TL;DR: With a new update or NFT collection being released almost every day, it’s clear the crypto ecosystem is constantly evolving. NFT Worlds is one of the NFT collections paving the road to the digital universe — but it’s just the beginning. Knowing what brought it here and why it was created will lead you to make better decisions when investing or simply interacting with NFT Worlds.
In this article, we’re gonna dive into the NFT Worlds lore, answer all the NFT Worlds-related questions and even more. Prepare yourself for a fantasy story and a journey to the future of NFT Worlds!
What is NFT Worlds?
NFT Worlds is an NFT collection of 10,000 tiles of land that live on the Ethereum blockchain.
For those nostalgic about Minecraft runs, we present you the Web3 version of it. It is literally the same engine but with the security rights to the property you own in their metaverse.
Whether you are an artist looking to express yourself using new tech, or a gamer who wants to have fun building, NFT Worlds (now HYTOPIA) is fertile ground to build upon.
Minecraft has always been the standard for limitless possibilities in the digital world. With virtually unlimited resources and enough creativity, Minecraft communities have wowed the world with their creations. Think of giant artworks that reproduce the originals pixel by pixel (literally), or the architectures once could only dream of.
There is only one inconvenience though. As a builder in Minecraft, your creation is akin to a mandala – built in every detail, but at the end of the day, it can easily be erased. There is not much to do except enjoy the good work and head for the next grand project.
What if Minecraft creations could endure time? Such is the promise of NFT World (HYTOPIA), a metaverse with embedded digital property.
Building on HYTOPIA requires owning a world. Luckily, you can get your hands on a piece of HYTOPIA and start a journey that can last forever.
Owning an NFT is different than screenshotting a JPEG - just like holding an original Rembrandt is more valuable than owning a replica. As their name suggests, NFTs are non-fungible by design. This is different from digital tokens like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Fungible assets can be exchanged for another asset of the same type, much like BTC, ETH, or even fiat. NFTs, on the other hand, are unique assets where their ownership details are documented on the blockchain, ensuring digital scarcity and unique attributes for each asset.
But how exactly is digital scarcity being enforced?
The concept of NFTs first emerged in 2012 with the creation of Colored Coins, which could be used to represent real-world assets on the blockchain. However, Colored Coins only worked in a permitted environment, making it more similar to a database than anything else.
As the crypto industry became more popular, people have continued to experiment with the idea of a digitally scarce asset. This led to the creation of ERC-721 and ERC-1155.
The ERC-721 standard is like a set of rules for making NFTs. These actions help in making special tokens with their unique information, making them different from one another.
Behind the scenes, ERC-721 smart contracts keep a list of who owns which token, making it safe to pass tokens from one person to another. The contract also keeps count of how many tokens there are altogether and how many each person has.
As previously mentioned, NFT Worlds NFTs are secured by the Ethereum blockchain. Ownership and transaction history are publicly visible on the Ethereum blockchain along with other important info such as the NFT's metadata.
Understanding how to access an NFT's metadata is essential for holders to grasp the specifics of what they're buying.
Metadata usually includes visual attributes like color, type, wearables, and so on. On the blockchain, it looks something like this:
HYTOPIA worlds have their own set of traits that make up their uniqueness. These are aquatic life density, foliage density, wildlife density, as well as minerals and many other natural elements.
Basically, when acquiring a world in HYTOPIA, you get to choose its natural resources, climate and positioning. Because HYTOPIA emulates real-world conditions, this means each world will be highly influenced by its configuration.
Each world is 16,000,000 x 16,000,000 blocks in size — giving you nearly infinite space to develop your metaverse. This world is then symbolized by an NFT that is yours to have.
Some worlds are rarer than others, which makes a specific NFT stand out from the rest. For example, the rarity scale has: common, unusual, rare, epic, legendary, and utopian.
Rarer traits provide additional perks such as greater visibility for players to find your world, greater $WRLD token yields through staking, and unique features not available to other worlds.
Rarity translates into a world with more fertile resources, or an advantageous geography. Truth be told, imagination is your limit when it comes to building on HYTOPIA
The NFT Worlds NFT collection has been algorithmically generated. This means that out of the potential combinations, only 10,000 HYTOPIA Worlds will ever exist!
What is the utility of NFT Worlds?
