Coincheck to build ‘Oasis MARS’ on ‘Otherside’ metaverse

Japanese crypto asset exchange Coincheck has launched a project to create a virtual city, “Oasis MARS,” in the “Otherside” metaverse co-developed by Yuga Labs, the creators of the popular NFT collection Bored Ape Yacht Club. 

With the start of the project on July 27, Coincheck is inviting creators and partners to join the efforts, the company said.

Otherside is a virtual world building game developed jointly by Hong Kong blockchain company Animoca Brands, which owns The Sandbox, and Yuga Labs. Announced in April, Otherside allows players to use characters from the popular BAYC and Yuga Labs’ another project, Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC). 

The demo video of Otherside attracted much attention after its release in March, and the sales of its “Otherdeed” NFTs – or virtual plots of land on the platform – on the first day of its launch in April attracted a flood of prospective buyers. All of its 55,000 lots of “Otherdeed” were sold out by the end of the day.

Coincheck, which bought some of the virtual land, is also developing other virtual cities in the metaverse as part of its Oasis project. In March, the company began creating Oasis KYOTO on the VR platform Decentraland, based on imaginations for the city in 2035, as well as Oasis TOKYO.

In April, Oasis TOKYO and Oasis KYOTO announced a partnership with NEO TOKYO PUNKS, a generative NFT project with cyberpunk science fiction elements. The collaboration will other include other creators, artists and partners.