Otherside: Connecting Everything
If the foundation of Web3 is consensus, then the establishment of the metaverse should primarily be based on community and consensus, from the bottom up, rather than from the top down.Author: NFTGo
Key Takeaway
Recently, projects under Yuga Labs such as BAYC, MAYC, and ApeCoin have seen significant price increases, creating a strong market start for Otherside. The Koda 3D PFP in Otherside has the potential to become a new blue chip.
With the support of an independent SDK software, Otherside enhances the customization possibilities within the MetaRPG. Focusing on infrastructure, economic models, and cross-game layouts, Otherside may connect various different metaverse products in the future, creating a "public chain" for the NFT world.
Collaboration with Animoca and OpenSea will boost Yuga Labs' metaverse and gaming layout. Additionally, Otherside is emphasizing the reuse value and practicality of land, rather than treating land as idle assets.
Yuga Labs owns top-quality collections that account for over 20% of the entire NFT market's value, and the influence of these IPs will serve as Yuga Labs' weapon to build a world based on identity recognition.
Market Rhythm and New Blue Chips
Since its launch in April last year, BAYC has completed a full year. During this period, Yuga Labs has consistently grasped the market rhythm, continuously exceeding expectations. Through multiple innovative attempts, it has not only met the needs of celebrities for the identity of "Web3 social new elites" but also brought significant benefits to other ordinary holders: membership privileges, community perks, collaborations with well-known fashion brands, and more. The community draws consensus from different groups, ultimately forming a core spirit—openness and co-creation.
Community Culture Dissemination Display
After achieving phased success with BAYC, Yuga Labs began its expansion, successfully acquiring the CryptoPunks and Meebits IP series in early March, followed by the issuance of its token ApeCoin for the MetaRPG economic system, laying the groundwork and heating up for the launch of Otherside.
On March 19, 2022, Yuga Labs announced the Otherside teaser on its official Twitter. As the topic gained traction, the prices of BAYC, MAYC, and ApeCoin continued to soar. Since the release of the Otherside promotional video on March 19, the floor price of BAYC has risen from 100 ETH to 145 ETH, an increase of 45%. The price of MAYC saw an even larger increase, with the floor price rising from 19 ETH to 39 ETH, a 100% increase.
BAYC Price Trend Chart (3.19-4.29)
Image Source: NFTGo.io
Similarly, ApeCoin has been on the rise since its issuance on March 17, and each time the official announcement regarding Otherside details is made, ApeCoin's price experiences a short-term reaction. As of April 29, after the official Otherside Twitter announced the sale of land at a fixed price of 305 ApeCoin per plot, ApeCoin also set a new historical high, breaking $27.
Price of ApeCoin in relation, Source: AICoin
Combining the initial land circulation and ApeCoin price for rough calculations, the total market value of Otherside at the end of this issuance will reach nearly $750 million, laying an economic foundation for the future layout of MetaRPG.
From 2D to 3D
In the teaser released for Otherside, an alien creature named "Koda" appears, with 10,000 Koda randomly distributed across Otherside plots. In the storyline, Koda brings the Bored Ape into Otherside, where they encounter characters like CryptoPunks and Meebits, which may hint at some future operational directions for the project: BAYC, guided by Koda, will lead other NFT IPs to success in Otherside.
Koda Reference Image
From the official images, we see that Koda is different from Yuga Labs' series of NFTs, as it appears in a fully 3D form. This suggests that Koda is the key for Yuga Labs to unlock the Metaverse, symbolizing the transition from "2D to 3D." As Yuga Labs' first 3D NFT, Koda has the potential to become a new blue chip.
More Expandable Metaverse
Token Model and Land Application Comparison
The metaverse encompasses and represents an ecosystem, rather than isolated game islands. Tokens serve as the breakthrough and connection points between these islands. In terms of market capitalization of metaverse concept tokens, $APE currently ranks first, with its total market value at one point nearly double that of the second-ranked $SAND, indicating the market's expectations for ApeCoin's future.
Tokens are key factors in the economic governance of the metaverse, and different token design models will affect users' trading and usage experiences. The differences in functional design also reflect the distinct positioning of each metaverse.
In comparison, similar tokens like $SAND and $MANA mainly have purchasing, trading, gaming, and governance features, while $WRLD serves functions like trading and internal ecosystem P2E; ApeCoin, on this basis, not only supports its own ecological gaming economic system but can also act as a token for other gaming applications, such as Benji Bananas developing an interface for $APE payments. As more projects use $APE as their utility token, the ecosystem based on ApeCoin will become increasingly rich.
