6 Metaverse Platforms That Are Trending In 2022

The fact that the metaverse is such a new and exciting experience has made the term not only popular, but many companies are creating platforms in this incredible digital space. Today in our post we will know which are the platforms of the metaverse that are setting trends and what can be done within each of them.

Differences Between Centralized And Decentralized Metaverse

Centralized metaverses are those that are controlled by a single company, which handles all aspects related to that virtual world. For example, this is the case of Meta, on whose platform users cannot make any type of relevant modification. The developer company has control over the assets, having the option of expelling anyone who fails to comply with an imposed rule.

Contrary to the above, what decentralized metaverses have in common is that users have the power to decide the future of these parallel worlds, as well as the possibility of autonomously managing their assets, investing and exchanging them.

The Most Popular Metaverse Platforms Today

1. Decentraland

Decentraland is a virtual reality platform that was built on top of the Ethereum blockchain. It was created in 2015 by Ari Meilich and Esteban Ordano and works under the MMORPG (Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) model. It is one of the oldest metaverses and has collaborated with companies like Samsung and at events like the Australian Open. In this metaverse, users can perform actions related to the purchase of plots that can be built on and later sold. Assets such as avatars, wearables, and names can also be sold on your Marketplace.

Decentraland is not owned by the company that has developed the platform, but by the players themselves. It is a decentralized metaverse that seeks to develop a global community that operates within a shared virtual world. It works with two types of tokens:

• LAND: NFT that represents a good or real estate
• MANA: Token of the metaverse that is used to buy LANDS and to acquire virtual goods and services within Decentraland.

The Sandbox

It is a platform that works through “Smart Contracts” and allows developers to monetize experiences within their digital plots. It also allows you to create digital galleries and other types of assets that can generate passive income for users. This platform is usually related to the Minecraft game, since they are very similar visually. LAND is the name of the digital parcels in The Sandbox -same as in Decentraland- and it has two native tokens:

• SAND: It is the ecocurrency of the system. It is a token built on Ethereum that is used for the purchase and sale of NFTs, land, objects and also allows to participate in the governance of the metaverse.
• ASSET: They are entities designed to provide content to experiences, for example games, objects and everything that is used to populate LAND. They can be collected, monetized and traded. Just like Decentraland, The Sandbox also has its own marketplace.

Somnium Space

It was created in 2017 by Artur Sychov and released to the public in 2018. Like the previous two metaverse platforms, it is built on the Ethereum blockchain. It is open source and has been designed to work through virtual reality devices. The objective of this platform is to fully immerse yourself in the virtual world and develop any activity within it: go to the cinema, eat in a restaurant, exhibit works of art, go to university, etc. The idea is that the metaverse is unlimited and created entirely by the users of the platform.

Somnium Space’s economy is made up of three different types of token assets:

• CUBE: It is a native utility token and is used to make transactions.
• SPECIAL LAND PLOTS: If users wish to build an independent world within Somnium, they must obtain one of these plots from the OpenSea marketplace.
• SOMNIUM AVATARES: In November 2020, the platform introduced the tokenization of its avatars. Players can create a full body using CUBE and these are compatible with other virtual worlds.

Roblox

It is one of the platforms of the metaverse that leads the development of a new economy. What is proposed is to build an online space in which users can build worlds of different sizes and materials. The company’s goal is to build a human co-experience, where users can share immersive experiences without borders.

This platform has been so successful in recent years that it has more than 9.5 developers who have generated more than 24 million experiences and have used the platform for approximately 73.1 billion hours.

It is important to note that big brands, Nike or Vans for example, have joined this multiverse. In September 2021, the sportswear brand Vans launched “Vans World”, a 3D universe within Roblox designed from real spaces of the brand. Users have at their disposal a complete store where they can design their clothes and use them in their avatars. For its part, Nike has created Nikeland. A space where users can participate in different sports activities through mini-games and get rewards.

Horizon Worlds

It is the first virtual reality metaverse created by Meta, the old Facebook. It is currently available in the United States and Canada, It can only be used if you have the virtual glasses of Meta: Oculus Quest. The average price of these glasses ranges between 350 and 450 euros. In this metaverse, users can walk around with their avatars and virtually interact with other people and, at the moment, there is no relation to blockchain or cryptocurrencies.

As in Roblox, in Horizon Worlds users can create their own virtual worlds and their own games within these scenarios. In this way, the avatars can travel between worlds created by other users, while virtually interacting with the inhabitants of each of these places. Although it is still in the testing phase, it can be used to gauge Facebook’s future intentions with the metaverse.

As in Spielberg’s famous movie Ready Player One , Facebook’s metaverse seems to be geared towards the use of virtual reality. Currently most platforms in the metaverse, such as Decentraland or Roblox. They do not yet have this technology incorporated. The fact that Meta / Facebook has limited the entrance to Horizon Worlds only to users who have their own company’s virtual glasses, suggests Zuckerberg’s desire that his format be the dominant one in the future of the world’s platforms. metaverse.