Dual Universe Announces Beta Launch Of Single Shard Metaverse Next Month

Launched as a Kickstarter project four years ago as a single-shard MMO with voxel-based user-generated content, Dual Universe is finally just about here:

Starting at a monthly subscription of $6.99, the beta will have a range of different pricing models. The three month subscription is set at $20.97, six months will be $36.44, and 12 months will be $69.90. 

Beta launches August 27 -- go here for more. Narrative trailer above, which is actually a bit meh from my point of view, but Dual Universe's broader vision and the technology that goes into it remains exciting, and something we've talked about often:

• Is Dual Universe Closest To Being A True "Metaverse"? Virtual World Expert Who Helped Define The Term Says So
• Watch: Dual Universe Handles 30,000 Concurrent "Users" On A Single Planet

Last year (which feels like a decade ago), I met JC Baillie, founder and lead developer of Dual Universe, and we went in-depth into this video over drinks during GDC:

• Why Dual Universe’s version of“the Metaverse” is a persistent alternate reality separate from the real world ‘something more like ‘The Matrix’”— including no direct connection between the game’s virtual currency and real money. Money, JC says, “Will [negatively] impact the experience.” (Starting around :20)
• How open is Dual Universe’s gameplay theme? For instance, can people play Dual Universe as a fantasy MMO? I.E., Convert a single planet into a medieval era setting? Answer: Potentially yes, but then medieval planets would be vulnerable to interstellar invasion. (Starting around 3:40)
• How many users can Dual Universe attract? Because the game enables more creativity, JC reasons, it might attract much of the user base who enjoyed playing Minecraft, i.e. “millions of players” — with “billions” possible in 5-10 years. “In principle, the game is designed to do that… we can hope for that one day.” (Starting around 9:22)
• How does he hope Dual Universe changes the real world? JC sees Dual Universe evolving with other technological advances (AI, automation, etc.) which give people more and more free time to explore and play in a virtual world like DU. In other words, he believes they'll spend more time in Dual Universe rather than passively watching TV, movies, etc. He also sees the potential for people to learn real skills in Dual Universe (management, coding, etc) they can apply in their real lives. More than that, if Dual Universe becomes large, players can shape the lives of thousands of fellow players through virtual commerce, conquering, community leadership, and so on. (Starting around 12:00)

Much more here. And more about Dual Universe hopefully soon.

Comments

[Metacam]

Make sure you look at the system requirements before sinking any money into this. I bought into the kickstarter and when the game finally arrived in Alpha you needed brand new motherboards to run it. So I gave $50 for a game I will never play.

[Wagner James Au]

Wow yeah I looked up the system reqs, seems like you'd want a recent PC to run this puppy:

CPU: Intel i5 (i7 may yield better results)
RAM: 16 GB.
OS: Windows 7, 8 or 10.
VIDEO CARD: nVidia GTX 960 (or Radeon equivalent) with at least 2GB RAM.
FREE DISK SPACE: 40 GB.