Upland: Rebuilding the World in the Open Metaverse

Summary

Upland is pioneering the web3 revolution and on a mission to build the largest digital open economy, combining real-world geography with blockchain technology to create an engaging and immersive gaming platform.

The innovative gameplay of corresponding virtual properties in the Upland game to physical addresses of the real world has attracted many players.

Upland adopts a dual-token economic model, with SPARKLET as its externally tradable ERC-20 token, which has a total supply of 1 billion and currently approximately 150,000 holders. Its other token UPX can be used in-game only and has with US$1/UPX 1,000 a fixed exchange rate to the Dollar.

The platform has accumulated over 3.5 million registered accounts and maintained 30,000 daily active users over the past year.

What is Upland

Upland is an immersive Web3 gaming platform that uses virtual properties of the real world to engage players, creators, entrepreneurs, developers, and brands. The platform leverages the principles of the open metaverse to create a digital economy where users participate in various game loops and activities, earn in-game currency, and engage with a vibrant community. Third-party developers can connect their Web2 and Web3 applications to the platform, benefiting from Upland's infrastructure, user base, and economy. Upland runs on the EOS blockchain, providing a secure and scalable environment for its ecosystem. The SPARKLET token can be bridged from Ethereum to EOS and vice versa.

Upland's Game Mechanics and Ecosystem

Originally inspired by the " Monopoly " board game,” users buy, sell, and trade virtual properties mapped to the real world's parcels. Upland employs a unique game design where players, use game pieces called "block explorers" to discover virtual , properties for purchase in cities around the world like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro, London, Paris, and Tokyo and 25 more cities. Players – who do not need to be physically in the virtual cities - start out as visitors to accumulate assets until they have a net worth of 10,000 UPX ($10) to become official Uplanders. Then, they can enjoy true ownership of their digital assets.

Every property is an NFT, and owners earn income from it, which they can increase by completing collections of properties with similar characteristics. Players can build structures on their properties and open up a virtual store (“metaventure”) to sell digital items (NFTs) they or Upland have created or from Upland’s partner brands.

Today, the platform offers many game engagement points and activities, including socializing in immersive spaces and participating in fun competitions like car racing and treasure hunting.

Upland represents a broad ecosystem of players, entrepreneurs, creators, brand partners, and developers who build and expand within and beyond its boundaries. All ecosystem members utilize the platform's infrastructure and services to focus on creating value within the economy:

•Entrepreneurs customize their shops or create a “speedway” venture for car race tracks

•Creators manufacture, showcase and sell their digital art, wearables, virtual vehicles and more with Upland’s no-code NFT minting tools

•Developers connect their Web2 and Web3 apps to the platform so Upland users can enjoy even more gameplay

•Brand partners like FIFA (incl. video NFTs) or NFLPA activate and engage with their fans

Other key elements of the platform are:

•Mobile-first (iOS and Android apps plus Web) with simplified web2 onboarding

•FIAT on-and off ramp (sell digital assets for US$ to other players)

•Highly engaged and loyal community. E.g. people come from South America, Japan, Australia, Europe, and even Mauritius to participate in annual event in Las Vegas.

Upland's smart contracts enable a range of in-game operations, including minting new properties, listing or delisting properties for sale, buying properties, making buy offers, accepting or rejecting buy offers, and collecting earnings from self-owned properties. These operations do not require gas fees.

Upland makes use of a proprietary wallet to sign transactions on behalf of the user to allow the player to communicate directly with the EOS mainnet. This process does not require user-owned private keys, thus eliminating the negative user experience associated with other blockchain games. Users own their EOS accounts, and the wallet encrypts players' private keys on the client level. Their keys can only be decrypted with the player’s credentials. In cases where players lose access, Upland offers a password recovery process based on email authentication or 2-form-authentication to help them restore their access. This method enables non-tech-savvy players to enjoy the benefits of blockchain while enjoying the game.

Upland's Token Mechanism, Utility and Future Development

SPARKLET has a total supply of 1 billion. According to the tokenomics, 31% of the tokens are allocated to development & growth, 24% to incentives and rewards, 15% to ecosystem and rewards, 10% to advisors & supporters, 14% to existing Upland owners, 2% to launch campaign, and 4% to liquidity & multi-chain support.

SPARKLET is Upland's native utility token. It is an ERC-20 token that can be bridged to and from EOS. Ecosystem participants use Sparklet for various functions:

•Players need SPARKLET to build and develop their properties and neighborhoods with various buildings and structures.

•Entrepreneurs and Creators use SPARKLET to build shops, factories, and showrooms to facilitate their "Metaventures"—player-owned and operated businesses serving as specialized primary and secondary market shops in the economy. Sparklet is also used to create user-generated content (UGC) NFTs and for the no-code manufacturing (minting) of virtual assets that can be traded or sold to other players.

•Third-party developers use SPARKLET to establish a map presence in Upland via "Dev Shops," unique constructions that allow players to discover and launch developers’ offerings. SPARKLET fuels implementing their zero-code Web3 and NFT strategy using the Upland platform.

•Partners/Brands (e.g., FIFA, NFLPA, UNICEF, Stock Car Pro Series) require SPARKLET, similar to Upland Entrepreneurs. Partners/brands create virtual assets that are offered to players for purchase during events, mini-games, and competitions. SPARKLET powers the partner's/brand’s metaverse strategy for fan engagement, co-creation, and monetization in the open metaverse.

In Upland, SPARKLET can either be "staked" (i.e., allocated to a task for its duration) or "spent" (used to achieve an immediate outcome), depending on the use case. Players can also stake Sparklet towards other players’ projects.

The tokenomics are designed to ensure a balanced supply with mechanisms for rewarding active players and supporting the ecosystem.

Upland was founded in 2018 by serial entrepreneurs Dirk Lueth, Idan Zuckerman, and Mani Honigstein. Since its launch in 2019, it has accumulated over 3.5 million registered accounts, over 30,000 daily active players over the past year, close to 300,000 unique land owners, and 6,000,000+ NFTs sold. Moreover, in 2021, Upland received investment from Animoca Brands and others.

Overall, although Upland has been online for quite a long time, it remains popular with a considerable user base. It still has an impressive number of daily active users and possesses tremendous potential. In addition, both investors and partners involved with Upland are influential, which contributes to its continuous development. As the Web3 industry evolves, Upland will usher in new opportunities.