Metaverse Explained: The Ultimate Cheat Sheet To Crypto Gaming Concepts
The metaverse began as a primarily sci-fi term, referring to a virtual realm often accessed using virtual reality technology. Things have altered dramatically since then, and the word “metaverse” has become widely used.
Whether it is popular GameFi firms like UFO Gaming adopting the word for their platform (all of their games exist in the ‘Dark Metaverse,’ or Mark Zuckerberg’s rebranding of social media company Facebook to ‘Meta,’ the term appears to be everywhere.
Getting familiar with the concepts and terms present in the crypto space can seem intimidating, but once you’re aware of them, you’ll begin to realize just how often this language pops up in the real world. Here’s what you need to know.
What Is The Metaverse?
The earliest mention of a metaverse is in Neal Stephenson’s novel Snow Crash, published in 1992. Since then, it has evolved into a blanket word that encompasses both virtual and augmented realities as they are captured and experienced on the internet.
In popular culture, the metaverse has undergone numerous versions. Most notably, Facebook recently renamed as ‘Meta,’ alluding to intentions to create an online world in which individuals can speak and engage using virtual reality goggles.
The metaverse also has applications in the crypto space. Crypto gaming companies such as UFO Gaming reference the ‘Dark Metaverse’, a virtual space where players can come together to create their own clans, own and trade virtual land, and earn NFTs and cryptocurrency.
Crypto Cheat Sheet: Everything You Need To Know
Trying to enter and understand the metaverse is akin to comprehending a whole new universe, no pun intended. Here’s a cheat sheet to some of the most common terms you might come across, along with what they mean:
Altcoin:
An altcoin is any alternative to Bitcoin and can include market leaders such as Ethereum, to smaller fish that have relatively little value.
Decentralized Applications (DApps):
Decentralized apps refer to applications that get designed by a team of developers that then deploy them on a blockchain. These applications often allow you to carry out actions without intermediaries, and so you’ll find a lot of decentralized finance is carried out using DApps.
GameFi:
The umbrella term used to describe the financialization of gaming. A combination of the words ‘gaming’ and ‘finance’, GameFi companies focus on bringing real-world value to virtual gaming enthusiasts.
Play To Earn (P2E):
The phrase play to earn simply refers to a gaming model in which players are financially incentivized to keep participating. Companies such as UFO Gaming allow players to earn in-game assets in the form of NFTs, and exchange goods through their token, $UFO, allowing them to earn real-world cash while playing complexly designed games.
Token:
A token is often representative of a denomination of cryptocurrency and can be traded as an asset on the blockchain, for investment or economic purposes.
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs):
Non-fungible tokens are units of value used to represent the ownership of unique digital assets, including digital art or any other digital collectible.
Future Plans: What To Expect From The Metaverse
The metaverse’s future is full of possibilities. The promise of a unified virtual experience opens up new possibilities for creatives, artists, and gamers throughout the world to democratize value and form new connections.
Some believe that the metaverse’s potential value is in the trillions of dollars; soon, it will be commonplace to do business, make purchases, and interact via a virtual cosmos that was previously only imagined in science fiction. The question is not whether it will happen, but when it will happen, and those of us who become familiar with it before it becomes widespread can bank on being ahead of the curve.
SOURCE: Crypto Games