Will Wright, legendary creator of SimCity and The Sims, has discussed his plans for a metaverse game.
The project, named Voxverse, will allow players to buy and own land using cryptocurrency, and mine resources which can then be turned into items for sale.
Wright discussed the project with Axios alongside collaborator Lauren Elliot, the co-creator of Carmen Sandiego. Together, the pair have a blockchain-focused startup working on the game alongside engine maker Unity and NFT game platform Gala Games.
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Apart from Wrights involvement, its difficult at this point to discern much difference in the project and other attempts at building a blockchain-based virtual world.
As its name suggests, VoxVerse will use digital collectible Vox characters sold by Gala as NFTs. But Wright has said his focus is on building a blockchain world where the players can make transactions safely.
“I dont really want to be in the business of selling NFTs,” Wright said. “I dont care how you do it. I want to have secure transactions for content creators.”
One interesting idea – termed “shape grammar” – will see players able to quickly transform starter objects into their own items – customised cars, couches and the like. But these too will then be available to “patent” for profit.
Wright likens this to The Sims own creator economy, and argues this may offer a fairer revenue model for those who do see their items bought by others. Still, paying isnt the overall point, he reiterates:
“Im much more interested in attracting a million free-to-play players than, you know, 10,000 rich whales, although we could use those rich whales,” Wright noted.