Is this the Asian Roblox?

According to their press release, they have a community of "15 million Gen Z users, half a million builders, and 1.3 million average monthly users" in Asia.

Author

The Metadata
January 19, 2023

GM. Yesterday, the US Department of Justice made an announcement of an announcement and sent the markets into freefall โ€” just to tell us it's shutting down a Russian crypto exchange that no one has even heard of. Fun times!

(Meme by @hsaka)

Today we cover:

  • Weekly Trading Volume on Blur falls

  • Some think Createra is the Roblox of Asia

  • Interesting New Projects

  • Today's Coolest Tweets

Weekly Volumes on Blur Fall

Weekly NFT trading volume on Blur has fallen after reaching a peak in mid-December. Blur is an NFT marketplace and aggregator that has arisen to compete with OpenSea.

This could be due to its implementation of a 0.5% royalty fee that irked some traders (previous royalties were fully optional), or a drop off as attention wanes from airdrop farming. Blur is planning to launch its BLUR token at the end of January.

(h/t @Somaa for the chart)

Just Maybe...The Roblox of Asia

๐Ÿ’ฒ What to know: Createra is a metaverse platform that enables creators to build engaging 3D worlds and games.

Some have touted Createra as the "Asian Roblox". It raised a $10M funding round led by a16z, announced this week.

โ˜˜๏ธ In the weeds: Createra bears many similarities to The Sandbox: it utilizes low-resolution voxel characters in its game engine, and everything within the platform will be tradable (as NFTs). This includes games, characters, items and lands. One key difference: it is playable directly in the browser or mobile phone without needing to download an app. Less friction for users = Good.

According to their press release, they have a community of "15 million Gen Z users, half a million builders, and 1.3 million average monthly users" in Asia.

We took a spin on the platform. Unfortunately, it was hard to believe the numbers because most of the games and worlds we explored were empty. There isn't much to keep you inside when it feels like a ghost town.

Createra released a set of 2,500 genesis land NFTs as a free mint. It is now at a 0.7 ETH floor price ($1,000)

๐Ÿค‘ Why it matters: Roblox is one of the most successful game platforms today, with over 40 million games, 9.5 million developers, and a peak of 5.7 million concurrent users. It thrives on user-generated content.

The dream of many founders, including Createra, is to build a Web3 version of Roblox, using NFTs to drive the in-game economy and user ownership. It's been a tough ride, however. Web3 metaverse worlds haven't really taken off.

It's probably because there isn't enough compelling content that makes people want to spend time in these worlds... yet.

New & Interesting NFT Projects

๐Ÿฟ LightningWorks (20 Jan): Interactive Comic

๐Ÿฟ Wild.xyz's Quasar Fighter by Hideo (24 Jan): Art + Game

๐Ÿฟ Figuregot (TBA): Art, Fashion & Collectibles

Today's Coolest Tweets

๐Ÿฅ Leverage and volatility in NFTs

๐Ÿฅ Azuki partners with Bilibili, the YouTube of China

๐Ÿฅ Parallel partners Coinbase to launch its starter decks

๐Ÿฅ Decompiling AI-Generated Art

๐Ÿฅ Beeple to open his new studio on Mar 11

๐Ÿฅ IntellaX gaming platform in South Korea raises $12M

๐Ÿฅ Seidr closes seed round with a16z

That's it for today folks, see you tomorrow. If you want more, follow us on Twitter (@the_metadata). And if you aren't already a subscriber, join us now to get all the daily alpha you need.

We're looking to improve the newsletter and make it as relevant as possible for you. If you have any feedback to share โ€” please just reply to this email and let us know. Or even to just say 'Hi'.

Disclaimer: This newsletter is for educational purposes only. None of this is financial or investment advice. It is not a solicitation to buy or sell any assets. Minting and buying NFTs is risky. Please do your own research.