Worldwide Webb’s Virtual Real Estate
Housing in a 2-D World
A worm smoking a joint, a vampire followed by a bouncing cat, and a vending machine running around. Is it the world’s worst haiku? Nope. It’s the experience of playing “Worldwide Webb,” the refreshingly unserious 2D metaverse that you can run in your browser. Let’s talk about the unique world they’ve built, and then zoom in to examine its booming real estate market. There’s nothing else quite like Worldwide Webb on the Internet right now, and surprisingly few people are familiar with it — even among those interested in Metaverse topics.
What is Worldwide Webb?
Worldwide Webb seems to have emerged directly from the desire of its founder, Thomas Webb, to go on an adventure with his NFTs. It’s as if he and the other two team members sat down and tried to work out the fastest and most practical way to make it happen. The model they ended up choosing was that of the 2D role-playing games I grew up with in the mid-’90s, and their simplified graphics provide Worldwide Webb with the ability to iterate and upgrade incredibly quickly. As a result, thousands of NFTs from the Ethereum and Polygon networks are already integrated and useable in the game. Run around as your Cryptopunk! Battle other NFTs with your pet MoonCat! Be a CryptoDickbutt! The result is super irreverent, and it’s an interesting amalgamation of both retro and cutting-edge elements.
The game runs quickly and smoothly in your browser — even on mobile. This makes it highly accessible to people, regardless of their familiarity with Web3. Pretty much anyone is able to connect their wallet and bring in their supported NFTs. It loads in a second or so, and you’re off to the races! It’s by no means up to the graphical or technical standards that most people would associate with the Metaverse, but it runs well on practically any device you could want.
The game is centered around a story that guides players through its content, much like a classic RPG. But, there are also lots of side quests to complete, and practically the entire in-game world is immediately accessible, reflecting the “sandbox” style that’s come to prominence in more recent years. This makes it quite unlike all the other metaverse projects I’ve tried, where you’re essentially dropped into the world without anything in particular to do. While unconventional in the genre, the inclusion of a storyline and sidequests may be a great way to familiarize users with the world and keep them coming back.
All of this takes place on a map comprised of several connected, 2D zones. It’s not continuous, as each zone loads when you pass from one to the other. Building interiors operate similarly, appearing when you click on the entrance door. This scheme makes it easier to expand the map or to add new locations within it. Some of these locations can even be purchased and owned through NFTs, creating a kind of real estate market that players can engage with.
Worldwide Webb’s Real Estate
The NFTs that represent Worldwide Webb’s housing were first minted on the 29th of November, 2021. There were 5,000 small apartments available at the outset, and they sold for .069ETH each (about $300 at the time). Additionally, 3,000 medium apartments were offered for .12ETH (~$522). 1,000 large units sold for .24ETH each (~$1,044), and 69 penthouses went for 1ETH (~$4,350). These are all highly customizable using Worldwide Webb’s “apartment editor” tool, and they remind me a bit of the inside of buildings in “Earthbound.”
As far as utility, there doesn’t appear to be much that one can do with the apartments yet. You can decorate and modify them as you choose. You can also mint and sell NFTs, meet friends for a text chat, and hold events. But as far as I can tell, there are no particular benefits in-game or elsewhere associated with owning an apartment.
There are intentions to integrate other types of real estate as well. “Commercial” properties like bars, clubs, and shops already exist in Worldwide Webb, but the developers plan to allow players to own them in the future, too. Because they are so readily monetizable, these NFTs are likely to be worth significantly more when they launch than the apartments are. The nightclubs seem to be a point of particular interest, as the Webb team has set them up to have a sort of live DJ system and the capacity to host hundreds of people. The ability to “token gate” already exists in-world as well, so club membership or event admission can be sold.
Finally, the developers have plans to add advertising space for sale as well. These will be billboards and the like where people can advertise goods, services, brands, etc. You will be able to purchase the rights to these spaces with NFTs and upload images or text that people can see as they play. To me, this is especially thought-provoking, because it represents a whole new property class that I’m not aware of existing anywhere else.
Opinions and Speculation
At this point, I’d like to offer my opinions on Worldwide Webb’s housing system and its future prospects. Please don’t take this as investment advice. I’m not suggesting you do anything at all with your money.
