Learnoverse x BasketballVerse
Danielius: Could you tell us what is BasketballVerse? How did it start and what are you doing right now?
Simonas: As a huge basketball fan, and a tech enthusiast, I wanted to combine two of my passions: technology and basketball. Seeing all those capabilities that we see right now in the digital area, I believe we can build really interesting and great stuff and empower a lot of people to become someone they always wanted to become. For example, a professional basketball player in a digital world.
Danielius: Let’s talk about our partnership and what we are planning to do. BasketballVerse will have a dedicated building and a learning center in the Learnoverse. In this way, we'll create a bridge between the two metaverses through education and experience.
Simonas: We're going to build a branded Learnoverse basketball course. On top of that, since we are building the world basketball economy and infrastructure, that means we're also going to have basketball players wearing a lot of various clothing. We are planning to release a limited edition of Learnoverse’s branded merchandise in our metaverse, which players will be able to acquire.
Welcoming Sports to the Metaverse
Danielius: Let's dive deeper into basketball and BasketballVerse. What is the user experience? How does everything work?
Simonas: We are on a mission to create a world basketball ecosystem experience in a metaverse world. You'll be able to become a part of this economy by existing either as a basketball player, club manager, or arena owner. If you decide that you want to become a basketball player, you would acquire one of our character NFT avatars. NFT Avatars are going to be divided into different realities based on their performance, their potential, and also the visual aspect. You can upgrade your avatar simply by participating in games or going to practice.
We already announced one of our partnerships with Mohammed Bamba, who is a basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the NBA. Currently, we are creating his in-game avatar, which is going to be a coach. Your avatar will be able to learn certain movement mechanics and certain skills that Mohammed Bomba can do in real life.
Danielius: Do I pay Mohammed for the skills that I learned? What's in it for Mohammed?
Simonas: One of the key things for him is to expand his brand because he has his own personal brand. He can feel that this is a way of leaving his legacy in a digital world. Other than that, there will be some unique skills and abilities that you can learn in exchange for money. A portion of this money goes to the coach, in our case, Mohammad Bamba. After all, there is a huge amount of work you put in as a basketball player to master certain movements and skills.
Danielius: I'm very happy to see that you're collaborating with celebrities. Do you think you can sign up an entire basketball club to Basketballverse?
Simonas: Yes, indeed. We actually already have some really great connections and associations with the best basketball clubs. A lot of deals are being negotiated as we speak
Danielius: I think that is the way to go because if you look at Sandbox they're signing up celebrities and brands, bringing their communities into the metaverse and metaverse-based experiences.
Simonas: Basketball is a really huge thing in the majority of the world. It's just a matter of reaching out to those companies and explaining to them all the benefits that we can offer right now with Web3. There are a lot of possibilities as well, for example, releasing their limited edition digital clothing, basketball balls, and consumables like energy drinks. The sky is the limit here, especially when we are building a metaverse around a game that everybody knows already.
Building an Educational Metaverse
Danielius: Do you have any questions for me about Learnoverse?
Simonas: I am happy that we are making a partnership with someone like Learnoverse who are the pioneers of educating people about what Web3 is. When all the hype is dusted, there will be only real companies left who are putting a big focus on finding the strategies, and how to bring people from Web2 into the Web3 world. The main way of doing this is by educating people. And it is really nice having a project like Learnoverse that can share their knowledge about the best practices.
Now I would be happy to hear more about the current stage you are at moment. Where are you heading in the short term and the long-term future?
Danielius: We are becoming a symbiote of Web3 companies by helping them with their educational needs. Our objective is to have hundreds of strong partnerships and show all the possibilities to the public.
In terms of the metaverse, we are experimenting with the environment. It took us time to understand how to build a metaverse and what engine and platform to choose. Currently, there is no leading metaverse, as well as there are no metaverse builders. So we need to come up with things from scratch which takes a lot of time. Nevertheless, it's exciting to be one of the first teams in the world to do this.
