What Is Otherside? Yuga Labs’ Metaverse

TL;DR

Otherside is a metaverse world being developed by Yuga Labs, the company behind the successful Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT collection and more.
Players can own part of the world through Otherdeed NFTs, with NFT characters from both Yuga Labs and other ecosystems integrated into the game.
Divided into five distinct regions, Otherside offers a rich, immersive environment with its own lore and narrative, where players can complete quests, interact with NPCs, and harvest resources.
Designed for interoperability and composability with other platforms, Otherside provides open data kits (ODKs) for developers to access and use Otherside's data in their own applications, allowing players to use their NFTs across different games and platforms.

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What Is the Otherside Metaverse?

Otherside is a “gamified, interoperable metaverse" that combines the possibilities of MMORPGs like World of Warcraft and blockchain-based metaverses like Sandbox and Decentraland. In the Otherside metaverse, players can own part of the world through Otherdeed NFTs, and their NFTs like Bored Apes, Mutant Apes, CryptoPunks will become playable 3D characters. NFTs from outside the Yuga Labs ecosystem can also be added into Otherside.

Otherside aims to be a rich and immersive world with its own lore and narrative. The metaverse is divided into five regions — Biogenic Swamp, Chemical Goo, Rainbow Atmos, Cosmic Dream and Infinite Expanse — players can build upon. Each has its own history, culture and treasures. Players can discover the mysteries of the Otherside through quests, events and interactions with other players and NPCs. The pieces of land in Otherside nurture four different resources that players can harvest: Anima, Ore, Shard and Root. Furthermore, there are tools scattered throughout the online world.

Otherside is designed to be interoperable and composable with other platforms and games. It provides open data kits (ODKs) that allow developers to access and use the data from the Otherside metaverse in their own applications. This means that players can use their Otherdeeds, Kodas (celestial beings that live in Otherside), or other NFTs across different games and platforms that support ODKs. Each NFT in the game is dynamic, meaning it is composed out of different elements and can evolve during the game.

When Will the Otherside Metaverse Launch?

In August 2022, Yuga Labs and Improbable launched the “First Trip” into Otherside, where 4,500 concurrent users were able to join the 3D world. In March 2023, the “Second Trip” was held, this time successfully hosting 7,000 users. This demo was used to build up excitement for the official launch of Otherside, which has yet to be confirmed. However, according to Greg Solano, co-founder of Yuga Labs, the beta version of the Otherside game “The Persistent World” will be launched in 2023.

How Does the Otherside Metaverse Works

To participate in the Otherside metaverse, you need two things: an Otherdeed and a Koda.

An Otherdeed is an NFT that represents a piece of land in the metaverse. Each Otherdeed is unique and has different characteristics, such as environment, sediment, treasures, and Kodas (rare creatures that inhabit the lands). Owning an Otherdeed gives you access to the metaverse ─ you can build, explore, and interact with other players. At the time of writing, the floor price for an Otherdeed is 1.0678 ETH.

A Koda is an NFT character that can be found in some Otherdeeds. There are only 10,000 Kodas available out of the 200,000 lands. Kodas have different traits and abilities that make them valuable. Kodas can also be used as avatars in the Otherside metaverse, or as playable characters in other compatible games. 100,000 Otherdeeds are reserved for contributors to the game development.

To get an Otherdeed or a Koda, you have two options: buying them from the secondary market or minting them from the primary market. The primary market was reserved for the holders of different NFTs and APE tokens:

10,000 for BAYC holders (1 BAYC = 1 Otherdeed).
20,000 for MAYC holders (1 MAYC = 1 Otherdeed).
15,000 to Yuga and other project developers helping to create Otherside.
55,000 purchased using ApeCoin.

The secondary market is where you can buy or sell Otherdeeds or Kodas from other holders using platforms like OpenSea and Blur.

Who Is Behind the Otherside Metaverse?

The main creator of the Otherside metaverse is Yuga Labs, a company that launched Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), one of the most popular and successful NFT collections so far. Yuga Labs is founded by Wylie Aronow and Greg Solano. BAYC is a profile picture (PFP) NFT collection of 10,000 unique ape-themed characters. It has sold for millions of dollars and has attracted celebrities, athletes, and influencers as fans and owners. Yuga Labs also created the Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC), a derivative of BAYC, and acquired the rights to other prominent NFT projects such as CryptoPunks.

