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Welcome to the digital frontier of gaming as we embark on the thrilling journey through 2023! The metaverse has rapidly evolved, transcending the borders of traditional gaming and establishing itself as the next big thing in entertainment.
In this article, we’ll dive into the best metaverse games for 2023. Exploring the top contenders that have captured our imagination and set new benchmarks for an immersive experience. From virtual reality to blockchain-based economies and beyond, these metaverse games are revolutionizing the way we play, interact, and even earn.
What are the Best Metaverse Games for 2023?
Whether you’re looking for an immersive, story-driven experience, a competitive online experience, or just some good old-fashioned fun, these games will hopefully satisfy you.
We have put together a list of Metaverse games you should look out for in 2023. For each of these Metaverse games, we will look at the team behind the project, the gameplay of the Metaverse, its earning potential and any unique factors that make them the best.
However, please do not take this as advice to invest in any of these Metaverse platforms. Investing in crypto and early-stage projects is very risky.
Without further ado, let’s immerse ourselves in these Metaverses!
1. Decentraland
Decentraland is a 3D virtual world browser-based platform which Ari Meilich and Esteban Ordano co-founded in 2015. The Decentraland metaverse is built on the Ethereum and Polygon blockchains using the MANA cryptocurrency.
Opened to the public in February 2020, Decentraland allows users to buy virtual plots of land as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Within the virtual Decentraland Marketplace, users can buy and sell digital assets such as land, estates, avatar wearables, and names.
Decentraland Gameplay
Inside the Metaverse, you can create your customized avatar, which will live as an NFT on the blockchain. Once created, your avatar and its wearables, like beanies, hoodies, and trousers, can be traded on the Decentraland Marketplace.
Within Decentraland, you can take a stroll or hang out at the Sotheby art gallery, visit the unofficial gambling district of Vegas City, and even attend in-game events like the Decentraland Metaverse Festival.
Although most Metaverses are trying to capture your real-world physical presence, Decentraland also has the option to capture your emotional state. NFT Emotes are animation sequences your avatar can replicate in the Metaverse to represent your feelings. So if you are happy, you can make your avatar dance in the Metaverse with this Performer Metamoves.
You can play Decentraland on your web browser or download the Beta version on your computer. Decentraland (and most games on this list) is unavailable on mobile!
Earning Potential
Using their native token, MANA, you can buy virtual land plots from over 90,000 land parcels. On your land parcel, you can organize money-making activities like concerts, conduct business meetings, build entertainment hubs, or do whatever you like. It’s your digital property!
Land plots can also be rented out to people inside the Metaverse to earn passive income.
Decentraland Verdict
Launched in 2020, Decentraland has 300,000+ monthly active users from around the globe. Big brands like JP Morgan, Samsung, Nike, Coca-Cola, Louis Vuitton, and Domino’s Pizza have all established their presence inside Decentraland, which speaks volumes of its potential.
With lucrative earning opportunities, an immersive virtual reality experience that mirrors our natural state, and a Metaverse where people want to hang out every day, Decentraland is one of the safest Metaverse bets of the future.
2. The Sandbox
The Sandbox is a virtual world launched in 20122 by Pixowl, a parent company of Animoca Brands, one of the biggest names in blockchain gaming. In 2018 the project announced they would move to Ethereum and Polygon blockchains.
Sandbox allows players to buy, sell, and create digital assets using non-fungible tokens (NFTs). SAND tokens are the utility tokens of the Sandbox Metaverse and are used to purchase lands and other digital assets.
The Sandbox Metaverse offers opportunities for content creators to build their own world and portfolio while generating income. Players can create and customize their avatars to explore the metaverse, gear up with NFTs, unlock exclusive rewards, and build immersive experiences. Users can also generate income by renting land they own with the Sandbox.
Gameplay
If you own land inside The Sandbox metaverse, you can create your no-code assets and experiences in 3D. These experiences and assets are created using Game Maker and VoxEdit software, which is free to use. The game’s name literally means you can design your reality inside a sandbox and then share it with the world.
The Sandbox team prioritises user-generated content, which they believe will eventually outpace content curated by The Sandbox team.
Earning Potential
There are 166,466 LAND parcels, of which 74% are reserved for users. One potential stream of earning is trading these LAND parcels on OpenSea.
You can also earn money by creating your own in-game experiences or assets, which requires zero technical knowledge in coding. You can host your game on your piece of LAND and charge users for playing it, or even sell games as an asset on the Sandbox Shop.
The Sandbox Verdict:
Like Decentraland, this Metaverse game has partnered with big brands like Adidas, Atari, Steve Aoki, and Snoop Dogg.
Although still in Alpha mode, the Metaverse is mature in graphics, and it can be argued that it is one of the most mature gameplays of a blockchain game. With its focus on user-generated content and a team of gaming veterans, The Sandbox is one of the top two Metaverse games in the world today.
3. Start Atlas
Star Atlas is a space exploration-themed role-playing game (RPG) built on the Solana network. By integrating blockchain technology, Star Atlas offers numerous new options for gamers. The game uses non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for in-game items and relies on the Solana blockchain for its fast transaction speeds and ability to handle many transactions.
Star Atlas is paving the way for the future of the NFT-based blockchain gaming industry. Combining NFTs, blockchain technology, and virtual reality gaming experience and connecting players in a thriving DeFi-enabled economy.
Gameplay
Set in the year 2620, Star Atlas is a fully immersive space exploration game with three main factions competing for resources. Humans control MUD territory, the ONI region is a consortium of alien species, and the Ustur sector is a collective of sentient androids. To read the entire storyline, check out the Star Atlas Whitepaper!
