The digital world is expanding, and with it comes the rise of virtual spaces and experiences. One such project, the Otherside metaverse, created by the company behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT project, recently held beta sessions for NFT owners. However, the initial impressions of this $300 million project haven’t been entirely positive.
The third major playtest for Otherside, dubbed ‘Apes Come Home,’ took place on February 29. Exclusive access was granted to individuals who owned a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT, allowing them to witness their NFTs in full 3D and explore an exclusive digital clubhouse. However, the experience was limited, with no text or voice chat support, leaving participants to question the worth of spending $70,000 on a digital monkey for ‘exclusive benefits’ in a Second Life knock-off.
Otherside, a browser-based NFT metaverse MMO in development by Yuga Labs, the company behind Bored Apes and Mutant Apes, has garnered significant attention, having sold $300 million worth of digital land in May 2022. The project aims to support multiple NFT types and incorporate user-created games similar to Roblox. To showcase the potential of Otherside, Yuga Labs conducted a series of ‘trips’ or tests, with the recent event aiming to reveal one of the 200,000 land plots that will form the metaverse and demonstrate the benefits for Bored and Mutant Ape owners.
However, initial impressions of the event suggest that Otherside may not live up to its lofty ambitions. Visuals appear bland, performance is choppy, and animations are limited, painting a picture of a lackluster experience. In addition, the absence of chat functionality further detracts from the immersive potential of the metaverse, leading to concerns about the value proposition for participants.
The digital landscape continues to evolve, and the emergence of metaverse projects like Otherside indicates a growing interest in virtual experiences. As developments in this space progress, it remains to be seen how projects will address user expectations and deliver compelling, immersive experiences in the evolving digital frontier.
