The Democratized Vision Of The Metaverse Enabled Decentraland To Flourish

Ari Meilich was an early pioneer in the metaverse by building Decentraland, along with Esteban Ordano and their team, the first decentralized virtual reality space in 2017. Through a $24 million initial coin offering, the proceeds went toward creating a unique virtual reality experience. The project enabled users to build a wide array of interactive experiences, ranging from playing video games to building cities and attending live events. 

Meilich could have been a Mark Zuckerberg and owned Decentraland. Instead, he took a brave and innovative approach. The ownership was more akin to a Kibbutz or commune, in which the collective society can own a piece. 

In a wide-ranging interview with Meilich, he said that the project would not have been as successful if he ran it like other tech CEOs rule their companies as fiefdoms. He contends that by democratizing the site, people would be more encouraged to participate, build and create without fear that they’ll be bombarded by advertisements, worry over their privacy or the whims of mercurial executives. Meilich believes that in times like these, we “can’t be evil” is a far better strategy than “don’t be evil.” He stated, “No rug pulls are possible thanks to the level of decentralization the platform has achieved.”  

People may purchase empty land parcels within the Decentraland environment using MANA, the accepted cryptocurrency used for payments. Instead of going into the pockets of the owner of the site, the money is placed into the community’s account. As it’s grown and people acquire land, there are peer-to-peer transactions, such as the recent purchase of space on Decentraland by Andrew Kiguel, CEO of Tokens.com for $2.5 million. As of January 2022, MANA is valued at around $2.96 with a market cap of over $5 billion.

Consistent with the collective-style approach, users who own MANA can vote on policy changes and land auctions. When parcels are sold off, the MANA tokens that were used to buy the plots are burned and removed from circulation, resulting in a declining supply of MANA.

One of the goals of Decentraland is to bring blockchain technology to the game industry. Its creators believe virtual assets should belong to the legal owner and not by the company running the site.  

Meilich, once the project was up and running, stepped down and now serves as an advisor via the Decentraland foundation. He is now focusing his energies on Big Time Studios, a new video game company. Big Time is a multiplayer action role-playing game (RPG) that makes collectable NFTs accessible to everyone. 

The main agenda behind the setup of the firm is to allow video game studios to use cryptocurrencies and NFT technologies. To demonstrate that its approach works, Meilich and his team are creating their own action RPG. The game’s format enables players to have NFTs with real-world value without having any prior knowledge of blockchain technology, which could be loaned or resold to others.  

Meilich said, “What makes this truly exciting is our patented Vault technology, which makes NFT gaming accessible to a mass-market audience, alleviating the need for external wallet management, self-custody and costly on-chain transactions.” He added, “Many early blockchain and crypto products require users to jump through a lot of hoops, making them inaccessible to the average gamer. Big Time eliminates that and will allow us to deliver a true AAA gaming experience that unites crypto with the metaverse.” 

Raising $21 million, Big Time Studios assembled an impressive list of industry leaders who have been involved with the launch of world-renowned games, such as Epic Games, Blizzard, EA and Riot, and contributed to some of the most beloved franchises in gaming history, including Fortnite, Gears of War, Call of Duty, League of Legends, and Medal of Honor. The community has boomed with around a million fans across all platforms.

Ordano, Decentraland cofounder, is not involved with the running of the platform, but serves in an advisory capacity to members of the site. He’s focused on the future. Ordano is contemplating innovative ways to make better software tools that are “malleable” and “super accessible.” He is championing “no code” solutions, so that a non-tech person can feel welcome and comfortable creating and building projects in virtual reality. This would further the mission of Decentraland’s ethos of democratizing the metaverse, by making things more open and user-friendly for everyone to participate.