Recently the word multiverse has become common parlance although before Hollywood would use just say “cinematic Universes”. Of course, the most famous one is Marvel Cinematic Universe, but other studios also tried to create their own universes out of franchises. Star Wars (Star Wars, Rogue One, and Solo), X-men (X-Men, Wolverine, and Deadpool), Wizarding World (Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts), The Lego (The Lego Movie, The Lego Batman Movie, The Lego Ninjago Movie, and The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part) are just some of the examples. 

Anyways, it’s hard to compare other cinematic universes — whether they are currently running, in the works or were instant flops — to the MCU. Disney and Marvel Studios have landed on a winning formula that no other studio has replicated.

But seems like the competition comes not from the other Hollywood studios, but – surprise! – from crypto-degens. 

 

Non-Zuckerberg Metaverse 

Over the last couple of years “Metaverse” became such a buzzword (along with Web3 and NFTs) that even those who claim to build it, sometimes barely understand the concept.  However, brilliant minds have found real-life applications by creating virtual worlds through blockchain and Web3.

Although Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse faced a wave of criticism for “looking like crap” and  “billions and billions poured into it and this is the result”, he was one of those who popularized the concept. 

Even though the community still cannot agree on the concept of Metaverse – is it Facebook on steroids in VR or is it Roblox games? – Yuga Labs seem to be able to offer something different. 

The studio, best known for creating the world’s largest and most profitable NFT project to date, the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), announced launching their own Metaverse, the Otherside, earlier this year. BAYC is the most popular NFT project, with celebrities like Madonna, Kevin Hart, Justin Bieber, and others owning NFTs. Some of these NFTs have sold for well over $2 million each.

Inspired by the success of their NFT, Yuga Labs decided to launch Otherside, the Metaverse where they could sell digital land. Although this isn’t new:  The Sandbox and Decentraland also have digital land.

The difference is that Otherside can be inhabited by the “live NFTs”.  Although Yuga Labs is most known for the Bored Apes Yacht Club collection, they also bring together the dogs from Bored Ape Kennel Club, and the mutants from Mutant Ape Yacht Club. 

And those are not just different collections, there is a logic behind those. For example, every Apr can have their own dog, or when applying the elixir to the Ape, the owner gets the Mutant, and now, instead of owning 1 NFT (the Ape), they own 2 (the Ape and the Mutant).

More than that,  Yuga Labs acquired the IP rights to CryptoPunks and Meebits, so those characters are also supposed to be part of the OtherSide Metaverse. 

 

Is Otherside Metaverse a Multiverse for the rich? 

Earlier this year media reported that Bored Ape Yacht Club is getting its own film trilogy.

If so, it will be the first case when the actual Metaverse and its characters (NFT avatars)  become a basis for a cinema franchise. But what about ownership? Who will own the copyrights? Will NFTs holders benefit from their NFTs being characters in the movie because owners of each BAYC NFT receive the commercial usage right?  

Also, all the Multiverses have their own way of monetization the franchise besides movies such as merch and immersive experiences (for example, Harry Potter World). Will the Otherside virtual world have a physical location?   

Anyway, this is an example of how the new types of digital art and digital assets change the order of things. The entire movie industry works by its own rules when the most creative people work for world-known studios and create plots, scenarios, scripts, and characters. And only if characters become popular, do there is a space for developing the franchise and growing the Multiverse. 

In the case of Otherside and all the NFTs by Yuga Labs, they are already beyond popular.  And they already have their own Metaverse, and the most important – the community. The whole value of BAYC is the community behind it, so the direction of the development of Metaverse, as well as other projects, also has to do with whether the community will like it or not. So, the biggest stakeholders here are the NFT owners. 

 

So, how exactly Multiverse is different than Metaverse? 

For example, the Metaverse is a centralized system, while the multiverse is a collection of multiple worlds. In addition, users in the Metaverse can own digital resources and experiences. On the other hand, in the multiverse, assets in separate virtual worlds cannot be owned by anyone.

Some optimistic individuals have claimed that the industry is on the cusp of evolving, wherein instead of only falling into the hands of a select few, like producers, people have the capability to influence the direction of a project. What this entails is a more inclusive space that fosters creativity and originality. 

This assumption that NFTs and crypto will revolutionize the entertainment industry is not too far-fetched. After all, Web3 and blockchain technology have already ventured into countless other spaces like the gaming industry, the music scene, and the art world, to name a few. 

Such a promising future has been made possible by Otherside’s popularity which has now become a cultural phenomenon. With the innovative collection laying the groundwork, it will not come as a surprise when the movement gains traction, continues to grow, and ultimately alter the trajectory of the movie industry. 

It will undoubtedly be exciting to see so many inspiring and incredible individuals contribute to the future of entertainment by utilizing their imagination and creating one-of-a-kind movie characters as well as their surroundings. 

Description A digital shared environment provides services such as working, watching movies, playing sports, and visiting the library. An imaginary collection of virtual worlds with different traits and features.
Ecosystems count There is only one shared universe that allows users to move freely between different platforms of the Metaverse. Within a hypothetical pool of virtual worlds, different ecosystems exist.
Connectivity There is a specific order to the flow of information in the Metaverse. There is no particular order for information flow in multiple universes, which are highly random.
Ownership Digital assets and experiences can be owned by users in the Metaverse. In the Multiverse, users cannot own assets in separate virtual worlds.
Entitles Metaverse participants are inclusive of AI, robots, human avatars, and digital avatars. Virtual worlds are the only entities that make up the Multiverse.

 

Featured Image: by Mulyadi @mullyadii via unsplash.com