[B-SIDE Podcast] SuperWorld: Understanding virtual real estate and ‘live-to-earn’

Hrish Lotlikar, co-founder and chief executive officer of SuperWorld, explains how an alternative imagined world inspired by the mobile game Pokémon GO allows individuals to own a piece of the virtual world, the metaverse, through the blockchain technology. They can sell and trade their virtual plots of land, with each plot represented as a non-fungible token or NFT.

People are “excited and galvanized about the opportunity to create, discover, and monetize anything anywhere in the real world,” Mr. Lotlikar told BusinessWorld senior reporter Arjay L. Balinbin on the sidelines of the South Summit 2022, a global business summit in Madrid co-organized by the IE University.

Live-to-earn is the idea behind SuperWorld, a virtual world in augmented reality, digitally mapped over the Earth. When a person buys an NFT in SuperWorld, it is converted into real life utility, paving the way for a new business model.

“We’ve sold NFTs that when you buy an NFT, you get access to a luxury club in New York and Miami.

“Instead of selling luxury lifetime memberships in the normal way, they sell it as an NFT, and buyers have the ability to resell this digital asset. The club gets money every time that’s resold so they created a new business model for themselves,” Mr. Lotlikar said.

Virtual real estate matters today because people’s lives are going much more digital.

“You are definitely doing more Zoom calls. You are probably watching more movies on Netflix. You are doing more online activities. Maybe you’ve started getting into crypto. People have become more digital,” Mr. Lotlikar said.

Recorded remotely in June 2022. Produced by Earl R. Lagundino and Sam L. Marcelo.