Enter the Metaverse: A ‘Beginner’s Guide To NFTs, Gaming & More

When someone first suggested that 18-year old high school student FEWOCiOUS should sell Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), he was initially reluctant. Thinking there was a catch, he was surprised to find that someone just wanted him to get noticed and compensated for his artistry. Now he is one of the best-known and paid artists selling NFTs. His most expensive original work, The EverLasting ‘Beautiful,’ sold for $550,000.

The young artist isn’t the only one beginning to get involved in the NFT trend. Celebrities and major brands are starting to take notice and signing deals to release their own NFTs online.

By the end of this year alone, it is expected that the NFT market will be worth more than $1.3 billion.

NFTs are a significant part of the virtual game world and the metaverse in general. If this is a market that you would like to be a part of, then read on and find out more about this exciting trend. And all of the NFTs are linked to the virtual worlds and metaverse that people spend time within.

What Are The Virtual Worlds?

Gaming has become a major pastime for millions of people across the world. At the beginning of the 21st century, only about 1–2% of the world’s population were considered gamers. By 2021, about a third of the ‘world’s population can be considered players, and by 2040, experts estimate and suggest that half of the ‘world’s population will be gamers.

There are different types of gamers. Some of this time is spent on casual gaming solutions such as mobile games, desktops, and consoles. However, there has been an ever-growing trend for people to spend more time within virtual worlds. These are environments where an avatar lives, works and interacts with other players just as if the user were there.

Virtual meetups have become a major part of the virtual world. There are now conferences and events attended by thousands of people and continue to break records on a month-by-month basis. These have been very important for mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic when this was the only form of interaction that some people could have during lockdowns.

‘They’ve also had other benefits, such as being able to reduce costs with no accommodation or travel costs associated with them. Users simply have to click on a link, and they can be in the right area, meeting up with avatars controlled by other players who share similar interests.

And the virtual meetups have also given slight importance to NFTs. Within these virtual events, you can now showcase your ‘avatar’s collection. Some of these can be highly desirable.

What Are Non-Fungible Tokens?

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are unique digital assets that are collected by individuals for their one-of-one status. They first appeared in 2012 when Bitcoin Colored coins were first developed. The Bitcoin Coloured Coins were small fractions of the actual cryptocurrency, were colored and marked with distinct information that would link the coins to real-world assets. These were also known as satoshis and would be linked to important assets like $500 of an office building or a small plot of land.

However, while they were often linked to physical assets, there became a trend for them to create digital artwork that can be traded among collectors and artists. One of the most famous and earlier examples of this is the Rare Pepe digital cards on Counterparty. Counterparty was a peer-to-peer trading platform. The frog images were adapted from viral internet memes, and that was the spark that would lead to the creation of non-fungible token standards.

Non-Fungible tokens can be any type of intangible or real item. ‘They’ve included digital trading cards, artwork, virtual game items (currency, weapons, avatars, etc.), digital fashion, fashion, and many more.

How Are NFTs Important For The Future?

The value of non-fungible tokens for the future cannot be understated. Numerous brands, big and small, have seen the potential and are now investing in this area. Celebrities are also getting involved. ‘They’ve become a collectible and a business opportunity that has the potential for new income and lifestyles for people.

Their potential can be seen by their revenue growth in the past couple of years. In 2020, the annual sales were approximately $250 million. However, already in 2021, the value of NFTs sold has exceeded $389 million. By the end of the year, it is expected that NFTs global sales will be worth over $1 billion.

How Do NFTs Connect To The Virtual Worlds?

NFTs are integrally engaged with the virtual world. It all started in 2017 when Decentraland raised more than $26 million in an hour. They promised players that they could own land within a virtual world where they build on them. These aren’t like the properties that you can build on other games like The Sims franchise. Players can create properties that can become virtual businesses that could earn real money for the property owner. Other players could click on a link, and they would visit the merchant, see their products, and then pay for a purchase.

There were also virtual fashion items that could be worn by avatars. Digitalax has shown how digital fashion can become very popular. ‘They’ve created a marketplace on the Ethereum network that allows for digital fashion designers to auction or sell their fashion items as NFTs. Their sales have totaled $600,000 in just five auctions and this has helped numerous fashion designers find a new livelihood.

All the ‘’’land’ that was bought was an NFT, as well as any products bought and sold within the virtual worlds. Each of these pieces of land also has a location that was set, just as if you were buying a real-life piece of land. To top it off, the value of the land could change based on the ‘foot ‘traffic’ that was around the virtual land.

