The idea of a metaverse – a virtual world in which billions of people live, work, learn, shop, and interact with each other online in hyper-realistic fashion using customizable avatars – was first introduced in 1992 in Neal Stephenson’s groundbreaking sci-fi novel Snow Crash. It took about 30 years for that idea to gain massive traction, but as recently as last year, hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on research, projects, platforms, and services of all kinds aimed at making that idea a reality.
While the idea of a metaverse has been approached in numerous ways, few projects – if any – have been able to combine the utility, functionality, user-friendliness, social engagement, immersive experiences, and monetization opportunities needed to attract users and create a self-sustaining ecosystem of online interactivity.
It is within this context that ZTX (ZEPETOX), a blockchain project backed by some of the largest avatar social networks in Asia, has partnered with Arbitrum, a pioneering Layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum, to build out its eagerly anticipated 3D open-world metaverse.
With this partnership in place, ZTX hopes to bring a new wave of unmatched capabilities to millions of users, brands and partners around the world. These include immersive social interaction, monetization, entertainment, business collaboration, marketing, education, and more.
Much of the ongoing interest in the metaverse is due to the inherent security, transparency, scalability, and decentralization of blockchain-based applications. In the ZTX virtual world, users not only participate in activities of their choice but can earn, play, work, and collaborate from the comfort of their homes. However, they can also have a say in the governance and economics of the platform – a stark departure from the centralization seen on legacy Web2 applications and platforms.
ZTX hopes to launch a beta version of its application during the coming weeks. In this version, users will be able to explore the ZTX world and customize their ZTX virtual land base and home. New gameplay features such as trade, material harvesting, ownership, and crafting will be added in subsequent updates and releases.
As per the ZTX vision of creating an expansive ecosystem of playable and ownable worlds and digital assets and providing players and users with income-earning and investment opportunities, ZTX continues to expand by partnering with leading blockchain projects and partners. ZTX already offers a unique avatar builder and has numerous partnerships with globally recognized brands covering everything from collectibles to wearables.
Scaling these offerings to a global user base is where Arbitrum comes in, and using Arbitrum’s resilient and flexible development framework, ZTX is laying the groundwork for reaching the right audiences with the right offerings, at the right time, with the right features and capabilities that will ensure continued growth and user adoption.
Senior leaders at ZTX spoke highly of the partnership with Arbitrum, stating that Web3 creators, developers, and projects will benefit from it by having access to toolkits and customizable templates that can be designed and built based on the needs of developers and user communities. The economics of the ZTX ecosystem – based on universal accessibility and land parcels that are offered for free – also helps to ensure that access barriers are eliminated. The Arbitrum team views the partnership with the same positivity, and has stated that ZTX has changed the definition of what an immersive, value-generating virtual world should look like.
Arbitrum was built to bridge tech gaps, open new opportunities, and deliver fast and effective capabilities to blockchain projects of all kinds. In a similar manner, ZTX has been built from the ground up to be the destination of choice for users, brands, and businesses to participate in and benefit from the metaverse. With the power of Arbitrum running the ZTX virtual world, perhaps Neil Stephenson’s vision of what the metaverse should be will finally become a reality.
