By Gary Symons
TLL Editor in Chief
The newly formed publisher Readyverse Studios has just unveiled OPEN, the company’s first “AAA quality metaverse experience.”
Readyverse is a company that TLL recently covered due to its potential for licensing opportunities. Like Roblox, but with high-end graphics aimed at adults, Readyverse is a web3 metaverse platform launched by parent company Futureverse, which was co-founded by the author Ernest Cline, who wrote Ready Player One, a sci-fi novel that has had a massive influence on the development of the metaverse. Other founders include Dan Farah, who produced the film adaptation of Ready Player One, Shara Senderoff, and Aaron McDonald.
The group has now announced its first game-slash-experience in the Readyverse, called OPEN, which was developed in a partnership with developer Walker Labs, a venture-backed videogame and next-gen web technology developer.
Walker Labs was founded on the idea of combining experienced AAA developers with best in class web-tech developers to create new types of experiences in gaming and digital social spaces. The company boasts an impressive cadre of senior game developers that hail from Epic Games, DICE, Microsoft, PlayStation, Mojang, Remedy, Ubisoft, Lucasfilm, Electronic Arts and more.
“We are incredibly proud to announce OPEN as our flagship experience in The Readyverse,” said Readyverse Studios co-founders Aaron McDonald, Shara Senderoff, Ernest Cline and Dan Farah. “Joining forces with Walker Labs to create a super-team of seasoned game developers from Epic Games, DICE, Microsoft, PlayStation, Mojang, Remedy, Ubisoft, Lucasfilm, Electronic Arts and more has allowed us to tackle the ambitious genre-defining challenge of building a AAA, MMO open metaverse experience, worthy of iconic IP in a way that has never been done before.”
OPEN is touted as a metaverse experience that leverages web3 technologies to make it a truly interoperable metaverse experience. There is also a major gaming aspect to OPEN, which features a third person battle royale experience as its main feature at launch. However, the more important aspect of Readyverse and OPEN is that they offer a true metaverse experience on a platform that will provide access to a wide variety of metaverse games and experiences.
So, why is that important to the world of licensing?
That question could best be answered by Warner Bros. Discovery, which signed a licensing deal that allowed Futureverse to bring the Ready Player One franchise to the metaverse.
The studio is essentially creating the real version of the open metaverse depicted in Cline’s Ready Player One novel and its film adaptation by Warner Bros. Pictures.
“We are thrilled to be at the forefront of technology, embracing its potential while continuously exploring new and exciting ways to integrate it within fan experiences across our brands and franchises,” said Warner Bros SVP, Josh Hackbarth. “Ready Player One has become a cultural touchstone, inspiring technology innovators, creators, and visionaries and we’re excited to be partnering with Readyverse Studios to introduce these unique characters, immersive environments and more to the metaverse across web3.”
In addition to Ready Player One, Readyverse Studios maintains the exclusive web3 licensing rights to all future IPs developed by Ernest Cline. Readyverse aims to develop a multi-world metaverse experience for mass consumers that features numerous licensed IPs across games, augmented reality experiences, VR technology and more.
This open metaverse experience will also be based on principles such as community-owned infrastructure, decentralization, provable digital ownership, web3 security and inter-operability. That essentially means the company is pushing forward with Cline’s original vision for the metaverse, where people essentially live a second life within the metaverse, including buying goods, going to events, playing games, and more.
Just as Roblox, Minecraft and Fortnite have become major platforms for brand licensing in the metaverse, so too can we expect Readyverse to go down this path.
This latest announcement says OPEN’s immersive world will be filled with nostalgia-infused biomes featuring characters and cultural legends across a variety of franchises. At the centre of this world is the initial game mode.
“Challengers will embark on game-show styled, multi-round collaborative and competitive game modes, but only one hero can emerge victorious,” the company’s announcement says. “Hone and showcase a vast array of gaming disciplines, where tactical positioning, sly movement, strategic shooting, and driving skills take center stage, as you join forces with worthy allies, plan together for strategic advantages, and engage in intense gameplay sessions.”
More important, however, is the intent behind this platform, which is meant to be open to other companies and brands, creating an alternate world in which they can operate and generate revenue. There are also well-known global brands working inside OPEN, as both Reebok and DeLorean were featured in the promotional teaser, which was featured at SXSW.
“With OPEN, our team of experienced game developers is passionately committed to bringing fan-favorite and original IP to life at highest fidelity,” explains Wajhi Jafri, Executive Producer at Walker Labs. “As avid fans ourselves of the IP entering OPEN, especially Ready Player One which came to define the open metaverse for mainstream consumers, we understand the responsibility we have to satisfy gamers and enthusiasts, who have been dreaming of engaging in this type of world for a long time.
“In close collaboration with Ernest Cline, we’re busy crafting a memorable lore where players can immerse themselves for years to come.”
OPEN is now in development for PC and current-generation platforms. For more information, check out the official OPEN website at visitopen.game.
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