Oh Good, ‘Ready Player One’ Is Becoming a Reality in the Metaverse

Did you ever wish the Ready Player One universe would become real? Probably not, but AI-obsessed tech people working with the metaverse certainly do! That’s right, we’re getting our very own real-life iteration of OASIS. Sort of.

Here’s what you need to know about the Readyverse.

What is The Readyverse?

In short, The Readyverse is an upcoming project from Readyverse Studios that promises “a dynamic interactive platform of interconnected digital experiences.” This includes a deal for Ready Player One, where Readyverse Studios will take the series and introduce it “to the metaverse across web3.”

“Readyverse Studios is laying the groundwork to bring the promise of the open metaverse depicted in Cline’s Ready Player One novel and the blockbuster film adaptation into a tangible reality; a multi-world, multi-IP, interoperable open metaverse experience for mass consumers,” Readyverse parent company Futureverse said in a press release on the project. “No IP has shaped the global culture and conversation around the metaverse more than Ready Player One.”

The Readyverse will apparently offer “provable digital ownership” and “community-owned infrastructure,” along with a decentralized system of some sort. It’s unclear if this means our future Ready Player One metaverse will feature NFTs, given the fad has died down over the past year, although it’s always plausible. Ready Player One author Ernest Cline, for the record, sounds very excited about The Readyverse’s potential—which makes sense, given that he co-founded the project.

“With Readyverse Studios, we have the opportunity to leverage the revolutionary technology Futureverse has been building for several years to bring to life the best possible version of the metaverse,” Cline said. “I’m confident with this team, we have the brightest minds and biggest hearts in place to lead us into the next chapter of our collective future, a future that would make Wade Watts and James Halliday proud.”

The Readyverse also promises AI content creation, “metaverse opportunities for Hollywood studios, talent, and brands,” and additional IPs and brands joining Futureverse in the future.

As you can probably guess, all this PR hype doesn’t really leave us with a clear image of what The Readyverse actually is. We know that AI will play a role, along with some sort of immersive user experience that involves owning things, but that’s basically it. Will The Readyverse really just be a glorified UI? A mini VRChat-like world? A goofy online web browser application that feels like Minecraft meets Ready Player One? Who knows?

Until we have more information available, one thing is for sure: If Warner Bros. Discovery is open to working with a metaverse company interested in AI content generation, web3, and all other sorts of tech fad nonsense, we’re likely to see similar concepts crop up from other major entertainment companies in the months ahead.

(featured image: Warner Bros.)