of different metaverses.

Since the team developing the Metaverse usually holds a large amount of land in the Metaverse in the treasury, the founding team has an incentive to prop up the value of the land asset by encouraging development and slowly selling new land, so as not to suddenly "flood" the asset price.

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Figure 2: Metaverse plot data

There are only 268,645 blocks in total across the four metaverses, out of a total of approximately 19 million bitcoins in circulation. While the number of Metaverses cannot be limited, neither can the number of BTC competitors. Although many cryptocurrencies attempt to replace BTC as a digital value store through fierce competition, BTC's special status has never been shaken.Similarly, metaverses like The Sandbox and Decentraland may be copied many times in the future, but their unique gameplay, partnerships, and player bases won't transfer frictionlessly to the next competitor. Unless competitors have a very clear competitive advantage.

Let's consider the case of Manhattan. Manhattan real estate isn't valuable because of its location. In fact, there are many islands along the eastern U.S. coastline with similar topographical features and an even better climate, but none as valuable as Manhattan. why is that?

Manhattan is valuable because, over hundreds of years, millions of people have built things there—offices, theaters and entertainment venues, schools, housing, and more. The reason why Manhattan has value is because of its development quality (equivalent to the content in the metaverse), and the consensus formed by society on its value.

Different Sizes, Different Prices

The Sandbox plots are uniform in size at 96x96 meters, much larger than the 16x16 meters of the Decentraland plots. In contrast, Cryptovoxels and Somnium Space have plot types of different sizes. Somnium Space's plot sizes range from small, medium and extra large, ranging from 200sqm to 1500sqm, while Cryptovoxels' plot sizes vary widely. While the price of a plot in The Sandbox is comparable to land in other metaverses (~$10,000), its price per square meter is 41 times cheaper than land in Decentraland and 24 times cheaper than land in Cryptovoxels.

2021 Land Sales Figures

While interest in the Metaverse has increased over the past few months, the actual number of parcels sold in 2021 is lower than in 2020. This is mainly due to The Sandbox's intermittent public sale of parcels in 2020. At the same time, the five-figure starting price also discourages many buyers.

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Figure 3: Land units sold monthly by Decentraland, Cryptovoxels, The Sandbox and Somnium Space

The Sandbox has significantly higher sales figures for November 2020 and 2021, with more than 20,000 lots sold in that period. In November 2020, Sandbox ended its "pre-sale 4.3". The event featured more than 1,800 "premium land" lots for sale, each located near land owned by prominent partners such as Binance. The most recent November 2021 spike was largely driven by Facebook's late-October rebranding event, which drove a surge in sales across all four metaverses.

Taken together, the land unit sales figures for the four metaverses provide a clearer indication:Interest in the land of The Sandbox is much higher than in other metaverses.This is notable because it's the only one of the four Metaverses that hasn't officially launched yet.

While the number of parcels in The Sandbox accounts for only 62% of all land in the Metaverse, each month in 2021, The Sandbox land sales accounted for at least 73.5% of the total sales.

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Figure 4: Land sale values ​​for Decentraland, Cryptovoxels, The Sandbox and Somnium Space

In November 2020, a total of $87,114,159 worth of virtual land was sold across the four metaverses. One year later, in November 2021, the total will be $186,302,763, a 114% year-over-year increase.

As of this writing on December 19, 2021, December 2021 is already the third-highest month in terms of total value at over $70 million.

In 2020, Decentraland and The Sandbox have roughly equal combined sales. Since 2020, the total value of Sandbox land sales has been steadily eating into Decentraland's previous record for land sales. (Sandbox will average 64% of total transactions in 2021, compared to 25% for Decentraland.)

As the newest Metaverse platform in the four metaverses, The Sandbox owes its success in part to the fact that its release coincided with the explosion of the Metaverse concept. However, its far-reaching outperformance against the competition suggests that The Sandbox's success may not just be a blessing in disguise.

More buyers are entering the market

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Figure 5: Cumulative totals of landowners in Cryptovoxels, Decentraland, The Sandbox, and Somnium Space

Since the start of 2020, the cumulative number of landowners across the four metaverses has increased by 1,132%, to a total of 24,598 as of mid-December 2021.

As with the other metrics discussed, this number is heavily influenced by The Sandbox, which accounts for nearly 70% of the total, while the platform accounts for 62% of the total parcels. At the same time, Decentraland owners account for about 15% of the total number of owners in the entire Metaverse, and Decentraland's proportion of the total number of parcels is 30%. The number of plots per person in each metaverse can have an important impact on its future land prices, as land in some metaverses is more concentrated in the hands of a few people.

Research Conclusions of the Four Metaverses

The virtual land in The Sandbox is having a breakout year in 2021. Across multiple metrics, the platform shows undeniable dominance over the other three metaverses. While we're passionate about The Sandbox, we also believe there are some very interesting land buying opportunities in the other three metaverses, especially Somnium Space and Cryptovoxels, where land is also more scarce.

