Voxelus is a virtual reality content creation platform with its own in-game cryptocurrency, the Voxel (VOX). The firm claims its marketplace is the world’s largest source of virtual reality content right now, with more than 500 original assets, 50 fully working games, and more than 7,000 pieces of additional content through partnerships. All its content will be compatible with Samsung VR and Oculus Rift, with support for other VR environments under development. Payments for the titles developed with the platform will be available exclusively through the Voxelus appstore and may only be purchased using the Voxel cryptocurrrency.
The startup seems to be already very well connected in the cryptocurrencies world. Uphold was the first company to partner with Voxelus in the creation of its cryptocurrency. Uphold developed the VOX digital wallet and other back-end financial integration to power the Voxelus Marketplace. In return for developing the VOX digital wallet, Uphold took a percentage of the Voxelus pre-mined float. Voxels are listed on Bittrex and planned to be added to ShapeShift by the end of April. ShapeShift founder Erik Voorhees was responsible for naming the in-game cryptocurrency token and ShapeShift was an early investor in Voxels and facilitated its $500,000 crowdsale.
Martin Repetto, CEO Voxelus
Finance Magnates discussed the the innovative platform with Martin Repetto, the CEO of Voxelus Studios Inc. Repetto is an Argentinean software industry veteran who has been working for the past 17 years developing everything from e-commerce platforms and dynamic web development to mobile applications and video games.
How did the idea to combine cryptocurrencies and VR games come about?
We were inspired by sci-fi novels such as Snowcrash and Ready Player On. The idea of virtual worlds with their own virtual currency is not new, but we are just trying to bring them together as they are truly a perfect match.
Why would a VR game platform need cryptocurrencies support in the front and not just traditional payments systems with some Blockchain solution behind the scenes?
We are going to be supporting many forms of payment to purchase the Voxel, which is used like any other game currency inside our platform, but the difference is that the currency is not just another game currency, it's a cryptocurrency too. The Voxel has benefits, from security to most importantly, the fact that the money is still the user's and that they are free to take it out and use it in another game. This is not possible with I would say 99% of the games today.
Why create the Voxel and not just go with Bitcoin?
We created the Voxel because we wanted our own currency for our product. Bitcoin is fantastic and it has catalyzed the revolution of blockchain technology, but the reality is that its uses are sometimes attached to shady business and speculation and we are not about that at all. We created a currency for a real product, Voxelus. If the currency grows outside Voxelus so be it, the sky is the limit! But the original purpose was and is to operate in our platform.
How do you expect people will use Voxel within the game environments and outside in the real world?
We are currently only thinking of uses inside our platform at this moment, not in the real world. Within Voxelus, it will be used for all the transactions in our platform.
Do you have plans for more blockchain-based incorporation on games? Like creating a VR environment running on blockchain?
Yes, but we cannot disclose anything at this point because we are in the brainstorming process. I can tell you that we want living, breathing worlds where the Voxel is a part of them. Pretty much an open world with exploration. For instance, maybe if a user mines enough inside the VR worlds, Voxels can be found.
What are the advantages that you offer over established game platforms such as Unity?
Voxelus is built on top of Unity, which we LOVE, as Unity is a fantastic platform for developers. What we are trying to do is an abstract layer for the general user, not just developers. There is no particular advantage from a developer standpoint but from the user standpoint it's HUGE, as we are allowing anyone, anywhere to create virtual worlds and share them online without having to write a single line of code.
