The Realm Metaverse is about to arrive in town and everyone’s bracing themselves for what the project can deliver.
With a wide range of universes, pets, NFTs, customization, and endless fun, Realm could be the innovative game changer we have been patiently waiting on while playing these cheesy super boring blockchain games that were delivered by other projects in the past few months.
Here’s a not-so-brief overview of Realm and what we can expect from it.
Overview
What is Realm?
Realm is essentially an NFT Metaverse that is comprised of smaller individual Microverses that are connected through portals. It is an open-source cross-chain project that is community driven that provides a platform for all creators and collectors to express themselves without any limitations within their own virtual realm.
Here’s just some of the things you can do with $REALM:
- Create your own original, fully customizable microverses loaded with NFTs
- Own genetically encoded living and evolving Realmies (NFT pets!)
- Explore other realms through AR (Augmented Reality)
- Mint collectible NFTix and host your own exhibitions
- Steam live audio to connect with your fellow Realm mates and fans.
In summary, each player can create their own little world – “realm” – and customize it to look according to their imaginations. Players will have the ability to include whatever they want within their realm.
$REALM token
$REALM will be the native token of the REALM metaverse which will slowly increase in value over time due to a ever-decreasing circulating supply. As more creators continue to build larger, more complex microverses, they will be required to stake $REALM tokens to support its maintenance and utilize additional features.
- Cross-Chain
Initially $REALM is an ERC-20 token (on Ethereum) but will also be available on Polygon Layer 2, Reef Chain, and Binance Smart Chain (BSC), some of which allows for low-cost transactions for traders, creators, and players. Simple bridging will be available for players to move their tokens between their preferred chain. - In-realm purchases
Players and creators will be able to use $REALM for transactions inside of the realms. These can including purchasing NFTix, paying for access to other realms, or buying in-game consumables and cosmetic items. - Rewards
To promote and encourage more interaction with the Realm ecosystem, $REALM will be rewarded to players for activities like creating their own realms, travelling and exploring other realms, and even lootboxes. - Staking
You can stake $REALM to get access to rewards and other in-game advantages. Rewards include limited-edition Layer 2 NFTs and exclusive access to certain realms and content. - Governance
Holding $REALM tokens gives the ability to players who can excercise key voting rights on major decisions about the future direction and development of the Realm ecosystem and project. - Fees
10% of all $REALM token transactions will be equally divided between the Realm foundation and Realm development and operations.
The Realm team
Currently the Realm team is an arsenal of 12 highly skilled individuals (and growing) including engineers, business minds, and creatives. Some members of the team has worked with 20 Century Fox, Avatar the movie, Riot Games, and Annapurna Games, and some even have math PHDs and several university degrees under their belts.
Matthew Larby is a technology advocated who previously worked with Joban Thomas in a web 2.0 tech business they started together – they built an internal GPS system and software layer to connect people with buildings. The business was sold to a tech billionaire, after which they pivoted their career paths towards the blockchain space in 2013.
You can learn more about their team on the Realm website.
The Realm Metaverse
The Realm project aims to reinforce the idea and philosophy of what Metaverses truly should be – a limitless platform where there are virtually no spatial, physical, or financial boundaries. The Realm Metaverse offers the freedom to create whatever you want and monetize it for however much you feel like, which they see as an integral part of Realm’s ethos.
Our platform removes the restrictions and centralization placed on land ownership and property in the physical world by offering limitless environmental options that are decentralized.
The Realm team
Here’s an example: using the Realm Suite of builder tools, each Realm player will have the freedom to create as many realms as they like. This suite of builder tools grant the player endless possibilities with 100% freedom of expression.
You can also use the Realm metaverse to meet other players and creators, host exhibitions, meet up to trade and transact, and a ton of other adventures together.
Additionally, each Realm is a virtual space that can be minted as an ERC-115 with its own address on the Etheruem Blockchain, which you can trade or use to hold other ERC 721s like objects, sculptures, and artifacts.
Play-to-earn
Not only does Realm encourage the creation of realms, but it also implores that you travel to other realms – both of which you will be rewarded for in $REALM tokens. As you travel through the Realm metaverse, your character will evolve more and more, while earning you $REALM.
On top of that, you can earn tips from other Realm players, rent out your realm for events, or even selling your entire realm to another player. The Realm metaverse truly is limitless.
Realmies – NFT PETS!