These were the first opportunities that existed for players in the virtual world.

Decentraland has also participated in real-world events. They created a campaign to raise funds for Covid relief through a $10 donation that offered players the chance to have an NFT facemask for avatars. These could be bought from a dispenser, and the mask was sent to an Ethereum address.

Galleries For Virtual Artists

Art has been given a new lease of life within these virtual worlds. There are now digital artists who display their work in large virtual galleries. This gives artists opportunities to earn revenue for their digital work. Displays can have collectors bid on artwork in virtual marketplaces like SuperRate, KnownOrigin, and Nifty Gateway. These tokenized artworks are NFTs that can then be taken by the buyers and displayed on their own digital property with ease.

In fact, this has allowed for some people who own land within the virtual worlds, to have their own substantial collections and use this as a way of attracting traffic to their land. This can raise the value of the land. As the traffic around it can be linked to the price, it is a good way to make a profit on the value of a piece of land within the virtual world.

Artists Maximizing Revenues From Artwork

Artwork is becoming one of the major ways that artists can earn money within the digital world. There are possibilities within the digital world that artists can create something that cannot exist within the physical world. Therefore, their artwork can become more attractive to a broader audience. But there are also other ways that an artist can earn revenue from their artwork.

For instance, NFTs have two types of tokenization. The first is known as the Master, and this is the complete piece of artwork. There is only one copy of this, and only one person can own the Master of an NFT. However, within any artwork, there are also layers. The Layers are tokens that are a part of the artwork and can be owned by other players in the virtual world.

The owner of the layer can change layers to make them unique. Therefore, people can make changes to the Master without owning it. For example, an artist creates a picture of a face, and the whole artwork is the Master. But the eyes, hair, mouth, nose, etc. are Layers. Someone who buys the eyes as a Layer could change their color from brown to blue. This would change the entire look of the artwork.

Another example would be the Fractional Garment Ownership scheme by Digitalax. This modularizes different digital fashion garments that allow numerous artists to work on different areas that contribute to a unique ‘master ‘garment’. These items can be more interesting for buyers as they could become more of a collectible item. ‘They’re also able to reach a larger market as different artists can pull in their fans and audiences to look at the master garment.

This ‘isn’t always possible. But there are ways that you can converse with artists and patrons of your artwork. You can set constraints for the layer and what is available as a parameter. Therefore, the whole world of digital artwork becomes more fluid, interactive, and interesting.

Why Is This Important?

NFTs are an important part of the metaverse creation. Metaverse is the combination of the culture, standards, mediums, players, and standards/protocols. Without any of these, the environments ‘wouldn’t be as attractive and players will leave. The NFTs are an important part of the content area of the games.

‘We’re all driven to collect and have possessions that are uniquely ours. NFTs, give you a chance to own something in the virtual world. This gives in to a basic instinct and allows the metaverse to have more value and meaning. It also creates a challenge that entices regular and meaningful interactions within the virtual worlds and metaverse.

Also, NFTs give you a chance to make your time within the gaming world valuable. If you can create and make revenue, then you can find your time there more productive, and you might have more fun.

The virtual world has created a virtual system where the buying and selling of virtual goods safe, without taking away the fun. This is where game studios can use smart contracts as a middleman to manage the sale of NFTs. It also reduces the risk to players regarding scams and other bad behavior from those who may have bad intentions. It also introduces a regular income level for everyone, including the game studio and the players who want to create and sell NFTs.

The Final Word

When it comes down to it, NFTs have certainly been around for quite some time, in some form or another. Collectibles are used by numerous brands and gaming businesses. The game streaming service Steam uses collectibles to encourage extra spending on their platforms to collect limited edition trading cards. These can then be used to swap with other players.

However, what happens in the metaverse is on a new level. The metaverse is like a whole new world with its player economy where users can buy land, create artwork, or other scarce items that can populate the world and then showcase them. If you have the skills and want to earn money from your talent, then there are marketplaces and options to sell your artwork.

By going online, it has made it easier for anyone to reach an audience that will be interested in their work. Engagement is now not limited to those in the local area or a few people that come across them on the internet. The metaverse offers the entire gaming community an encompassing audience with unlimited potential to earn revenue from their work.

‘There’s a lot more control for you and other artists to set prices of your work, set limits, and create more interaction between you and buyers. There is no doubt, ‘it’s an economy that is going to boom. New marketplaces, players, and money are being poured into the metaverse all the time. The value has shifted from the millions to billions in less than a year, and there seems to be no slowing down.