Is Otherside Metaverse Land a Good Investment?

Throughout the years, strong communities have banded together in an effort to grow and create a greater sense of belonging—biblically, this is translated from the Greek word koinonia. One good example is the gaming industry. For instance, Grand Theft Auto is a vibrant and strong community that is still fun to be a part of to this day, offering anyone who loves the game a sense of belonging.

Some people aren’t necessarily into gaming, but they’ve met some of their truest and best friends through gaming communities, the crypto community, etc.

Having already established a strong presence in the Web 3.0 space, Yuga Labs –– the creators behind the renowned Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) non-fungible token (NFT) collection –– is well-positioned to become another one of these illustrious communities. With the launch of the Otherside, an interoperable gaming metaverse, Yuga Labs has the potential to revolutionize the metaverse industry.

The launch of the project couldn’t come at a hotter time, coming off a series of trending events, including the launch and surge of ApeCoin and the skyrocketing price floors of the BAYC NFT collection and all associated projects.

However, you may have several questions because the launch didn’t go quite as planned. The following discussion will examine the utility behind the project and determine whether buying land in the Otherside is worth the investment.

What is the Otherside Metaverse?

For those unfamiliar with the project, the Otherside is a new metaverse project that has been sending ripples of excitement throughout the Web 3.0 community. According to the team, the Otherside is an open metaverse role-playing game (RPG) compatible with all kinds of NFTs, including big-name NFT projects like the famous CryptoPunks, Cool Cats, Mutant Ape Yacht Club, World of Women, Meebits and CryptoToadz. 

While the specifics were limited prior to the drop, a minute-and-a-half teaser features a Bored Ape drinking some sort of serum, bringing him into a whole new world. Within the new metaverse, there looked to be an ice landscape, a lava landscape, a crystal landscape, a purple mystic landscape, a sand scene and a unique earthlike landscape. 

According to the original pitch deck, the key aim of Yuga Labs was to build something that transcends the BAYC universe, including the larger NFT community. The speculation was that the Otherside will be interoperable, allowing users to interact with a diverse range of projects and brands simultaneously in the metaverse. However, many users were left wondering what the true purpose of the launch was after it briefly shut down Ethereum.

Brief History of Otherside Metaverse

Yuga Labs partnered with Animoca Brands, a core developer of The Sandbox, to build the Otherside metaverse. Aside from appearing to be a multiland metaverse, the Otherside is expected to be extremely interoperable, supporting different types of NFTs and NFT ecosystems.

Moreover, Yuga Labs is steadily attracting more institutional investment. Following a recent $450 million funding round led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, Yuga Labs is now valued at $4 billion. Other investors include Animoca Brands, Google, FTX, MoonPay and Sound ventures. The company plans to use the funds to scale its team; attract more creative, operations and engineering talent; and build future strategic alliances and joint ventures. 

The announcement of the Otherside metaverse followed the trading debut of ApeCoin, the official utility token for the APE ecosystem focused on strengthening the BAYC community. The maximum supply is set at 1 billion, with a current circulating supply of 284.8 million. Despite being launched a few weeks ago, ApeCoin is already ranks 29th by market capitalization and has affected the average price of BAYC, Mutant Ape Yacht Club and Bored Ape Kennel Club collections.

On April 30, 2022, Otherside launched, but it quickly shut down the Etehreum, causing a massive crash and raising around $300 million from the original mint and resales thaat occurred shortly thereafter. Unfortunately, the project was the target of massive backlash as gas fees soared, causing some to speculate that the launch was merely a way for the project to point to its blockchain and note how expensive Ethereum can be. At press time, these theories are, as yet, unproven.

What is the Utility Behind the Otherside Metaverse Land?

In the past, holding Yuga Labs NFTs has proven extremely lucrative, so it is not hard to imagine that this time will be different. Utility aside, holding an NFT associated with Yuga Labs comes with social capital associated with the vibrant BAYC ecosystem.

While details are limited, it has been reported that the land itself will provide valuable items for land owners, from unique artifacts, natural resources and possibly a Koda. 

Speculation is that Kodas are the last remaining celestial race responsible for bringing Bored Apes and other interoperable NFTs into a strange new land (Otherside). It’s rumored that Kodas and Mega Kodas were assigned to 10% of the Otherside land plots, and buyers who receive them can NFT separately in the near future. In short, you were either lucky to find one or you were not.

The Otherside Metaverse Land Competition

Despite the hype, the Otherside metaverse is easily rivaled by a few competitors in terms of utility, functionality and team expertise. 

The biggest metaverse project competitors to Otherside include The Sandbox, Decentraland and NFT Worlds. Among them, The Sandbox ecosystem is arguably the biggest competitor to Yuga Labs because of its comparable industry connections and market capitalization. As a result, the following discussion will focus predominantly on The Sandbox.

