A huge virtual world based on “Ready Player One,” a story set in a future where people enter into a virtual-reality simulation to escape the real world, is coming soon to a real (but, you know, virtual) platform near you.
Futureverse, an AI and metaverse technology and content company, announced the formation of Readyverse Studios, a studio co-founded with Ernest Cline, the novelist and creator of “Ready Player One,” and Dan Farah, producer of the 2018 Warner Bros. film adaptation of the novel.
In its first major rights deal, Readyverse Studios partnered with Warner Bros. Discovery to exclusively bring the Ready Player One franchise to the metaverse across web3. In addition, Readyverse Studios maintains exclusive web3 rights to all future intellectual property created by Cline.
Details on what the Ready Player One metaverse will be are sparse for now, but the company says it expects to launch sometime in 2024. “Readyverse Studios is laying the groundwork to bring the promise of the open metaverse depicted in Cline’s ‘Ready Player One’ novel and the blockbuster film adaptation into a tangible reality: a multi-world, multi-IP, interoperable open metaverse experience for mass consumers,” the company said.
According to Futureverse, which was co-founded by Shara Senderoff and Aaron McDonald, “The Readyverse will champion the principles of the open metaverse, which are provable digital ownership, community-owned infrastructure, decentralization, security and interoperability.”
“The future has arrived even more quickly than I imagined,” Cline said in a statement. “With Readyverse Studios, we have the opportunity to leverage the revolutionary technology Futureverse has been building for several years to bring to life the best possible version of the metaverse. I’m confident with this team, we have the brightest minds and biggest hearts in place to lead us into the next chapter of our collective future… a future that would make Wade Watts and James Halliday proud.”
Farah added, “Readyverse Studios will offer exciting new metaverse opportunities for Hollywood studios, talent, and brands to create new revenue streams and creative outlets for brand expansion while offering consumers the ability to enjoy the promise of the open metaverse.”
The “Ready Player One” film, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tye Sheridan as hero Wade Watts, grossed $583 million at the global box office.
Josh Hackbarth, senior VP of franchise development for Warner Bros. Discovery, said, “Ready Player One has become a cultural touchstone, inspiring technology innovators, creators and visionaries, and we’re excited to be partnering with Readyverse Studios to introduce these unique characters, immersive environments and more, to the metaverse across web3.”