Yuga Labs partnered with two other leading companies in the gaming and blockchain space: Improbable Worlds and Animoca Brands. Together, these three companies are working to bring the Otherside metaverse to life, combining their strengths and expertise in gaming, blockchain and NFTs. They are also collaborating with other NFT projects and communities, such as Cool Cats, World of Women, CrypToadz and more, to make the Otherside metaverse more diverse and inclusive.

The Otherside metaverse is not just a product of these companies, however. It emphasizes a world built by the players and the community. The metaverse is designed to be dynamic and immersive, meaning that it evolves based on the actions and choices of the players. The players can also participate in governance decisions, such as voting on new features or updates, using the ApeCoin (APE) token. APE is also used to buy, sell, or trade Otherdeeds, Kodas, or other NFTs within the metaverse.

What Makes the Otherside Metaverse Unique?

Not all metaverses are created equal. Otherside stands out from other metaverses due to several distinct features:

Different Land Perks

Otherdeeds, the land parcels in Otherside, offer dynamic and diverse characteristics such as environment, sediment, treasures and Kodas. Each Otherdeed has a unique blend of these elements, affecting its appearance, value and gameplay potential.

Intriguing Storylines

Divided into five regions, Otherside has its own environment, culture and stories. Players can discover the mysteries of the metaverse through quests, events and interactions with other players and NPCs. The narrative of Otherside will be constantly influenced by player actions and choices.

Open Data Kit

Otherside aims to enable interoperability by providing open data kits (ODKs). Developers can access and use Otherside metaverse data in their own applications, allowing players to utilize their NFTs across different games and platforms.

Partnership With Improbable

Yuga Labs collaborated with Improbable Worlds, a leading company in cloud-based gaming technology. By utilizing SpatialOS, Otherside will be able to support thousands of concurrent players, realistic physics, AI and environmental effects.

Apecoin

APE, the native currency of Otherside, powers the economy and governance of the metaverse. It can be used to buy, sell, trade and participate in governance decisions. ApeCoin holders also gain exclusive access to Yuga Labs' NFT collections.

How To Join the Otherside Metaverse

You need an Otherdeed to join the Otherside metaverse. Each Otherdeed is unique and has different characteristics, such as environment, sediment, treasures and Kodas (rare creatures that can be used as avatars or characters). Owning an Otherdeed gives you access to the metaverse and allows you to build, explore, and interact with other players.

There are two ways to get an Otherdeed: buying one from the secondary market or minting one from the primary market. The primary market is where you can mint new Otherdeeds directly from Yuga Labs using their website. However, the primary market is not always open, and there are limited quantities of Otherdeeds available.

Conclusion

Otherside, created by Yuga Labs, is a gamified and interoperable metaverse that has sparked debates and discussions within the NFT community. While it offers unique features and challenges norms, it has also faced controversies and criticisms.

For instance, the first minting wave of Otherdeeds happened on April 30, 2022, when 100,000 out of 200,000 Otherdeeds were auctioned for a flat price of 0.08 ETH each. The minting was very popular and caused a huge spike in gas fees (up to $3,000) and some technical issues. Many users were frustrated and angry with Yuga Labs for not anticipating or mitigating these problems. Some users even accused Yuga Labs of manipulating the gas fees to increase their profits or exclude certain buyers.

The second controversy around Otherside was related to the KYC requirement for minting Otherdeeds. Yuga Labs implemented KYC for minting Otherdeeds to comply with legal regulations and prevent fraud or money laundering. However, many users were opposed to KYC because they felt it violated their privacy and anonymity. Some users also claimed that KYC was unnecessary or ineffective for preventing illicit activities.

Whether you love it or hate it, you cannot deny that Otherside is one of the most ambitious projects in the NFT space right now. It has sparked a lot of debates and discussions among NFT collectors, gamers, developers and enthusiasts. Therefore, it is not surprising that Otherside has generated among the most interest out of all metaverse projects.

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