“Ready Player One” helped popularize the concept of vast and shared metaverse, and the novel and film franchise are transforming into a metaverse game world of their own, as revealed earlier this year. Now, its creators have shared a first look at what’s planned.
The Readyverse, as it’s called, will debut a battle royale gaming experience called Open, as teased in the initial trailer embedded below.
Like the source material, the Readyverse will carry many notable brands and IP, with the teaser showing the classic DeLorean car (as prominently featured in the “Back to the Future” films) alongside Reebok sneakers. It also promises to be “interoperable”, although to what extent has not yet been fully explained in detail.
Described as The Readyverse’s “heroic” experience, Open will feature “nostalgia-infused biomes” (aka classic characters and franchises) with a competitive game show-like format. One of these “biomes” is specifically based on the “Ready Player One” franchise itself.
“Challengers embark on game-show-style, multi-round collaborative and competitive gameplay, but only one hero can emerge victorious,” reads the official Open description. “Perfect and showcase a wide range of gaming disciplines, where tactical positioning, cunning movement, strategic shooting and driving skills take center stage, as you join forces with worthy allies, jointly plan strategic advantages, and engage in intense gaming sessions.”
Battle Royale games are typically shooters, such as Fortnite, PUBG and Apex Legends, which challenge players to survive in a frenetic fight to the death, where anything goes. However, there have been other types of games that have used the winner-takes-all format, such as Tetris 99 and Nintendo’s F-Zero 99. Readyverse’s Open looks like it will take cues from various genres.
Readyverse is being developed by Walker Labs and will be published by Readyverse Studios, an arm of blockchain startup Futureverse. “Ready Player One” author Ernest Cline and the film’s producer Dan Farah also co-founded the publisher. The game was created with Unreal Engine 5, a powerful development platform widely used in the industry.
The trailer also features images of the NFTs projects Fantastic cats and Mondo Fluf. Fluf World is owned by Futureverse, which raised a $54 million Series A round last year, while Cool Cats had previously announced a strategic alliance with Futureverse.
The trailer also appears to show off the Atari 2600, Nintendo Entertainment System, and Sony PlayStation consoles, but while the designs are familiar, they aren’t clearly identified, and The Readyverse has not announced partnerships or licensing deals with any of these brands.
Open will be released on PC and “next-generation platforms,” suggesting unspecified console systems. Readyverse was previously announced to debut in 2024, although no platform or Open date was specified in the latest announcement.
By Ryan Ozawa.
