Upland, a mirror metaverse that replicates real-world locations in virtual reality announced on Wednesday (Nov. 11) that it has begun a multiyear partnership with FIFA that will start with the launch of a World Cup village in Upland’s Qatar to celebrate the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
Unlike previous Upland city openings, property in Qatar won’t be publicly available but will be awarded to players during the tournament as prizes for various activities and challenges.
The company will also be hoping to tap into booming interest in soccer-themed digital collectibles by minting a series of Qatar 2022 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for Upland players to collect.
Related: Liverpool FC Expands NFT Fantasy Sports Partnership With Sorare
Conceived as a property trading metaverse experience with its own digital economy, Upland players buy and sell property for either U.S. dollars or the metaverse’s native currency UPX. Traveling around the virtual world is also designed to imitate real life, although much quicker and cheaper.
Players wanting to visit Upland’s Qatar for the World Cup will be able to purchase a flight for around $5 and will be able to get there in roughly a fifth of the actual air travel time.
What’s more, Upland isn’t the only metaverse project getting in on the World Cup action.
With less than two weeks to go before the opening ceremony, Roblox’s FIFA World will be hosting games and events throughout the tournament.
Meanwhile in the Spatial.io metaverse, Luxury Swiss watchmaker Hublot this week unveiled the Hublot Loves Football Metaverse Stadium.
As part of the Hublot Loves Football campaign, dedicated exhibitions equipped for immersive virtual reality experiences of the stadium will pop up next to Hublot Boutiques Doha, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand throughout November.
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