How Nintendo, Microsoft Veterans Are Helping Build A Real Metaverse

When you think about the concept of a Metaverse, what comes to mind? Perhaps something like Ready Player One, where we project our likeness into a persistent virtual world. A world that's a seamless combination of the other slices of life we exist in separately -- our favorite MMO, Facebook, your Discord channels or a virtual reality hangout. A true metaverse would merge these worlds into a sort of shared pseudo-physical space, where they exist together seamlessly. No logins, no new character creators, no tedious navigation, no relearning skills and reacquiring your favorite skins and weapons. No starting from scratch. You'd project a unique, privacy-protected avatar and haul around the same useful objects as you hop between different virtual but connected environments, with those objects having utility in each one. It's an incredibly ambitious concept that's difficult to wrap our heads around, but game companies like 8 Circuit Studios -- comprised of industry veterans with a century of combined experience from Nintendo, Microsoft and Electronic Arts -- realize that a relatively new technology makes this possible: blockchain. On the surface, yes, this is a story that involves blockchain technology, but don't run away yet. I'll do my best not to make your eyes glaze over from boredom! In fact, having to waste multiple paragraphs explaining this technology is one of the things preventing it from mass adoption. For visions like the ones 8 Circuit Studios wants to create in tandem with other developers, it's crucial that blockchain stays in the background. For it to simply be the engine that runs the machine, rather than the selling point or what attracts people to the game or product.