One of the major selling points of web3 has been the ability of users to migrate their NFTs from one metaverse platform to another. However, interoperability between metaverse platforms is still limited.
This may change soon, with Greg Solano, the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) founder, saying, “We’re going to be publishing our object standards as they become available; some are coming very soon, and others will be coming over the next year.” According to Solano, such standards will be “open standards that anyone can adopt, and can build on top of.”
A designer will be able to create a 3D character model for the Otherside metaverse of BAYC and “just as easily take it to another metaverse.” The vice versa is also true.
Yuga Labs, the owner of Bored Ape Yacht Club and the Otherside metaverse intends to build a truly “interoperable” metaverse that “is going to allow for you to be able to play as whatever character it is that you are,” Nicole Muniz, the Yuga Labs CEO said.
“Maybe you’re an ape. Maybe you’re not; maybe you’re not a Yuga property, and that’s okay.”
The aim is to develop an open world where “everyone can have a shared fun experience,” she added.
According to Muniz, Otherside is different from other metaverse efforts because “it’s rooted in the mythology, in the lore—which will lead to gameplay and other shared experiences that our community have.”
Solano says that another selling point for an open metaverse, unlike a web2 “walled garden” like Roblox or Fortnite is “true ownership.”
“The best innovations to come out of gaming in the past 20 years have been from modding communities,” Solano said. “Some of the biggest games in the world started as some anonymous developers building on top of some other platform.”
The open metaverse offers creators a way to monetize their work without begging for YouTube subscriptions or donations.
“If there was a native incentive structure, where they can own assets and provenance there, then we hopefully create the creator economy that drives value back to creators, just by the existing incentive structure.”
Yuga Labs is not alone in its push for open standards in the metaverse. The Open Metaverse Alliance (OMA3) stated its vision earlier this month to see the metaverse “remains open and becomes truly user-owned,” and part of this includes forming a team to create the interoperability standards.
Yuga Labs was once pronounced a member of OMA3, but it was later made clear that the inclusion of the BAYC founder into the team was not finalized.
