As the race in the metaverse landscape intensifies with Zepeto’s ZTX and Meta’s Horizon World, South Korea is all set to unveil another contender in the market: Overdare. In a recent development, gaming powerhouse Krafton Inc. in collaboration with Naver Z, a unit of the portal giant Naver Corp., announced the launch of their metaverse platform, Overdare.
This ambitious project stands as one of South Korea’s answers to the global metaverse phenomenon, Roblox. Slated for a soft launch in December, followed by an official global release in the first half of next year, Overdare promises to reshape the digital landscape with a user-generated content platform offering a range of gaming and social media activities.
- Introduction to Overdare: A bold venture by Krafton and Naver Z.
- Features and functionalities: AI tools, game creation, avatar customization, and interactive chats.
- Economic aspects: Create-to-earn system, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and USDC stablecoin.
- Official launch: Plans and expectations for the global market.
- Krafton and Naver Z’s investment and stake distribution in Overdare.
- Expert opinions and forecast for Overdare in the metaverse market.
Introduction to Overdare
Marking their entrance into the burgeoning metaverse space, Krafton and Naver Z have teamed up to develop Overdare, a mobile-based user-generated content (UGC) platform. The term “overdare” signifies a company embarking on a bold journey to create a mobile interactive production platform that is unprecedented. Krafton, well-known for spearheading the renowned battle royale game PUBG, has assumed a dominant role in this venture with an 85% stake, leaving Naver Z with the remaining 15%.
Unveiling The Overdare Platform
The Overdare platform, which was previously known as “Project Migaloo”, facilitates easy creation of high-quality content, courtesy of generative artificial intelligence and the cutting-edge Unreal Engine 5. Beyond gaming, it extends its capabilities to social media activities, including avatar customization and interactive chatting features, similar to the services offered by the globally recognized metaverse service, Roblox.
Overdare’s Economic Aspects
Stepping into the economic dynamics of the gaming space, Overdare introduces a create-to-earn system, enabling content creators to produce works for users to purchase and own. Leveraging the benefits of blockchain technology, transactions of copyrighted works are facilitated through non-fungible tokens (NFTs), ensuring secure and transparent transactions. The integration with the Settlus blockchain, developed exclusively by Krafton for Overdare, promises a seamless economic infrastructure, allowing users to calculate profits with USD Coin (USDC), a digital stablecoin pegged to the US dollar.
In the early stages of developing OVERDARE, a creator-centric metaverse built on Web 3.0, the team envisioned Settlus, a new blockchain solution that incorporated functions not supported by existing chains. This article discusses the insights and challenges encountered during the conceptualization phase.
The development journey began with the Web 3.0 Roundtable at Krafton, which explored the potential applications and values Web 3.0 can bring to various industries. The discussions led to three significant insights:
- While Web 3.0 offers decentralization and transparency, these features are not sufficient to attract average users, who prioritize enjoyment and familiar user experience (UX) over the new functionalities Web 3.0 brings.
- A substantial group of enthusiasts is eagerly anticipating the Web 3.0 era, demonstrating strong support for products based on this technology. The Settlus team believes catering to this audience could foster a thriving ecosystem grown alongside a dedicated core fanbase.
- Web 3.0 presents an attractive proposition for creators, aligning well with the era’s emphasis on individual ownership and opportunities, like transparent blockchain transactions and revenue generation independent of specific platforms.
However, as the team delved deeper into the implementation of Web 3.0 in the metaverse, particularly in the creation and transaction of NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens), they faced several challenges:
- The mandatory use of Web 3.0 for transactions could deter users unfamiliar with the new system, potentially affecting creator participation.
- The fluctuating value of tokens used to purchase NFTs could create negative experiences for both users and creators.
- The current models for selling items, including large collections like those seen in PFP (Profile Picture) projects, may not be suited for massive services, raising concerns about diluting the uniqueness and value of NFTs.
Considering these issues, the team is exploring various solutions, including the innovative idea of an NFT Licensing system, to address these concerns and introduce new value propositions into the Web 3.0 sphere, without compromising the user and creator experiences. They are collaborating with Naver Z, the developers of Zepeto, to realize the creator-centered metaverse, OVERDARE. The goal is to validate their hypotheses and potentially set a new trend in the Web 3.0 world.
Expectations and Future Prospects
With a soft launch scheduled for December, followed by an official release in the first half of the coming year, Overdare is gearing up to make a substantial impact in the global market. The initial teaser trailer hints at an expansive open-world platform, offering users a plethora of gaming and interactive experiences, including attending virtual concerts and crafting personalized avatars. The team behind Overdare is also addressing potential challenges associated with the introduction of NFTs into the gaming economy, emphasizing a balanced approach to item scarcity and volatile token prices.
Investment and Stake Distribution
The joint venture sees a considerable investment of 48 billion won ($36.1 million), steering the development and marketing initiatives of Overdare. While Krafton spearheads the venture with an 85% stake, Naver Z, a subsidiary of Naver Corp. and a key player in the metaverse sector, holds a 15% stake, harnessing the synergies of both companies to craft a platform that stands as South Korea’s answer to Roblox.
As the anticipation builds up, the metaverse platform developed by Krafton and Naver Z is poised to redefine the realms of gaming and social interaction. The launch of Overdare stands as a significant milestone in the development of the metaverse, promising an immersive and interconnected digital ecosystem that merges the best of gaming and blockchain technology. With Krafton’s proven track record in the gaming industry, the future of Overdare seems promising, potentially setting a new benchmark in the metaverse domain.
