Upland Metaverse: Everything You Should Know About It [2024]

Mapped to the exact specifications of the physical world, the Upland Metaverse is a play-to-earn (P2E) game primarily known for its virtual real estate. According to DappRadar, there have been over 2.6 million transactions within the Upland marketplace. 

Like other metaverses, Upland has established its virtual economy by selling land parcels as NFTs using UPX as its native currency. UPX can’t be converted into alternative currencies using crypto exchanges such as Coinbase.

What Is the Upland Metaverse?

Launched in 2019, the Upland Metaverse has grown exponentially from a virtual property game to an interactive Metaverse with its own in-built economy. Imagine owning your very own virtual property in New York. While it may not be possible in real life due to the high prices, the game’s ability to map real-life locations and list them for sale within its marketplace is one of the main factors behind its success.

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The number of properties has also increased over the years, with Upland adding more cities such as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and more. While most of the cities within the Upland Metaverse are from the U.S., there are also international locations such as Rio De Janeiro and Porto. Recently, they’ve added Qatar due to the hype around the FIFA world cup.

See also: Upland and FIFA Officially Launch the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Experience in The Upland Metaverse

Upland Banner for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 featuring the Mascot holding a ball, surrounded by national flags

The Metaverse is built on the EOS blockchain, and each virtual property on the platform can be minted as a Non-Fungible Token (NFT). The platform is also one of the first to introduce ‘virtual cars’ as digital transportation within its cities. Players can now purchase and trade virtual cars, offer ridesharing on the platform, race within developed cities, and much more!

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How To Get into Upland Metaverse?

There are two ways to get into Upland Metaverse: sign up directly through the website or through a referral link. The benefit of signing up through referral links is that you can get around four thousand UPX or more as soon as you sign up!

After viewing the initial tutorial, you can choose which city to start from. There are different status levels that users can obtain, which require a specific net worth. For example, to upgrade to a “Pro” status from “Uplander,” a 100,000 UPX net worth is required. 

If your current status is “Visitor,” you must refresh your Upland “visa” every seven days. This is done to prevent in-game resources from being recycled repeatedly. 

If you are interested to dive into the stimulating world of metaverse platforms? Check out our detailed article for a guide on the best ones available!

Properties You Can Purchase in Upland

The primary objective within the Upland Metaverse is to buy, trade, and sell properties. Similar to properties in real life, the value of these virtual properties depends upon their location within the Metaverse. For example, land parcels within populated capitals will be much more expensive than properties in underpopulated areas. 

Properties will play a more intricate role as time goes on. Upland properties now only exist as consumables that gamers can buy, sell, and exchange. Each estate is given a market rate that may be greater or cheaper than the initial minting value based on availability and demand. Considering the initial minting cost, each property permits the owner to collect a rent of 17.3% per annum. By finishing collections, the base rent might be increased. Right now, rare and unique Upland Metaverse properties have plenty of potentials to generate a large return on investment. Smaller, more common homes will likely be more towards the risky end of the economic spectrum for Upland.

In Upland Metaverse, purchasing a home is quite simple. However, you might have noticed that the property in Upland has distinctive color markings. Each hue has a unique importance and purpose. Thus, you should comprehend each of these hues before purchasing any estate.

The two parts below are used to classify Upland Metaverse properties:

  • Minted: Minted properties are owned by other players but can also be purchased by other users after negotiating with the owners.
  • Unminted: Unminted properties have never been owned by anyone and are available for immediate purchase directly from Upland.

When you log into Upland, you’ll be able to see land categorized by different colors. Let’s talk about what each color signifies.

Bright Green Properties

Bright green properties are unminted, unlocked assets that you can purchase directly from Upland and begin minting. Physical world market data analysis is used to calculate the pricing of the properties. To buy a property, you must have enough UPX tokens in your wallet.

Dark Green Properties

Dark Green properties signify minted creations available to purchase on the secondary market. Individuals must pay the list price using Upland tokens to purchase these properties. Another method to purchase properties is to participate in Upland Auctions to place bids on properties that are not in the secondary marketplace. 

FSA: The Fair Start Act

Many properties in Upland will have FSA markers. FSA properties may only be purchased by new users (Visitors and Upland players). You won’t be able to mint FSA properties when you become Pro, defined as having a total value of a hundred thousand UPX or more. However, you can still purchase these properties from the secondary marketplace.

Gray Properties

Sealed, Unminted assets that have not yet been unlocked for minting are gray properties. Additionally, each city has a few locked properties that are held back for upcoming landmark purchases and bids.

Blue Properties

Minted properties that have not been listed for sale are shown in blue. You can still make a buying proposal to the landlord of these properties even though they are not advertised on the secondhand market. They can choose to either accept or reject your bid.

Dark Blue Properties

These are the minted properties that you presently own.

