Table of Contents:

1. TL:DR
2. Studio Update
3. Development Overview
4. Unreal Team Update
5. Blockchain Team Update
6. Marketing / Social Media Updates

TL:DR

March was a month with a lot of travel and getting Netvrk seen by the web3 space.  We have an update on those travels below.  While some of us traveled, the dev team was hard at work driving us to the first Alpha release, covered in the Development and Unreal Team Updates.  Some of the other big news is in regard to the staking rewards. Jump to the Blockchain Team Update for that news. Finally, we talk some more about our social media and marketing initiatives in both the first and last sections.  Let’s get in gear!

Studio Update:

For our first update, community members have fired up the Netvrk.news website, meant to be a one-stop-shop for all Netvrk news.  This site has links to our past devlogs, our Substack and Medium articles, links to our socials, and all other announcements as they are being made. As we launch into the remainder of 2023, we appreciate the push in the marketing effort around the project.  Feel free to share the link to the site far and wide!

Next, Netvrk was well represented at Outer Edge LA this past month. Beyond sitting on a panel regarding Metaverse development and talking up the project, we met with a number of other parties in attendance.  Contact information was exchanged and follow up meetings are underway. 

Some of the big takeaways from the conference served as confirmation to us that we are building on the right rails.  First, in conversations we had and from the lectures we attended, ‘community’ was a big buzzword.  When we talked about how we’ve cast ourselves out as an umbrella for not just our community but also the various other projects, we consistently received praise for our forward thinking.  The second take away was the importance of storytelling in each project. While we have our story understood internally, we recognize that there is much more work to be done to get that story out to our community. So, we are spending this time post conference to look at our priorities and adjust our planned rollouts to this new understanding.

While some of us were at this conference, others attended the Game Developer Conference in the Bay Area.  GDC is a massive event, full of energy and excitement, and another great avenue for networking and skill building.  While the conference was focused on gaming, there was certainly a presence of blockchain technology, including Polygon, on the floor.  The merger between gaming and web3 is only picking up momentum, and we’re excited to be a part of it.

Development Overview

Work continues on the underappreciated but truly vital UI/UX elements to the world.  The following clip just shows some of the polish going into the social experience players will enjoy as we open up the larger metaverse.

Set up for the UI is layered. See below for a small glimpse at the process.

Unreal Team Update

As we get closer to the first virtual world Alpha release, final touches on key features are underway.  Pivotal for any multiplayer experience is the ability to communicate with other players, both through text and voice chat. The system in Netvrk is designed to support spatial audio, so that players have a sense where the voice is coming from. It is a key element to immersion in the world. 

In-world driving is getting more attention leading to this Alpha release as well.  Last month we showed a sample of how things like gearing, engine size, wheel make-up and terrain, all play into the full driving audio experience.  To see it in graph form, it looks a little like this.

The in-world driving is expected to get its first test in the first Alpha.  Open world exploration will be enabled, though contained in a section of the Desert Biome.  Multiplayer open world driving has challenges from a gameplay perspective and from an architectural perspective.  We’ve made a great deal of progress, so using this first Alpha to test our work is exciting for us.  Below is a glimpse of the track layout and mood board of this desert scene.

Blockchain Team Update

Reserve Staking Distributions

The time has finally come for the Q1 rewards airdrop! A quick reminder on some key details.

Wen rewards?

• Tuesday, April 4th by 4pm EDT: rewards breakdown live on https://staking.netvrk.co/
• Wednesday, April 5th at 3pm EDT: start airdropping rewards.

What cryptocurrency will I receive?

• Rewards are distributed in the same cryptocurrency as royalties received, but on the Polygon network.
• This distribution only contains ETH royalties, so you will receive WETH on Polygon.
• We are using the official Polygon bridge, so the WETH address to add to your wallet is: ‘0x7ceB23fD6bC0adD59E62ac25578270cFf1b9f619’.

What happens to my rewards if I was unable to play Mine Runner?

• While you will not receive a reward on Wednesday, April 5th during the Q1 airdrop, your rewards are being saved for when you become legally compliant.
• The questionnaire to become legally compliant is expected to go live Wednesday, April 19th by 4pm EDT.
• By completing the questionnaire by the deadline (final date TBD), you will become eligible to receive both the Q1 and Q2 rewards during the Q2 airdrop (first week of July).

Marketing/Social Media Update

The team recently attended the Outer Edge LA conference where we had the chance to connect with industry leaders and showcase the future of the metaverse. Keep an eye on our Twitter for updates from the conference and exclusive content, such as a panel we participated in and a short interview with our founders, Mike and Linus.

Unfortunately, the conference workload meant we had to reschedule our March AMA, but don’t worry, we’ll be holding one in April instead. We’ll announce the date and time soon, so stay tuned!

In other news, we recently held our first Crew3 (now Zealy) contest for the community. Members participated in tasks and quizzes and the top 10 won prizes. Chau and Esa came out on top and won secret prizes that have yet to be paid out, as they are tied to something exciting, we have planned for later in Q2. We strongly believe these rewards will rev your engines!

About Netvrk

Netvrk is an immersive metaverse that empowers users with robust creation tools and a versatile infrastructure, enabling them to seamlessly craft, share, engage with, and monetize their digital masterpieces. Anchored in the realms of gaming, education, and virtual workplaces, Netvrk fosters a vibrant ecosystem centered on the ownership and exchange of virtual land and assets.

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