The average price per plot of land in these four metaverses is currently between $10,000 and $15,000.We attribute price convergence to the inability of buyers to assess whether land in one metaverse is more valuable than land in another.

So far, land scarcity in Metaverse real estate does not equate to higher land values. Conversely, in the Metaverse, more land means greater total value. While a single lot in the Sandbox may not be more valuable than owning a lot in the other metaverses, the combined value of Sandbox real estate is more than the other three metaverses combined.

As more metaverse platforms are launched, we expect new land transaction models to emerge that will benefit metaverses with premium content, active communities, organic game mechanics, and user experience focus. Right now, The Sandbox is the clear winner in this field.

Other metaverse platforms

At their core, Metaverses are video games, and video games take a long time to develop—years, not months. This means that those more realistic and interactive Metaverse projects may take a while to develop.Compared with the current hype of the popular Metaverse concept, there is a certain lag in actual technology.However, there are some exciting projects in various stages of planning that hint at a bright future for Metaverse technology.

The projects we are closely watching are some realistic multifunctional platforms built by blockchain and industry leaders. Platforms like Star Atlas, Pixelynx, SPACE, Big Time, etc. will most likely amaze everyone once they are launched.The virtual economy will rise relying on its own powerful economic system, e-commerce will become a high-quality experience, and the community-driven cooperation model will be redefined.

As an "expert" in the Metaverse ecosystem, Republic Realm is often able to acquire plots of land before Metaverse projects launch. Getting in early at a relatively low cost is a strategy to reduce the risk of investing in real estate in the Metaverse.

In recent months, Republic Realm has invested in the following projects:

• Aavegotchi- Aavegotchi are encrypted collectible Avatars for exploring the Aavegotchi digital universe. Each Aavegotchi has a rarity score based on a unique combination of its character traits. By borrowing from the success of Tamagotchi, Aavegotchi is trying to bring the classic favorite back to the blockchain.

• BigTime- BigTime is a multiplayer action role-playing game (RPG) created by former Decentraland CEO Ari Meilich. Touted as a triple-A NFT action RPG, the game is the first of its kind. The project has attracted successful development talent from traditional games, including Carlo Arellano, a former concept artist for World of Warcraft, and Tom Zhao, a former concept artist for League of Legends.

• Bit.Country- Bit.Country is a platform that helps users build their own Metaverse. Using 3D worlds, NFTs, and earn-to-earn games, creators can take community engagement to the next decentralized level. Creators can even launch their own social tokens that circulate in the virtual worlds they design, without the need for technical expertise.

• BYOVerse- BYOVerse innovatively proposed the concept of "Consumables of the Metaverse". Its ecology is built around BYOPills - a type of NFT that provides different utilities when "consumed". They also plan to sell BYOLand, the land units that make up BYOVERSE. The composition and attributes of a user-owned BYOPill have a significant impact on the terrain and resources of their BYOLand.

• Cradles- Cradles is a fantasy RPG game set in prehistoric times with VR compatibility. The world is divided into the main urban area and the adventure area, whose original inhabitants are extinct animals from the Triassic era. Cradles takes players to another era before human civilization. Players can even play as these creatures, whether soaring through the skies as a pterosaur or stomping across terrain as a mammoth. With materials obtained in the game, players can create NFTs and sell them to other players.

• DeHorizon-DeHorizon intends to create a cross-chain virtual carnival, where Metaverse users can play games generated by other users. DeHorizon is managed through the DEVT (Decentralized Eternal Virtual Traveler) governance token, allowing owners to make decisions about the future of their game development. Its game ecosystem currently includes Battleroyale "DeTournament", Dragon-racing "DeQuidditch", etc.

• Dvision- DVision's Metaverse consists of Meta-Spaces, ie units of land available for sale. In Meta City, users can play games, win NFT prizes and trade NFT in the NFT marketplace. By using $DVI tokens players can trade with linked wallets.

• Embersword- In the world of Thanabus, players fight each other (PVP) and play (PVE) for token rewards. EmberSword's economy is built on top of Matic to include land and item sales on the blockchain. Players can take ownership of plots, settlements, towns, and cities in four countries.

• Highstreet- Highstreet is building the future of e-commerce by connecting brick-and-mortar brands to the metaverse. As a springboard for brands to build their virtual presence, Highstreet aims to connect brands and users in one virtual space. Products and storefronts in this interface can be owned and sold by real-world brands.

• Mirandus- Developed by blockchain gaming company Gala games, Mirandus brings the medieval era into the future with a playable and earnable MMORPG. Divided into 1625 separate contract societies, Mirandus has a range of tradable real estate including castles, barns, majestic temples, tanneries, stables and more.

• Nifty Island - As the pioneer of the newest type of social media, the social metaverse, Nifty Island is building an ecosystem for creators and collectors to showcase artwork, games and community interactions. All players are given an island at the start of the game without having to compete for scarcity in land distribution.

• Pixelynx- As various entertainment media enter the Metaverse, Pixelnyx is developing technology that attempts to improve the audio and music experience in the Metaverse. Pixelnyx is betting on the blockchain as the ultimate way to optimize games and music, and has acquired a string of companies and assets to bring music to Web 3.0.