The value of real estate in the game has grown immensely since it launched. As of the time of this writing (March 2022), those small apartments that originally sold for about $300 are now 1.84ETH (~$5,300). A medium currently goes for 2.2ETH (~$6,300), and a large is about 5.98ETH (~$17,304). The least expensive penthouse I could find was listed at 60ETH (~$176,978). Recall that those were around $4,300 at mint! If you were lucky enough to obtain some property then, your investment can now pay for itself many times over.
In terms of overall price averages, Worldwide Webb is up from a $919 average sale in November to $7,204 now, only 4 months later. It’s insane growth, but less and less properties appear to be transacting: the number of units sold have decreased each month since December. But, the fact that prices continue going up makes it clear that the drop in units sold is not due to a lack of demand, but rather because people are holding onto them. It’s an indication of their owners’ belief in apartments’ future worth, and that’s a positive thing.
Housing has been implemented in a way that makes it easy for people to express themselves with it, which is great. I think that, ultimately, that’s what “housing” in the Metaverse is primarily for. The tools for customizing an apartment seem easy to use, and the pixel art looks fun and appealing. Ideally, though, there would be some manifestation of one’s work on their home visible in the overworld of the game. This is a lesson from Final Fantasy 14, in which the demand for visible homes far outpaces that for instanced “apartments.” Worldwide Webb would benefit from having neighborhoods in which one could see the customized exteriors of the homes owned by players, but that isn’t how things were done.
One would hope that the apartments would have lots of utility to offset the fact that they are totally out of sight. This really isn’t the case, though. While you can mint and sell NFTs there, it’s hard to imagine getting much customer traffic when everyone entering needs permission. Honestly, it’s not apparent from within Worldwide Webb how to even reach the housing areas. I’ve spent hours in the game, but I’ve yet to see anyone’s property. Even if I wanted to, I’m sincerely not sure how I could. It’s not made clear either in the game world or in Worldwide Webb’s online materials how to enter a home. It shouldn’t feel so hidden! But, if it is, it should at least be more useful.
Ultimately, I feel like the future success of Worldwide Webb’s real estate market depends on finding some further utility for its homes. People need a reason to own a property, but aside from enthusiasm about the game or about virtual real estate in general, I can’t see a good reason for someone to buy a home there. (Well… unless you want to resell it for profit, but who knows how long that will be viable?) Changes or additional features could provide new and better use cases, though. Perhaps the integration of player-created content and the adoption of play-to-earn mechanics will provide more utility for housing down the line. I know both are in the game’s roadmap.
I admire what Worldwide Webb has accomplished so far, but I’m just not bullish on how the housing will perform in the long term — so long as it remains in its current form. If it doesn’t evolve, its prospects for price growth over a span of years aren’t great. If it does, it could absolutely continue to be a good investment for property owners. I am, however, very interested in the upcoming commercial properties and advertisement spaces. Could selling items or avatars be a significant source of revenue? How much business could be generated by advertising in-game? How will everything be implemented? Will it be passive, or will it require some management from the property owner? I really look forward to seeing these roll out so I can investigate and write more about them.
While I may not be particularly impressed with the housing, the Worldwide Webb project has a lot of promise as a whole. It’s fun, unique, and very agile. The decision to make it in 2D has allowed for a speed of building and NFT integration that very few other platforms can compete with. There are not many places in the Metaverse where you can already play on any computer with a browser, including on mobile. And where else can you bring your art NFTs in-game to battle with or to use as an avatar? It was a great design choice for the small team.
That decision also forced me to rethink the forms that the Metaverse could take going forward. Worldwide Webb demonstrates that there is space for other sorts of on-chain virtual worlds — ones that aren’t going for realism or a 3D approach. Could we maybe see ASCII art worlds at some point? 8-bit? Vector graphics? How about a super old-school, text-based world? As long as they don’t take themselves super seriously, why not? They could all be fun to play around in.
After all, where there’s fun, there’s a user base. And where there’s a user base, there’s an opportunity to make money. In combination with the general enthusiasm over Web3 projects, it’s not hard to see why people have been so excited about purchasing property in Worldwide Webb. I’ll be checking in from time to time to see how it develops, and I can’t wait to see what they create.
