Metaverse Battle Royale Game Announced By Ready Player One Creator

Earlier this year, Readyverse Studios, a collaboration between blockchain tech company Futureverse and Ernest Cline, the creative mind behind the sci-fi franchise Ready Player One, unveiled The Readyverse, an interactive platform for metaverse games and experiences.

Readyverse Studios teamed up with Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) to bring the popular novel to the metaverse through Web3 technology. WBD was responsible for distributing the 2018 film adaptation directed by Stephen Spielberg. The studio recently unveiled its inaugural project set to debut soon within The Readyverse.

This will be a third-person battle royale experience where players engage in game-show-style, multi-round collaborative modes employing various gaming techniques like shooting, tactical positioning, and driving. The founders of Readyverse Studios introduced Open in a trailer during the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival.

The Context

The new experience includes a Ready Player One biome, providing players with opportunities to explore environments, obtain skins inspired by the novel, and compete against each other. Additionally, Open features other biomes showcasing recognizable characters via iconic intellectual properties. In the trailer, viewers witness Ready Player One protagonist Wade Watts (also known as Parzival) navigating past nostalgic items such as a DeLorean car and vintage television and video game consoles.

Ready Player One is set in 2045, depicting a world on the brink of collapse. To escape, most people immerse themselves in a virtual reality simulation called the OASIS. When the creator of the simulation dies, users are informed that whoever finds a digital Easter Egg first will inherit ownership of the OASIS. Watts, a teenage orphan and avid player, joins the contest, pitted against corporate employees seeking to control and monetize the OASIS with intrusive online advertising.

Working With Web3 Technology

Readyverse Studios describes Open as the first AAA quality metaverse experience interoperable with AAA IP, leveraging Web3 technology. It is named after the principles that The Readyverse embraces, including asset interoperability, digital ownership, decentralization, and security. Much of this technology stems via Futureverse, a platform comprising 11 companies which includes gaming studios and blockchain startups.

Development of Open involved collaboration with Walker Labs, a developer specializing in video games and next-gen web technology. Walker Labs previously released Walker World, an open-world multiplayer shooter and adventure game in 2022. Open is currently in development for PC, and interested players can register for early access.