In an interview, Wylie Aronow and Greg Solano of Bored Ape Yacht Club and Yuga Labs—also known by their internet aliases Gordon Goner and Garga—shared their vision for Yuga’s “Otherside” metaverse game.
Yuga’s founders have been busy expanding its development team since announcing “Otherside,” which has been described as everything from a metaverse to an MMORPRG. In short, they’re betting big on video games with NFT assets—but don’t want to create a “walled garden.”
Yuga Labs raised $450 million in its initial funding round earlier this year, giving the lean startup a staggering $4 billion valuation. They are currently rushing to release their Web3-focused metaverse, which is reminiscent of “World of Warcraft” if early access footage is any indication.
“We’re building a team of creative technologists,” Aronow explained. “I’ve been calling them the Yuganeers, but they’re more like the Imagineers—they’re our creative ninjas.”
Aronow is currently extremely busy, to the point where it is difficult for him to focus on anything.
“I don’t prioritize.” “We do everything all the time,” he explained.
Keeping the original spirit of the BAYC alive is still a priority for Solano, but he also wants to show the world what Yuga can do with its war chest of Web3 funding.
“I want to impress and show off the technical prowess that we can now do with a larger team, but I also want to remind people, ‘Hey, this is a pretty ridiculous club here,’ and we’re just here to have fun,” Solano said.
Trying Something New
Yuga Labs’ game development process differs from that of traditional game publishers in that their team works faster and uses NFT holders as de facto “Otherside” testers.
“I think we’re doing things differently than a lot of gaming companies, starting with iterative development of the game itself,” Aronow said. “Typically, you’d get a teaser, a trailer a few months later, and then a game three years later.”
Instead, Yuga intends to continue revealing “Otherside” through a series of “trips” in which select individuals will be able to explore sections of the upcoming virtual world.
Yuga, unlike mainstream game developers, does not create games for the broadest possible audience.
“We’re always building things for the person who bought an Ape for $200,” Aronow said, referring to those who first minted, or purchased, a Bored Ape when it first launched on Ethereum in April 2021.
And, perhaps unsurprisingly, “Otherside” isn’t aimed at children or non-coiners.
“I think one way to think about it is as a semi-decentralized, but definitely Web3 native, Roblox,” Aronow explained. “But it’s obviously much better looking and aimed at a slightly older audience.”
The fact that “Otherside” appears to be a true MMORPG is also unsurprising, given that Solano co-wrote a book about “World of Warcraft” in 2019.
“We want to tell an amazing story,” Solano said of the creative core of their game. “You know, about what the fuck these Koda things are, and this strange world we were teleported into.” We also want to provide a platform for people’s creativity to flourish.”
Is Yuga Labs evolving into a gaming company? It’s possible, if Aronow and Solano’s vision for the company is any indication.
“While we are this tech company, in a way, this blockchain company,” Solano explained, “what we really are is more like a lifestyle brand, or a storytelling company.”
“We’re very much a creative-first company,” Aronow added.
Despite the controversy and backlash surrounding NFTs in video games, the two founders believe the haters—and gamers in general—will eventually come around.
“Every time there’s a new technology, it gets shited on,” Aronow said.
The tattooed founder, who has a profile picture of an Ape with laser eyes on Twitter, is also convinced that “every AAA gaming studio” has a team dedicated to developing blockchain games.
“The next big wave, or major wave, in NFTs will revolve around gaming,” he predicted.
But when it comes to the metaverse, Aronow isn’t all roses. He does not believe that everyone working on a virtual world will do it correctly.
“The idea of a metaverse that’s like a walled garden that’s just built for you and you’re only going to get the features that we give you over time—just that’s like another Web2 MMORPG,” he explained.
“It didn’t seem all that innovative to me,” he added. “I like the idea of bringing the community along for the ride.”
