Dare to OVERDARE: Upcoming Metaverse Platform Worth Watching

In case you missed Matt Ball's prediction, here's the teaser trailer to OVERDARE, an upcoming mobile-forward metaverse platform from Krafton, the South Korean-based publisher of PUBG Battlegrounds.

From the announcement:

The project represents a bold, new frontier in mobile-based interactive platforms for user-generated content where users are free to express themselves creatively.

Built on Unreal Engine 5 and leveraging generative AI technology, OVERDARE allows users to easily craft high-quality games across genres such as action RPGs, sports, and shooters. The platform also offers robust social features, including avatar customization and in-app chat functionality.

OVERDARE will introduce a Create-to-Earn (C2E) system, enabling users to purchase and own digital assets crafted by content creators within the metaverse.

These transactions will be supported by NFT and blockchain technology, ensuring transparency and secure transactions. To facilitate this, OVERDARE has selected Settlus as its blockchain mainnet for NFT licensing. Settlus specializes in licensing intellectual property in the form of NFTs from creators on Web 2.0 platforms. Those creators earn revenue through the U.S.-developed USDC stablecoin.

Graphics in the trailer look good and fun, especially if they can pull this off in the mobile version; also appreciate the diversity of avatars, super important for a metaverse platform to thrive. Being built on Unreal by a seasoned developer of a huge multiplayer game world like PUBG is also an important plus, especially for scalability.

Potential downsides that immediately jump out:

I appreciate making UGC monetization a central focus with the "create-to-earn" feature; historically, however, doing that right out of the gate is problematic — creating a sense of overjustification (as explained by Richard Bartle here) which impedes community building and a culture of, well, fun. And while NFTs and blockchain may be deeply baked into the platform's original business plan, several other "cryptoverse" platforms have since crashed and burned, while none have achieved mass market liftoff. (For reasons explained at length In The Book.)

Still it's early days and I'm excited to see what comes of OVERDARE, another entry in the latest round of metaverse platforms expected this year.

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