An Otherdeed NFT represents a virtual plot of land that its holders can own and utilize. It allows them to claim land in Otherside, a multiplayer online role-playing game focusing on the Bored Ape Yacht Club community.[1] Otherdeeds are represented as NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain.[2] 200,000 land plots were created, with just 55,000 land plots made available to the public.[1][3] The Otherside platform supports interoperable experiences allowing users to transition between other metaverse platforms.[3]
Founders
Otherside was launched by Yuga Labs, a Web3 studio, to "shape the future of Web3 through storytelling, experiences, and community.” In March 2022, the company acquired the CryptoPunks and Meebits NFT projects and announced plans to launch a metaverse project, called the Otherside.[4]
Along with Yuga Labs, Otherside was jointly created by Improbable and Animoca Brands.[5][6] Improbable is a technology company that develops metaverse infrastructure, applications, and simulation software for video games and corporate use.[7][8] Animoca Brands is a gaming software and venture capital company based in Hong Kong, founded in 2014 by Yat Siu. The company specializes in developing and publishing mobile games and applications for a global audience.[8][9]
Launch
Yuga Labs released 55,000 parcels of virtual land with a mint value of over $300 million during the Otherdeed public sale debut on April 30, 2022.[10] There are a total of 200,000 NFTs, of which 45,000 NFTs were reserved for Bored Ape NFT holders and Yuga Labs employees and partners.[8] The remaining 100,000 Otherdeed NFTs will be rewarded to Voyagers who hold the tokens and contribute to the development of Otherside.[6]
The price of each Otherdeed was set at 305 APE tokens. With an APE token valued at around $20 during mint in April 2022, each Otherdeed NFT was priced at around $6,100 at launch.[8]
Yuga had initially received backlash from some in the NFT community over plans to use a Dutch auction. As a result, instead of a Dutch auction, the team opted to release Otherdeeds in various phases, hoping that limiting the number of NFTs each user could collect would mitigate high gas prices.[8] During the launch, thousands of buyers accessed the platform simultaneously to buy an NFT, resulting in high minting fees and several failed transactions from potential buyers who could not afford the gas fees. Gas prices failed to dip below 1 ETH, which was priced at $2,750 at the time of launch.[10] The Otherside land sale on Ethereum led to high transaction fees. Within the first 24 hours of the sale, users paid over $176 million in transaction fees.[3]
Post-launch
In the days that followed the sale, Otherdeed NFTs were priced at around $11,000 on the secondary market.[3] Yuga Labs apologized for the high gas fees and suggested moving the BAYC ecosystem to another blockchain network to prevent similar problems in the future.[10]
