Players can buy, sell, and trade virtual properties mapped to actual addresses in NYC in an immersive experience
Upland , a top-five gaming Dapp according to DappRadar, announced it is expanding its metaverse to New York City. Upland combines real and virtual worlds, allowing users to buy, sell and trade virtual properties that are mapped to actual addresses. Upland has featured properties in San Francisco since its beta launch in January 2020, and now includes Manhattan real estate in New York City.
Upland is a parallel world mapped to the real one where people play, earn income from business activities and connect with others. Each property is a non-fungible token (NFT), which has value in a secondary market, similar to other virtual worlds. Upland’s current market already consists of highly active traders who enjoy flipping properties with other participants on a daily basis. Tokenizing these properties as NFTs adds permanence and ease of trading, enhancing the overall experience.
“We have been so encouraged by the success of the San Francisco launch and we are now ready to launch NYC, one of the most famous cities in the world,” said Dirk Lueth, Co-Founder of Upland. “So many people have visited and are fascinated by New York City’s beautiful skylines and rich culture; and we are excited to bring ‘the city that never sleeps’ to life in Upland.”
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Unlike games that feature fantasy environments and pseudo-economies, Upland follows the principles of an open market economy, using blockchain technology to ensure true ownership of digital assets. Upland provides a digital layer on top of the real world, offering entertainment, a vibrant community, and the opportunity to earn money. Building on the success of San Francisco, Upland NYC offers users a real world connection that resonates with people and adds an emotional layer to owning virtual property based on a real world address, especially in such an iconic city.
The launch of the NYC metaverse will start with the opening of Manhattan and will expand to other areas including Midtown, Upper West Side, Lower East Side, Upper East Side and Village/Chelsea. Uplanders will be able to enjoy game mechanics to flip virtual properties as well as participate in treasure and scavenger hunts, special events and entertaining challenges that encourage continuous game play. Upland’s community and its members have been increasingly active, helping each other create original content.
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When the COVID-19 pandemic forced many into isolation, video game usage in the United States surged by 75 percent, while overall web traffic spiked by 20 percent. This reflects a much broader, long-term shift toward games becoming social networks in their own right, as people use virtual worlds to engage with friends and like-minded individuals with increasingly sophisticated technology. Upland is also gearing up to build one of the largest communities for a metaverse that is based on the real world. Current members have already launched a broad variety of community content– spanning video, blogs and podcasts sharing their experiences; and they have even started to create their own fan art to be shared across various channels.
Upland is built on the EOS blockchain and powered by its own cryptocurrency, UPX. Digital landlords can earn UPX for properties they own, and increase their earnings by completing missions such as collecting similar properties, winning treasure hunts, and participating in live events. Upland also recently announced a partnership with Tilia Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Linden Research, Inc. (“Linden Lab”), the creator of Second Life, which will offer more features in Q4. Upland is available now on iOS, Android, and desktop devices, providing cross-platform availability that lowers barriers to entry commonly seen with other blockchain applications.