Built on Unreal Engine 5, Star Atlas has mind-blowing graphics and quality.
As you might know, Metaverse and blockchain games have solid earning potential but not the best quality. Due to this reason, most traditional gamers are not tempted to switch. Star Atlas is the game that can help onboard the next generation of gamers to the blockchain.
Earning Potential
The team aims to create a self-sustaining economy owned and governed by the community.
All in-game items like ships, weapons, land and pets are tradable on ‘The Galactic Marketplace’, which can be leveraged for profit. You can buy a ship that will earn you a monthly 7-15% APR. For more details, read here!
The Star Atlas Metaverse will eventually provide opportunities to earn a decent income by engaging in activities like building, developing, mining, and farming resources. You can build your own business, like a restaurant or a cinema, inside the Star Atlas Metaverse, and the best part is: Everything will be fully decentralized!
Star Atlas Verdict
The storyline is mind-blowing, and since it is built with Unreal Engine 5, the gaming graphics would be on par with traditional high-quality games like Far Cry and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.
If Star Atlas can deliver on its ambitious roadmap, it can attract millions of gamers to the blockchain.
If you are interested in science fiction, do give it a try!
4. ILLUVIUM
Illuvium is a blockchain-based metaverse game set in an open-world RPG setting. Although Illuvium is built on Ethereum, it utilizes the Immutable X blockchain for zero-gas transactions. It’s often regarded as the first AAA game on Ethereum, which refers to the highest-quality video games in the industry. In Illuvium, players collect creatures called Illuvials, which have unique classes and affinities, each with strengths and weaknesses.
As players win battles against others and complete quests, their Illuvials become more powerful. Illuvium aims to provide entertainment for casual gamers and hardcore DeFi fans through various collecting and trading features. Users can buy, sell, and trade in-game assets on the IlluviDEX, Illuvium’s Marketplace and Information Repository.
Illuvium Gameplay
Illuvium is the first AAA blockchain game. For those who don’t know, AAA games have big budgets for game development and come from the best game publishers. Due to this reason, they are considered the best of the best!
The basic concept of the game is quite close to Axie Infinity: Battling creatures to level up and earn. What is interesting to see is that the game has a far richer storyline. The game begins with an intergalactic spaceship crashing on a dying planet. On this planet exists mysterious creatures called Illuvials that will unlock mysterious powers and abilities as you progress through the game.
Illuvium is built using Unreal Engine 4.26 and is currently in beta test mode. Register for Beta here!
Once you tame an Illuvial, it is minted as an NFT and can be traded on the IlluviDex, which is still in development by the Illuvium DAO. You can also exchange in-game items like Shards, Armor and Weapons for capturing and taming Illuvials.
Since it is still early days, it is hard to contextualize the earning potential of Illuvium.
Illuvials Verdict
As we have seen with Axie Infinity, one of the significant risks with Illuvium can be a failing game economy. New users are required to enter the game continuously to keep it sustainable. We see a declining game economy when gamers lose interest or do not have enough money to invest.
If Illuvium can create a sustainable game economy, this AAA game could replicate the success of Axie Infinity.
What is the Metaverse?
The Metaverse is an immersive virtual space where people can interact and engage with one another in ways that closely resemble real-life experiences. It is designed to be a highly realistic replica of the physical world, where users are represented by avatars or holograms instead of their physical selves. This virtual environment enables users to socialize, work, and play together using devices such as virtual reality headsets, augmented reality glasses, or smartphone apps.
The term “metaverse” was first introduced by author Neal Stephenson in his 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash. In the book, he imagined the metaverse as an expansive digital world existing alongside our real world.
In 2021, Grayscale predicted that the Metaverse has the potential to become a $1 trillion industry, and now 2023 is set to be an exciting year for the Metaverse gaming industry with a wide range of highly anticipated titles set to be released.
To know about the Metaverse’s use cases, future, and risks, check our explainer video on YouTube.
Who is Creating the Metaverse?
Given the Metaverse’s huge potential, it is not surprising to see giant tech companies exploring the Metaverse trend to get ahead of the curve. The top 3 businesses currently building in the Metaverse industry are:
Microsoft
Microsoft has already launched Mesh which is a virtual reality platform for businesses.
In Mesh, you could walk around, sit at the table, and pitch to an audience, except you will still be at your home. In the Metaverse, your avatar will look sharp even if you haven’t taken a shower for a week.
Microsoft is also developing a new augmented reality chipset in collaboration with Qualcomm for future Metaverse integrations.
Meta (Facebook)
Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg has announced that the company will be transitioning from a social media company to a Metaverse company. Also, Zuckerberg already spent $10 billion in 2021 for the transition.
Furthermore, the company announced that it is working on a record-breaking supercomputer to power this Metaverse. They have recently launched their virtual reality Metaverse application, Horizon Worlds, where you can hang out with friends and family.
What do You need to Play in the Metaverse?
If you want to play in the Metaverse, you will need to have the following:
- a reliable internet connection
- a PC or mobile device
- a blockchain wallet
- a virtual reality headset (optional)
We understand the majority of these items today are expensive and not within everyone’s reach. However, like most tech, the price to participate in the Metaverse will decrease over time and become more affordable and mainstream.
Conclusion
Since we are so early, predicting which of these best Metaverse games will be around in 5-10 years is difficult. Today, most of these Metaverse games are in beta/test mode and will continue to develop for a few years. We know that the Metaverse will be a hard reality; by 2026, 25% of the total population will spend at least one hour daily in the Metaverse!