• Star Atlas- Star Atlas is a futuristic virtual gaming metaverse set in outer space. In this world, three factions rule the explorable universe, (1) MUD, ruled by humans, (2) ONI, ruled by various alien races, and (3) Ustur, ruled by sentient robots. As a AAA NFT game on Solana, players can both own their own spaceships as NFTs and use them to find valuable resources throughout the universe.

• SPACE- Space is building a business Metaverse optimized for merchandising, socializing, and building unique experiences. Targeted primarily at the art, music and fashion sectors, the service leverages blockchain's utility in confirming digital authorship and paying royalties to creators. Their metaverse is divided into different "spaces" that organize user-owned economies.

• Treeverse- Treeverse's goal is to meet the community's need for equal opportunity to participate. While NFT communities are mostly concentrated on Web 2.0 platforms like Discord and Twitter, Treeverse hopes to bring these communities into the Web 3.0 metaverse and gamify the community experience.

• Wilder World- Wilder World brings the open world feel of the Grand Theft Auto games and tokenized real estate, luxury marketplaces to Web 3.0 via DAO hubs, earn-by-play models. Life in the Wilder World city "Wiami" is full of entertainment, luxury and leisure.

A new metaverse means diversity across different blockchains. In recent months, Republic Realm has looked at projects built on many different chains, including Ethereum, Solana, Binance Smart Chain, Polygon, Immutable X, Avalanche, Harmony, Near, Cosmos, Polkadot, Aave, Terra, Enjin, Flow and Wax.

Projects built on Ethereum (including sidechains), Solana, and BSC have gained the most users so far, but the battle for the dominant chain of Metaverse games is far from over.first level title

Metaverse Real Estate and Play-To-Earn Games

The most notable P2E game in the Metaverse space is Axie Infinity, which experienced record-breaking growth in 2021. In this game, the player fights the spirit "Axie"Get in-game token rewards (AXS, SLP) These tokens can be traded on cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance and Coinbase. According to reports,Axie Infinity was valued at $30 billion in October, largely thanks to its Q3 performance making it the most traded NFT series everimage description

Figure 6: Transaction volume of Axie Infinity in millions of dollars

In addition to NFTs and game components, players can also purchase digital land within the game. Axie Infinity Land, called Terra, incorporates traditional real estate economics principles, such as location pricing and the ability to lease or develop plots. These lands will also have some asset equipment popping up on the plot from time to time. Today, gamers are actively exploring land in the Axie Infinity metaverse, with Terra plots selling for up to $250.

At the heart of any game is a simple transaction between the player and the platform - time for enjoyment. As blockchain developers have started exploring the gaming industry over the past few years, innovative solutions such as Rollups and sidechains have come to fruition through the conception and creation of different games. Sky Mavis developed the Ronin chain specifically for Axie Infinity, providing a more flexible blockchain game solution than Ethereum. After reaching unprecedented levels of popularity, Gods Unchained crafted Immutable X - an instant, gas-free layer 2 Ethereum protocol. Both projects have reaped huge benefits due to technological breakthroughs. This type of development continues to attract our interest, including scalable NFT protocols, projects built on emerging blockchains, EVM compatibility, and non-gaming platforms.

in conclusion

in conclusion

2021 has largely consolidated key technologies with Metaverse as the main application scenario, including VR and Web 3.0. November's total land sales value rose 114% year-on-year, proving the upward trajectory of a nascent industry, with more records to be broken in the future.

Metaverse's success is inseparable from the growing interest in verticals such as Web 3.0 and NFTs. Fundraising in these two areas accounted for $1.8 billion of the total $8.2 billion raised for crypto businesses in Q3 2021. In addition, the use of encryption technology and blockchain is also on the rise in 2021, further promoting the "out of the circle" of the Metaverse. Daily active addresses sending or receiving ether increased by 77% from 511,250 at the beginning of the year to a peak of 905,234 in April. The Metaverse has become an integral part of the crypto world.

If interest and development in the Metaverse continues to grow, it may soon become a major part of the entertainment and gaming industry. Metaverse games currently generate income not only for developers of the Metaverse itself, but also for game teams, users, and investors in these Metaverses. Grayscale estimates that revenue from virtual gaming worlds will grow from $180 billion in 2020 to $400 billion in 2025.

Meanwhile, Emergen Research expects Metaverse revenue to grow at a CAGR of 43.3% through 2027 and reach $828.95 billion in 2028. With metaverse-related tokens reaching a staggering $37 billion total market capitalization in December, these predictions, if true, could bring even more billions of dollars of capital into the space.

While the metaverse is an emerging field, content and user engagement will likely be the metric that determines each platform's success in the coming years. Projects that secure and deliver fun partnerships, interactive content, and gamified experiences will ultimately benefit from user stickiness and the accompanying land price appreciation.

More surprises are coming to this much-discussed realm of the Metaverse in the future, and it won't be long before.