REVELLERS hoping to ring in the New Year without waiting in long lines or risking the chance of catching Covid-19 can now attend a celebration in their own home.
Cryptocurrency firm Digital Currency Group and real estate firm Jamestown – owner of One Times Square in Manhattan – have partnered up to recreate Times Square Ball Drop in Decentraland, a blockchain-based virtual world.
The event is called the “MetaFest 2022 NYE Party” and will start at 11pm EST, running until the early hours of the morning in Decentraland’s Estate 4 district.
It will feature live music, rooftop VIP lounges, a new tokenised collectibles and wearables drop, CryptoArt galleries, games and live feeds of real-world New Year’s Eve events across the globe.
Decentraland said: “Let’s party like it’s 2022: for Meta or for Worse.”
Decentraland is an immersive environment where people can interact with one another through avatars and make “in-world” online purchases for things such as land and clothes.
Virtual real estate in popular metaverse games such as Decentraland and The Sandbox is becoming more and more valuable and sought after.
Over the last week of November alone, investors ploughed in around $100 million into NFT land sales.
Simon Koster, Digital Currency Group’s head of real estate, said the future of property is in the metaverse.
He said the virtual world won’t replace the real one, but will enable people around the globe to access events they usually wouldn’t be able to attend.
He said: “A lot of my plans over the last couple of weeks and over the next couple of weeks have all been canceled, but this one’s going to remain.
“Ironically I have never seen the ball drop in person.
“I’ve always wanted to, but there’s always been one issue or another.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the ball drop virtually for the first time.”