SDK and Building an NFT "Public Chain"
It is worth mentioning that Otherside has opened its SDK for all developers to use. This way, Yuga Labs is not limited to providing expansion solutions only for its own metaverse products but can also build like stacking blocks, first providing infrastructure and rules, and later connecting various different metaverse products to create a "public chain" for the NFT world.
Moreover, in the Web3 environment where Flex culture is widespread, native PFP IP is one of the fundamental factors for establishing a foothold. In the virtual world, communicating through NFT identities, compared to the simple 2D avatar display of Twitter Spaces, will have greater dissemination power.
Reference Image for VRChat Internal Meeting in SteamVR Game
On top of this, if combined with voice systems and VR devices, users will have an unparalleled experience and immersion in diverse role-playing. Additionally, if other games also use the $APE economic system, cross-game and application identity interactions will be a significant highlight.
Looking at Yuga Labs' Layout from Otherside
BAYC is just the beginning, and to lay out in the Web3 field, a purely JPG-based image culture is not sustainable for the development of NFT projects. What is the way forward for NFT projects? The new gaming and metaverse field (MetaRPG) and entertainment economic ecosystem may be one of the solutions.
Strong Partnerships
Animoca Brands, which invests in metaverse projects, participated in Yuga Labs' latest round of financing. Another subsidiary of Animoca Brands, nWay, also announced that it will collaborate with BAYC to develop new games, using ApeCoin as the settlement currency.
The two teams encompass multiple themes including metaverse, GameFi, and NFTs, and the sharing of technology and resources will enable Yuga Labs to quickly gain a foothold in the metaverse market.
People, Capital, Land
From the perspective of "everything is for building the metaverse," Yuga Labs' previous operational route can be understood more clearly. First, establish a community, then build an economy, possessing the two most important elements for constructing the metaverse, and finally provide scenarios. This way, a large amount of high-quality content can be produced through UGC.
Furthermore, to ensure the operation of the MetaRPG economic system, a currency for the gaming mall was needed, leading to the launch of the native token ApeCoin. To create a more complete world composition, Yuga Labs acquired many high-quality IP projects, and Otherside can serve as a practical application scenario in the metaverse for Yuga Labs to explore areas like chain game development and DAO communities, thus forming a complete closed loop.
Additionally, reports indicate that Otherside will provide holders with a certain percentage of income based on location layers (KYC), which will also activate the intrinsic value of the land itself, rather than treating land as idle assets.
IP = Voice?
Top Chips
In the ranking of total NFT market capitalization, the top five—CryptoPunks, Bored Ape Yacht Club, Meebits, and Mutant Ape Yacht Club—are all projects under Yuga Labs. These high-quality IPs dominate the NFT market with absolute trading volume advantages. If these projects continue to trade within Otherside, it may pose a certain threat to OpenSea.
Therefore, whoever owns these IPs, owns the traffic, and whoever owns the traffic, owns the market voice of NFTs.
Proportion of Total Market Capitalization of Yuga Labs' Four Major NFTs
Using IP as a Weapon
These high-quality IPs have been validated countless times and have become representatives of mainstream NFT culture. They will serve as Yuga Labs' weapons for expanding territory in Web3, applicable in game development, animation production, collaborations with trendy brands, and more.
Moreover, the many top IP collaborations in the Otherside teaser also hint that Yuga Labs is building an IP matrix centered around BAYC and will formulate development strategies for these IPs.
IP Collaborations in Otherside Teaser
The Metaverse is Just a Concept and Tool
Currently, multiple projects like The Sandbox, NFT Worlds, and Decentraland have entered the metaverse real estate market by issuing land, driving attention to digital land. Overall, many metaverse concept projects share similar construction frameworks:
If the foundation of Web3 is consensus, then the establishment of the metaverse should primarily be based on community and consensus, from the bottom up, rather than top down. Under this basic structure, the launch of Otherside has, to some extent, revolutionized the concept of the metaverse: identity recognition and connection. This is something many metaverse projects lack and is also one of Otherside's advantages. The source of all this is the BAYC community established by Yuga Labs.
Previously, Yuga Labs stated in the promotional video, "This is why we are not building a metaverse. We are constructing an interoperable game metaverse—a MetaRPG." Ultimately, the metaverse is merely a concept; behind the concept lies the need for technology and substance, as well as the final form of expression. Many people have watched the 2018 film "Ready Player One," experiencing the scenes presented in the movie through virtual reality devices, a synthetic virtual world encompassing social, entertainment, and work. But in Web3, what we are building is no longer isolated islands of information, but a self-constructed world based on identity recognition.
The path to decentralization remains long, immersion and interactivity still require upgrades in hardware and software, and the economic system supported by virtual currencies still needs validation. A truly meaningful metaverse may still be far from us, but with a series of new attempts and innovations, we can also look forward to a better market model.