The Rarity of Land in Upland

Each property has a rarity factor that determines its price. Consequently, many Upland Metaverse investors fail to understand the rarity of certain objects and make investments without doing prior research. 

Properties in Upland have been grouped into five groups based on rarity:

  • Standard: These are the most common properties with little to no historical significance.
  • Limited: Includes broad, huge, well-known regions, such as well-known streets or neighborhoods.
  • Exclusive: Includes popular streets or communities with few available homes.
  • Rare: These properties in Upland typically include the city’s most important neighborhoods.
  • Ultra-Rare: Properties in every city that are incredibly uncommon and exclusive. This can consist of customized creations and include famous nightclubs and other locations. Since these properties yield high traffic, they have high valuations within the Upland Metaverse marketplace.

How Can You Enjoy Gaming and Make Money in Upland?

You can play and earn cash in Upland by taking advantage of one of the many opportunities present in the game. Below are some of the ways through which you can earn money in Upland Metaverse.

See also: Top 8 Virtual World Games You Need to Play in 2023

Buy and Sell Real Estate

You can gather properties to resell for revenue to other users. Costs are determined by the square footage of the land (UP2) and local market circumstances in each location. The only way to acquire newly created properties is by using UPX. Once you reach the Uplander level, you may list lands on secondary markets for US dollars or other currencies. 

See also: How to Buy Virtual Real Estate in the Metaverse

Earn From Owned Lands and Collections

Owning homes entitles you to passive UPX income. Additionally, you may make extra money if you host collections to boost earnings. By fulfilling the collection’s conditions, you can earn passively. One illustration is having three houses on the same street, collectively known as “King of the Street,” which increases income by 1.3 times. There are different “levels” of collections based on the type of properties. For example, you can achieve the Ultra Rare “Curator” level by owning two museums in Upland Metaverse.

Target Highly Populated Lands

You receive UPX and can decide on a charge for entry whenever someone enters your property. For example, airports, railway stations, and bus terminals are valuable since thousands of players use these places to commute within cities. 

Gather In-Game Non-Fungible Upland Tokens

In-game NFTs, including souvenirs, Block Explorers, 3rd party marketing campaigns, and more, may be purchased using UPX. These in-game NFTs can be traded on the market. Additionally, Upland collaborates with cryptocurrency companies to provide special promotional tokens that players may obtain within the game. For example, block explorers are also popular sellable items.

At the time of writing this article, Upland has recently launched FIFA NFTs in honor of the world cup. These NFTs contribute to the FIFA “Fan Score” and allow users to exchange mementos after each round. So naturally, the more points you score, the better the memento you can obtain.

Join The Non-Fungible Upland Token to US Dollars System

Uplander status allows gamers to participate in the NFT to US dollars scheme, which is still in testing. It enables you to advertise properties for dollars rather than UPX so that a gamer who purchases your property will pay you in actual money. Please carefully read the terms and conditions since the program has certain restrictions.

Land Development with Spark

Spark (refers to man-hours) is required to develop structures on your land. It is not transferable, and these structures may include one-day house large Metaverse companies. The inclusion of operational arcades, markets, enterprises, exchanges, and community management on sites is something developers aspire to achieve since it might lead to more revenue-generating options.

A modern luxury house requires 3000 Spark Hours (SpH) to construct. As per Upland’s instructions, you will need 1000 hours to construct your stunning house if you own three Spark. Users can build the NFT structure more quickly if they have more Spark.

Treasure Hunt

To enjoy Upland Metaverse to the fullest, it is recommended to participate in Treasure Hunts. There are three tiers:

  • Standard: Available for all Upland users and others. You must finish the hunt within a particular timeframe, and respawning within the game costs 100UPX.
  • Limited: Accessible to visitors and accounts with the ranks of Uplander and above.
  • Exclusive: Only available for individuals higher than “Uplander” status. Another fun element in this tier is that to obtain the Treasure; you need to smash a pinata by tapping on it to get the UPX.

The Treasure is concealed in your region after the Treasure Hunt has begun or you have entered it. You must submit to explore minted properties for the Treasure if you want to discover it. When the Treasure is nearby, it shows as a red dot and arrow pointers point you in the right direction. You can seize it once you are near enough.

Is Upland Metaverse a Wise Investment?

Due to its large active user base and rising prices of virtual estates, Upland is viewed as a relatively wise investment to obtain a large ROI. However, it is important to keep in mind that there are several risks associated with your investment. For example, while NFTs grant proof of ownership, there is no government or bank-based backing if the platform suddenly crashes. Furthermore, the game itself is highly dependent upon circulating cash flow. If most users decide to withdraw their UPX, the prices of NFTs on this platform will surely plummet.

 

See also: What is Metaverse? Guide into the Future of Digital Reality

 

Upland NFTs

Properties in the game serve as representations for NFTs. Each land parcel is 3m x 3m in size and is called “UpSquares.” These parcels are tied to addresses in the physical world and are minted on the EOS blockchain.

