Can Cryptovoxels Become The Number One Metaverse

About a million users are immersed in the Voxels (ex. Cryptovoxels) metaverse every month. In October 2021, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta was added to the number of its competitors. In the article, we will figure out if Cryptovoxels will be able to maintain its leading positions. You will learn what problems the metaverse has now and how the developers solve them.

A Brief About Cryptovoxels

This is the smallest blockchain metaverse in terms of area, but the number of land plots in it is constantly increasing. Unlike Decentraland, Somnium Space and other similar projects, Voxels is the easiest for beginners. To dive into it, you do not need additional programs or special equipment. One click on the URL will immediately take you to the virtual world. Even the content creation is carried out not with the help of 3D editors, but by simply dragging and dropping blocks in real time.

Cryptovoxels official trailer posted on the YouTube channel of the project’s founder Ben Nolan

The Cryptovoxels metaverse was founded in 2018. For a long time only one developer, Ben Nolan, worked on it. But with the growth in popularity, the project team has also increased. For example, in 2021, 7 people worked on Cryptovoxels.

In October 2021, Ben Nolan tweeted that user growth is much slower than he would have liked. He asked subscribers what challenges they face when using Cryptovoxels. MetaCat analysts joined the discussion and formulated problems that could prevent the project from becoming the main competitor of Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse. Let’s take a look at the main points from their research.

A Small Number of Land Owners

There are more plots of land in the metaverse than its owners. By October 15, 2021, 6 thousand parcels were created in Cryptovoxels, of which 5.6 thousand were sold. At the same time, only 1.6 thousand people were the parcel owners. The following graph shows the number of parcels and the number of owners at the end of each month.

Analysts identified 3 reasons for the slow growth in the number of land owners:

1. High prices. The most common cost is about $6,000 per parcel. For many users, this is an obstacle, despite the fact that land in the real world is much more expensive.
2. The land monopolists. Some users purchase multiple parcels, leaving new buyers with little choice. For example, an outdoor advertising display company, MVB, owns 148 parcels. And the user with the Justlike.eth address is the owner of 40 parcels at once. 
3. Complicated buying process. For those who are new to Cryptovoxels, purchasing a plot of land is not intuitive. The website lacks help information and customer support.

The value of the virtual land on the primary market is in a precarious balance. In 2021, land plots with a price of less than 1 ETH appeared very rarely. The more expensive ones lead to a slow growth in the number of owners, while the cheaper ones directly infringe on the interests of developers. In addition, if prices in the primary market decrease, the current owners’ investments in the Cryptovoxels virtual land will be unprofitable.

Decrease in The Monthly Number of Users

The number of land owners in Cryptovoxels continues to grow, albeit slowly. But the monthly traffic of the project is falling. The number of visits to the metaverse rose to an all-time high of 1.59 million in April 2021 and then gradually dropped to 0.83 million in September 2021.

The sharp fluctuation in traffic, according to MetaCat researchers, is caused by the following reasons:

1. Focus on technology development. Cryptovoxels founder Ben Nolan focuses on the technical side of the product and only occasionally interacts with users via Twitter.
2. Short-term goals of builders. Parcel owners do not provide long-term value to visitors. It makes no sense for the guests of the metaverse to return to the plot of land that they have already seen.

The Cryptovoxels team has already taken steps to make it easier for owners of virtual land plots to interact with visitors. On October 5, 2021, the developers added the guestbook feature. Parcel owners can now see the blockchain addresses of their guests. This gives land owners the opportunity to give gifts to guests or receive feedback from them.

In November 2021, Cryptovoxels added the ability to log in using social networks. Now you can choose the Torus crypto wallet to dive into the metaverse. It differs in that it is created with one click using authorization via a social network. The wallet is not completely decentralized, but easier for beginners. According to the developers, this should help attract more new users to Cryptovoxels. And in the spring of 2022, they carried out a rebranding. Now the metaverse is simply called Voxels.

What Will Help Cryptovoxels to Become More Popular

Journalist William M. Peaster opined that in the future, blockchain metaverses could give way to closed metaverses like Fortnite. According to him, the future of the Web3 industry depends on the users themselves: whether they can unite to defend decentralization.

MetaCat analysts share a similar opinion. In addition to the developers of Cryptovoxels, users themselves should also think about the problems of the metaverse development. For example, parcel owners should think more about what the building can be used for than how it will look from the outside. Interactivity will increase the number of visitors.

Regular users can also contribute to the development of the metaverse. For example, they can create a beginner’s guide to Cryptovoxels. And experienced 3D designers and programmers can help land owners create objects.

TL;DR

Cryptovoxels has been one of the most popular metaverses as of the end of 2021. However, the number of land owners and visitors is growing slowly. The developers solve this problem by making the platform simpler and more convenient for beginners. For example, recent updates have added social media login and a guestbook feature. And in the spring of 2022, they rebranded. The metaverse is now called simply Voxels.

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