5 Steps to a ‘Better Meta’: How Neolyfe is driving Metaverse 2.0
The metaverse isn’t back from the dead.
Granted, this is not the sort of opening you’d expect from a founder currently in the midst of building a substantial metaverse platform, but I feel it’s an important point to make. Principally, because the metaverse was never dying or, indeed, deceased to begin with.
While it’s fair to say the space is undergoing a resurgence, this is mainly in terms of interest and coverage from the media. The same outlets and commentators who, in the first instance, saddled it with unrealistically high expectations, stoked the frenzy and shortly after published its obituary.
To be fair, they were kind of right.
The experience that started to attract hype from 2018-ish, spiking at the tail-end of 2021 (see Mark Zuckerberg) and was finally rolled out of a van on the motorway around mid-2022 is certainly no longer. And good riddance too.
That version of the ‘metaverse’ was practically unrecognisable from the original vision shared by those who embarked on development of their various projects years prior. And the effect of Zuck’s epiphany was the acceleration of a space still very much in its infancy, that tried to not so much run before it could walk, as sign up for an ultramarathon while still in the womb.
The result was a premature experience that promised far more than it delivered.
If all the metaverse hoopla passed you by, recent real world examples make for effective comparisons:
Okay, so maybe that’s a little harsh, but the experience of what we at Neolyfe call ‘Metaverse 1.0’ left a bad taste in the mouths of many. And many of those will likely not return.
This is not simply casual sniping. Core members of the Neolyfe team cut their teeth at projects like Decentraland, ChainGuardians, OVER, Parcel and Domi Online, before, during and after the boom. We witnessed and were complicit in many of the mistakes that characterised this period.
It is partly for this reason that the Neolyfe project exists — to correct the mistakes of the past and ensure the next era delivers on its promises. But also to create a virtual world that embodies the original vision of the metaverse.
Our vision for Neolyfe and ‘Metaverse 2.0’
The team’s goal is for Neolyfe to be more than just another virtual world. We have the lofty ambition of making a platform that personifies the revolution in reimagining digital ecosystems and, in doing so, paves the way for mass adoption of the metaverse.
If we have our way, Neolyfe will be a platform that is a diverse and spirited digital playground. Where die-hard gamers, entrepreneurs and brands, innovative creators and curious explorers, can shape a destination that is open, accessible and scalable, that is representative of their offering and expression, and provides opportunities for personal, creative and financial growth.
We believe that gamers, creators and brands are well served by experiences offered by video games and open worlds like Fortnite and Roblox. However, only up to a point.
The bedrock of decentralisation upon which our platform is founded, and the breadth of economic and developmental opportunities for players, creators and brands, means that Neolyfe is a far more tantalising proposition for a community that wants to determine its own digital future.
If the metaverse is going to be the next iteration of how we consume data and content, transact and socialise, then we must be free to do so on our own terms. Terms that are founded on the principles of decentralisation and Web3.
This is why we have adopted the mantra, Level Up to a New World. It’s both a declaration and an invitation to anyone who believes in a better metaverse experience, across games, creative opportunities and brand activations.
So how do we go about fulfilling this vision?
5 Steps to a ‘Better Meta’
Why five? In fact, there are others, but these are, in the opinion of the Neolyfe team, the key areas to address if we’re going to go boldly and successfully into the era of Metaverse 2.0.
And, let’s be honest, five is the magic number for an article featuring a list:
- Accessibility
Rather absurdly the greatest barrier to entry for the early iterations of the decentralised metaverse and key components of Web3, was the entry itself. Then, when you managed to wade through the wallet set-up, sign-in process and basic onboarding, you were largely left to your own devices. Even more savvy users struggled with builder tools and SDKs that were plagued with bugs or just weren’t that user friendly.
While accessibility has improved somewhat, with wallets integrated into the back-end of social or email accounts for instance, Neolyfe is working to make entry even more seamless, including the development of a custodial wallet. And once inside, accessibility extends into comprehension and navigation of the world, as well as the ability for creators to work with the platform to build and develop assets and experiences quickly and easily. - Scalability
By which we mean expansion and growth on two levels: world and individual. Two and a half actually. World expansion incorporates growth into other areas beyond the borders of the Neolyfe platform, but first and foremost the team will give users the tools they need to develop and expand the world of Neolyfe.
The desire to make Neolyfe as intuitive and scalable as possible informed our decision to use Unreal Engine 5 on which to build the world. We’ve worked to integrate specific UE5 features into the Neolyfe system and inform the development of our own no-code tools.
We’re approaching land sales in a sensible way too. Gone are the days of squatting on large tracts of virtual real estate watching the digital grass grow. Users will be able to access owned areas to develop and place their creations, making use of a far more equitable rental system. They’ll also benefit from an intuitive marketplace that takes the best of Web2 and Web3 to provide a full-featured trading hub for primary, secondary and partner assets. - Interoperability
The Neolyfe team approaches interoperability on a number of levels, beyond the default view of asset sharing between platforms. For us, interoperability also involves:
– Infrastructure such as wallets, tokens and servers
– Programming, including code, standards and engines
– Partner or third party content licensing and aggregation; and
– Economics, including value proposition and cross-pollination of communities
We have no desire for Neolyfe to be an insular realm within the larger metaverse ecosystem. The principles of openness, accessibility and opportunities for personal and community expansion we apply within our own borders are just as crucial for the success of the industry as a whole. - Usernomics
Neolyfe will launch with an existing community assimilated from previous projects, and a brand new group of users looking to make their mark on the virtual world. Within this user base of early adopters, there will be different ideas, ambitions, personal, creative and economic goals, as well as issues to address and overcome. As the world develops and grows, the demographics will change again, with the need to balance the expectations of the first wave with subsequent intakes.
Communication and collaboration with the community will be crucial, addressing all areas of the Neolyfe experience and at every stage. This holistic approach, which we call Usernomics, takes all data points into consideration to not only react to user needs but inform platform and roadmap development. - Decentralisation
Part of our consideration of user needs will be the level of decentralisation in Neolyfe. We’ve experienced first-hand varying degrees of community ownership and governance. Again, balance is key. Creators must be able to own and monetise their creations, but land and token holders — particularly those with considerable holdings — cannot be allowed to determine the direction of the world at the expense of other interests. Similarly, elements like fully decentralised server infrastructure is also impractical and negatively impacts the user experience.
The goal is optimal decentralisation that gives users control and ownership where it matters most, while maintaining an entity devoted to building a thriving ecosystem.
And underneath it all…
Story. Every member of the core Neolyfe team has a strong storytelling component to their experience — whether it’s creating worlds for Marvel movies, products and play themes for LEGO, brand stories for Nike, or entire mythologies for ChainGuardians and DOMI Online. We understand that story is necessary to attract users and provide a sense of grounding in the virtual world.
However, story will also be a decentralised part of Neolyfe. We’ll provide a strong narrative framework but the community will be encouraged to engage with it to earn rewards and also contribute to it through the development of characters, experiences and other assets.
Join us
Head to our official website to access the White Paper and go deeper into the thinking behind, and intentions for, Neolyfe. You can also see the Roadmap for 2024 in this recent post on the Neolyfe blog, including information about feature releases, play tests and crucial launch dates.
We look forward to having you join us as we plunge forward into Metaverse 2.0 and help players, creators and brands Level Up to a New World.
Keep in touch!