NFT Worlds make for your digital playground, your own piece of heaven that you get to design from the ground up and invite friends to join.
Much like Minecraft, players mine resources and collaborate in missions or events — the only difference so far is that they truly own the land they build on.
The biggest utility for HYTOPIA is the ability to create digital economies and make an income from your work.
Activities and engagements within NFT Worlds are linked to an in-game cryptocurrency known as $WRLD. This ERC-20 token serves as a gateway to a vast play-to-earn (P2E) economy. Participants have the opportunity to gather $WRLD as compensation for hosting experiences in their NFT World. Additionally, they can earn $WRLD by participating in mini-games across the larger ecosystem.
$WRLD holds versatile utility within the NFT World ecosystem. Users can utilize it to buy items from the in-game marketplace, rent land plots, and register. WRLD names, engage in player trading, acquire future lootboxes, and explore other potential utilities that server owners may introduce.
Additionally, players have the option to stake their WRLD tokens for passive rewards. In this context, staking requires two actions:
Add liquidity into a WRLD/ETH pool to earn a share of the fees.
Stake the LP tokens to receive non-transferable veLP-WRLD.
veLP-WRLD is a governance token that allows you to vote for your favorite world and boost the P2E reward distribution.
With the added economics, world owners can co-opt players into their world and together boost their chances for earning. HYTOPIA is designed to issue more WRLD tokens to the most popular worlds.
As the NFT Worlds brand expands, WRLD holders will be able to continually earn rewards. Whether you are hodling for a season or longer, the NFT Worlds ecosystem continues to explore new ways of keeping holders engaged.
Who created NFT Worlds?
NFT Worlds was created by ArkDev and TempTranquil. The project started in September 2021 and has since been renamed to HYTOPIA.
ArkDev spearheads the creation of these NFT worlds, serving as the driving force behind the project’s development and leading the development team. Meanwhile, TempTranquil takes charge of marketing, using strategic acumen to unite the community and maximize its impact on the project.
Before explaining how NFT Worlds came to be, let’s delve into the background of the founders.
ArkDev started with early programming interest at age seven. He entered the app game in 2010, building popular apps and experiencing his first acquisition with a radar app during the Pokémon GO craze. Delving into crypto around 2013, he began Ethereum development in 2018–2019.
After his initial app success, he partnered with roommates Spencer Costanza and Chino to explore social commerce, creating the app SoMo. Recognizing the appeal of social media for commerce, they pivoted to offer e-commerce services, achieving significant success before facing challenges in scaling.
In September 2021, ArkDev and his time dived right into the NFT craze. This is when they decided to launch NFT Worlds.
Having kept an eye on the NFT scene for about six months, ArKdev was fascinated with the technology and the vibrant experimentation happening in the public domain. The chaotic and unpredictable nature of this emerging space resembled the wild west, where everyone was exploring the limitless possibilities of NFTs.
The decision to use Minecraft as a springboard for NFT Worlds was a strategic move, as it leveraged the existing developer ecosystem to facilitate a smoother integration of crypto, NFTs, and ownership verification. The idea was to create a metaverse that is crypto-enabled and NFT-driven without requiring users to grapple with an entirely new game engine.
NFT Worlds officially launched on October 6, 2021.
Part of the project’s early success was the enthusiastic community, which rallied behind the concept. The timing was also in their favor, as the NFT market heated up from December 2021 until March 2022. The price of a single World NFT shot from 0.75 ETH to 15 ETH, and then 20 ETH. It then slowly bottomed at 2.6 ETH due to the bear market.
Little did the team know that when they decided to use Minecraft’s ecosystem, they would have to go against its creators, Microsoft.
The connection, or lack thereof, between Minecraft and NFT Worlds, crumbled officially on July 20, 2022, when Minecraft issued a ban on NFTs and blockchain technologies within its server. The announcement, delivered via tweet, stated that to ensure a safe and inclusive experience for players, blockchain technologies could not be integrated into the Minecraft client or server applications, and NFTs associated with in-game content were also prohibited.
Minecraft’s decision, outlined in an official statement, emphasized that NFTs and blockchain technologies, with their focus on digital ownership based on scarcity and exclusion, contradicted Minecraft’s values of creative inclusion and collaborative play. The concern was that such technology fosters a “haves and have-nots” scenario and shifts the focus from gameplay to profit-seeking, which runs counter to the long-term enjoyment and success of players.