NFT Worlds

NFT Worlds is a fully decentralized, community-driven, play-to-earn (P2E) platform where world owners can create their own metaverse games and experiences, featuring over 10,000 different worlds. Each NFT World is Minecraft-compatible and explorable.

Decentraland

Decentraland is the first mover in the metaverse space and is a 3D virtual world on a browser-based platform. Users can buy virtual plots of land in MANA (the native currency of Decentraland), which uses the Ethereum blockchain. 

The Sandbox

The Sandbox is a virtual world where players can build, own and monetize their gaming experiences using NFTs and SAND –– the platform’s utility token. The Sandbox is scalable, fast and environmentally friendly, having fully migrated to the Polygon network. The Sandbox aims to bring blockchain into mainstream gaming, attracting both crypto and noncrypto enthusiasts.

Functionality and Utility: 

The Sandbox enables land owners to create P2E games and dioramas, host giveaways and contests and leverage unique NFT-based assets in the metaverse. In addition to creating, landowners benefit from a staking multiplier that allows them to earn more SAND for every additional land parcel they own. The speculation is that land will be rented to game designers and other entities for SAND.

At the moment, the only known utility of owning an Otherside land parcel is the possibility to own a Koda, but it is unclear whether these will be able to be sold immediately.

In terms of development, The Sandbox has completed two experimental seasons, with over 700,000 contest participants and 10,000 NFTs distributed in Alpha Season 2. That said, while it is entirely possible for the Otherside to experience comparable adoption, it’s important to recognize that both projects are at vastly different stages.

The Community:

It is safe to say that the Otherside has stronger backing from the Web 3.0 community. Namely, Yuga Labs is the focal point of NFT culture, which will allow the Otherside metaverse to leverage the hype and euphoria associated with the BAYC NFT collection and associated NFT projects. 

However, beyond the Web 3.0 community, The Sandbox has significantly more support from institutions and brands. Namely, The Sandbox has secured over 165 partnerships, including Adidas, Snoop Dogg, The Walking Dead, South China Morning Post, The Smurfs, Care Bears, Atari, CryptoKitties and Shaun the Sheep. 

The Team:

Unlike Yuga Labs, the creators of The Sandbox have decades of experience creating games. Before being acquired by Animoca Brands in 2018, The Sandbox was a game for mobile phones and Microsoft Windows developed by the game studio Pixowl in 2012. The team managed to create one of the world’s largest independent user-generated content and gaming platforms, with 40 million downloads and over 1 million monthly active users. 

Despite this, it can be argued that gaming experience isn’t essential, as Yuga Labs has a broader vision that encompasses more than just gaming. 

Final Thoughts:

In terms of hype and short-term price potential, it is likely that the Otherside will outperform The Sandbox. All projects associated with Yuga Labs have been on fire recently, with an increasing number of influential celebrities adding fuel to the fire. However, in terms of fundamentals and utility, The Sandbox is miles ahead of Yuga Labs, which could make The Sandbox land an undervalued investment depending on the price floor of the Otherside land. 

Overall, there are two likely scenarios. On one hand, the recent bias surrounding Yuga Labs could cause Sandbox land to falter in the short term. On the other, it is possible that the Otherside land could catapult the entire virtual land sector of the NFT space into all-time highs. Even though the launch is complete, it will take time to determine what will happen—especially as the crypto industry recovers from the downturn of the summer of 2022.

How to buy the Otherside Metaverse Land

In the purchasing process, you will need to get know-your-customer (KYC) verified. Note that it may be too late to join in on the first land sale.

Despite this, a leaked BAYC investor roadmap indicated two land sales. The first was scheduled for March but was postponed to late April. The second land sale is expected to be sometime in August. As investors cope with the state of the crypto industry after the launch, they will find many plots on sale via OpenSea.

Is the Otherside Metaverse Land a Good Investment?

Being a part of the Yuga Labs ecosystem means owning Otherside land that comes with a lot of social capital and valuable perks but not without risk. NFTs are risky investments with significant upside and downside potential. 

Given the lack of relative perspective, a prudent, long-term investor may wait to purchase Otherside metaverse land once the market has settled down. But given BAYC’s popularity and high demand from price-insensitive investors such as athletes and celebrities, it is reasonable to assume that the demand for Otherside metaverse land will be significant in the short term. After some wild volatility and intoxicating fear-of-missing-out once during the launch, investors can now step into the space and determine if buying now is a good option.

If you believe the BAYC ecosystem and Yuga Labs can thrive and outperform competitors in the future, Otherside metaverse land could be a profitable way to capture the ecosystem’s increasing value.

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