Apart from properties, other NFTs within Upland are Block Explorers, Map Assets, Upland Gateway NFTs (from other blockchains), and more.

Users may purchase owned properties with US dollars or UPX based on the seller’s preferences and legal standing; however, unregistered (bright green) properties must be paid for with UPX. Framework Non-fungible tokens are three-dimensional structures on properties that players may gather along with other non-fungible tokens in the game.

When a gamer reaches Uplander status in the game, an EOS blockchain account is instantly created, with keys produced randomly using the gamer’s login and password. Players may save and possess digital assets because of this. Furthermore, you can list assets in Dollars or UPX.

Upland has unveiled a collection of NFT products dubbed Upland Legits, which the company sees as enabling businesses, athletes, and other entities to have a distinctive identity in the Upland Metaverse. For example, over two thousand soccer gamers in the Upland Metaverse have identities thanks to a collaboration between Upland and the National Football League Players Association.

In late 2021, Upland teamed with cryptocurrency wallet and blockchain dApps explorer Wombat to give twenty-five non-fungible tokens for finishing in-game “quests.” Purchases made in-game using UPX contribute to quest completion or UPX spending benchmarks, which may result in a Wombat NFT prize.

Upland Blockchain

The Upland Metaverse utilizes the EOS blockchain that was launched in 2018. One of the best benefits of this blockchain is that it does not charge any “transaction fees .” There are several rewards for miners that create these tokens. It does not rely on a “Proof-of-Work” mechanism but instead adopts a “Proof-of-Stake,” thus enabling it to perform faster transactions and manage energy usage much more efficiently among users.

Upland Metaverse Mascot wearing a monocle in a forest setting

Upland Crypto

Upland utilizes UPX (Upland tokens) as its native currency. Since it is a utility token, Players can use it for various things, such as purchasing NFTs, minting land parcels, paying for marketplace transactions, and much more. Players can purchase UPX using their credit cards, PayPal, or other cryptos within the Upland Metaverse store. In addition, properties and other digital assets can be purchased using UPX  and sold on secondary marketplaces for dollars.

Upland Metaverse Owners

Mani Honigstein, Idan Zuckerman, and Dirk Lueth are the masterminds behind the Upland Metaverse. Based in Silicon Valley, Upland is run by Uplandme, Inc. They have several backers from the real estate, gaming, and technology industries. 

The Metaverse was launched in 2018, with backing from the owners of the EOS blockchain (Block.one) and many others. The three co-founders are all experienced, business entrepreneurs. 

Dirk Leuth 

Dirk Leuth is a Co-Founder and Co-CEO at Upland, Author, Co-Founder, and Chairperson of Open Metaverse Alliance for Web3.

Mani Honigstein

He is a Serial Entrepreneur, Advisor, Executive, and Investor. Co-Founder of Upland specializes in marketing, product definition, business development, team-building, fund-raising, and finance.

Idan Zuckerman

Idan Zuckerman is an R&D, Product, and entrepreneur executive interested in consumer internet, gaming, blockchain, and smartphones. He is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO at Upland.

The three owners claim to have come up with the Upland Metaverse while playing Monopoly. The premise of virtual real estate with virtual treasures sounded exciting and was trending during this time, leading to Uplandme, Inc.

FAQs

  • What is the Upland Metaverse?

The Upland Metaverse offers players a chance to buy, sell and trade virtual real estate. Land parcels within the Metaverse are mapped to real cities and can be purchased using the game’s native currency, UPX. 

  • Is UPX a real cryptocurrency?

Although the token resides on the blockchain, it cannot be considered a true cryptocurrency. Instead, its primary purpose is to serve as a utility token to acquire digital assets within the game. 

  • How can you purchase land in the Upland Metaverse?

Upon signing up, new players can purchase FSA properties that are not expensive. But first, players must purchase UPX through the games marketplace using their credit card, PayPal, or cryptocurrencies. 

References

Upland Metaverse, 4 Important FAQs – Altcoin Buzz

Upland Game: What is it? How to Play? – NFT News Pro

Is Upland a Good Investment? (metagreats.com)

Properties in Upland – Upland Academy

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Danial Ibrahim is an experienced writer with a passion for exploring the latest trends in the metaverse, digital twins, web3, and other emerging technologies. With 5 years of experience in the field, Danial has built a reputation for providing insightful analysis and thought-provoking commentary on the future of the digital world. From explaining complex concepts in a clear and accessible way to delving into the ethical considerations surrounding new technologies, Danial is dedicated to providing engaging content that inspires readers to think critically about the future they want to create. Danial's writing style focuses on creating articles that are compelling and geared toward encouraging readers to fully comprehend the topic at hand.

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