Realm includes yet another layer of awesomeness with the availability of Realmies (pronounced realm-y) : one-of-a-kid NFT pets that can breed, evolve, mutate, grow, and transform as they follow you around and explore other realms.
They are native to the Realm metaverse and act as your sidekick that always has your back. These 3D fully-animated Realmies can be collected, traded, or showed off to your communities and social media. When getting started, each player will receive their own Realmie
Types of Realmie pets
The Realm Metaverse will have 6 different types (classes) of Realmie pets – ranked from rarest to most common:
- Genesis – the rarest, half hidden in-game and other half available on OpenSea.
- Mythic
- Legendary
- Rare
- Uncommon
- Common
Earn $REALM with your Realmie
Within the Realm metaverse you will be able earn $REALM with your Realmies. You can play games, create your own competitions, host sporting events, parties, and explore all the crevices of the Realm metaverse. Endless adventures await you and your little companion.
Imagine setting up your very own Olympic Games for your Realmie. You create the stadiums and worlds where these events can take place, and invite other players to participate.
The Realm development team
Realmie Epigenitics
If you’re a biology geek, this will sound familiar to you. Epigenetics is essentially the study of how habitual behaviour and surrounding environments can alter the way your genes function. Just like how humans from all over the planet all evolved slightly different (according to their environment) Realmies will react the same way in the Realm metaverse.
So basically, your little Realmie pets will have the ability to mutate, evolve, and behave – in response to the realms you visit with them, what they do in those realms, and the food they eat. Each Realmie NFT code will chance and morph as your companion mutates and evolve within the Realm metaverse.
Breeding Realmies
It gets even deeper. Just like your own pets and domesticated animals, if you have 2 Realmies, you will be able to breed them to create a little Realmie baby. The cool thing about this is when two Realmies breed, there’s no way we would know what the baby will grow up to look like.
The genetic characteristics of both Realmie parents will be randomly combined and fused using Chainlink’s VRF (Verifiable Randomness) to create a brand new Realmie with its own set of characteristics.
In essence, Chainlink VRF is a secure random number generator, purpose-built for smart contracts, which generates a provably fair source of on-chain randomness
The Realm development team
Godot game engine
The Realm Metaverse uses an open-source game engine called Godot which is known to be a powerful yet lightweight game engine. It is quite different from the centralised engines we know like Unity Unreal Engine. What this means is the Realm’s engine is independent of any centralized entity who can impose limitations, censorships, policies, or control.
Godot allows Realm’s players to be provided with a range of tools for creation. Even the non-technical players have choose to opt for a simpler route, having different choices of Realm templates to start off with which can have different themes and styles. The more advanced players also have access to more complex creation tools.
Even with the availability of in-depth complexity for customization and creation, no coding or development experience will be needed to enjoy your creativity, nor will you need to understand the functions of a smart contract.
Digital Sustainability
As the Realm project grows and the Realm Metaverse continues to expand, so will Realm’s sustainability initiatives. Being concerned with CO2 emissions through energy usage, the team aims to implement a solution that allows people to play in Realm while simultaneously improving the conditions in the real world.
Real has partnered with Eden Reforestation to back up their initiative and make it even more possible. The process is simple: when you plan a tree in Realm, the funds get send to Eden Reforestation. Eden then uses these funds to get the local community involved to plant mangrove trees – which are planted on near water to help reduce erosion.
Conclusion
I believe that the Realm metaverse will be a game changer on how we look at NFTs and they way they work. Not only that, but this can spark the start of new generation of blockchain gaming that might play a role in our daily lives.
Don’t laugh – I see this as a crossover between Spore and Club Penguin, in a good way! (Can you tell I’m not really a gamer?) Or rather, I see this as the blockchain equivalent of IMVU, but 100 times more complex and interactive.
Realm will have its IDO on PolkaStarter at 13:00 UTC on September 14th, which it will be launched on UniSwap and PancakeSwap a few hours after.
Though many probably see this more as a profit opportunity, you should also try to see it from other long-term perspectives. Being a cross-chain project, the user base can grow exponentially. At the same time, even if you’re not too worried about making a quick ROI, you can even enjoy the Realm metaverse and make money from it!
If you have any additional questions, I highly suggest reading through their Medium which takes a deep dive into everything they’re doing, or you can even give them a shout on Telegram.
I really do look forward to seeing the outcome of Realm for the months to come. We’re witnessing a pivot in the NFT and blockchain scene. That being said, please DYOR and nothing you see here is financial advice. Invest wisely and have fun!