Almost two years after the band, it is possible that Microsoft took this action because they didn’t understand NFTs and blockchain technology. Indeed, NFTs had gained notoriety for the number of scams, and Microsoft didn’t want to have their name associated with it.
The ban turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it pointed out the censorship in the gaming industry. Considering the reputation of its founders, NFT World set out to prove that digital economies can thrive without the need for third parties.
Who is developing NFT Worlds now?
NFT Worlds development is being spearheaded by ArkDev and TempTranquil.
In 2023 NFT Worlds announced a revamp strategy for the entire project. NFT Worlds would now rebrand as HYTOPIA and launch a new game client early in 2024.
In the aftermath of the July 2022 ban by Minecraft, NFT Worlds embarked on the development of their own game and platform, drawing inspiration from many core mechanics of Minecraft while introducing innovative features and integrated Web3 infrastructure. The formal statement released during this period outlined the vision for this endeavor.
The project is currently in the development phase, created from the ground up using the Rust programming language and driven by a team of seven dedicated full-time developers and engineers. Upon completion, the game will be accessible to players entirely free of charge, eliminating any paywalls associated with game purchases, a departure from the model seen in Minecraft. While specifics remain scarce, some developers involved in the project boast considerable experience in Minecraft modding.
From the standpoint of NFT Worlds developers, the new game engine is designed to be backwards compatible with Minecraft, facilitating a seamless transition for previous NFT Worlds creator builds to be ported over.
Regarding the launch timeline, ArkDevshared on Discord that the team is optimistically eyeing Q2 2023 for the release of the first playable public version. However, their website still shows the beta pre-registration window is still open — with more than 1,119,998 pre-registered players.
Recent advancements, such as the unveiling of the game’s 1st edition loot boxes featuring playable skins (with more to come), signify tangible progress in the project.
Investors are also an important component of the HYTOPIA ecosystem. Although they don’t get involved directly in the governance of the project, they do exert an influence over the brand’s expansion into the mainstream. In October 2023, HYTOPIA
It is important to remember that HYTOPIA is a creator platform and for that reason also depends on others to build on top of the ecosystem. Before the Minecraft ban, there were 100+ projects building on HYTOPIA, some of which have already gone live.
How does NFT Worlds make money?
Now, let’s get to the juicy part – how does NFT Worlds make money?💰 (No, flipping and rug pulling are not the correct answers)
The answer to this question is strongly related to intellectual property.
Think of popular trademarks such as Mickey Mouse, Spider-Man, or Coca-Cola. Every time you see movies, books merch, or poster with them, know that the owners of the IP get a share of the profits. Same thing goes with the NFT holders, in theory.
When it comes to NFTs, it’s quite challenging to fit them into the traditional framework of copyright law. To give more context, owning an NFT doesn’t mean holders have automatic control over the creative work. This creative control needs to be granted by the creator.
As such, NFT holders should pay attention to what IP rights, if any, come with owning the NFT.
As previously mentioned, HYTOPIA worlds are not quite the same as pfps. While players have ownership over the worlds, monetization is made solely using the WRLD token.
When it comes to the technology, things get a bit more complicated. The HYTOPIA team has patents pending or in process for nearly a dozen technical innovations they’ve created. It is possible that HYTOPIA will loosen the patent rules at a later time, when they have distanced from competitors.
Another way of generating revenue is via royalties. HYTOPIA earns 9.5% from every secondary sale of HYTOPIA worlds.
Thanks to the revenue from royalties, HYTOPIA has enough funds to sustain development over the next few years. Another event that boosted the treasury was the NFT Worlds Genesis Avatars mint, which minted around 11,900 avatars (0.4 ETH each) that are to eventually be used as playable characters within the HYTOPIA ecosystem.
In terms of statistics, HYTOPIA has enjoyed some of the highest engagement among metaverse projects. They even surpassed long-established worlds like Decentraland and The Sandbox.
The platform estimated it had brought in nearly 60,000 unique players, with 34,000 of these being first-time crypto users since February 2022. Granted, these are very small numbers, but given the $1B+ market cap of its competitors, this is very encouraging.
Where can I buy NFT Worlds?
You can buy NFT Worlds on OpenSea.
