These days it seems like Upland is developing at an incredible pace, and we’re excited to share some updates regarding player-owned businesses, which we will now be referring to as “Metaventures!” This change also signifies a shift away from our previous businesses model, for which we have identified several flaws in promoting healthy economic principles. As such, we will be introducing the “Venture Dues” fee model that will have implications on how players launch and maintain their Metaventures in the future. 

The Businesses License Model‍

The original model would have required all players to obtain a Business License NFT for them to leverage or lease to other players. Players could then use the issued Business License NFT (by business-type) that would enable them to operate within a specific city. On paper, this model seems to make sense, but after careful review, it became clear that this model came with some significant limitations.
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Limitations to the Original Model‍

Under the previous model, only certain players would have had the opportunity to open up businesses, which would require subjective approval from the Upland team to sign off on their activities. In addition, this meant that the player would have been required to pay an upfront fee for access to operate a business without having a chance to first test the market. Issuing Business License NFTs for a given city also proved problematic, as it meant that we could effectively close off access after a certain number of licenses were already in circulation. Not to mention the challenges of how those licenses were distributed as well as what the parameters for acceptance were. 

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Players also would have been likely to speculate on the value of their Business License NFTs and would maintain the freedom to sit on their license without actually ever putting it to use. Because players own their assets in Upland, there would have been no way for Upland to interfere. To put things simply, there would have been no way to properly regulate distribution, as our only option would be to issue more licenses, which could potentially overinflate the number of business licenses available. 

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Overall, this model offered high barriers to entry, significant upfront costs, invited speculation, and discouraged competition. The Venture Dues model aims to eliminate these concerns to create a healthier, self-regulating marketplace. 

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The Venture Dues Model‍

To mitigate the concerns listed above, we will be employing the “Venture Dues” model, which will encourage open competition, eliminate the aforementioned barriers to entry, and ensure healthy marketplace activity on an ongoing basis.

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Each month, owners of Metaventures will be required to pay a variable fee that is calculated based on the median UPX contribution made from business owners (of the same type in the same locale) to the Upland Community Pool. As with all secondary marketplace transactions, buyers and sellers will always be obligated to pay a small fee to the Community Pool of UPX; which is subsequently redistributed to the community via property earnings and other activities. Players who transact via Metaventures will be subject to the same marketplace fees, and each owner’s dues will be based on a percentage of the median contributions of those fees. 

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The fee structure will be a sliding scale based on how many of each business type exists within a locale (each city). If there are only a few Metaventures in a locale, the percentage of the median contribution due will be lower until the optimal number of businesses is reached. Once this threshold is crossed, fees will increase exponentially for each business that enters past that threshold. This means that opening a business beyond this threshold will increase fees for all business owners of the same type in the same locale. Each city will have its own optimal capacity for metaventures, which will be aided by our new city tiering system. The below table is an example of what this model might look like. For example, if the median contribution to the Community Pool is 500k UPX, each business owner will be required to pay 50k UPX in the next month; assuming the optimal capacity for Metaventures.

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Benefits to the New Model

The Venture Dues model will offer any player the opportunity to open their own Metaventure in Upland, and their success will be solely dependent on their ability to scale and grow. The goal is to encourage healthy competition amongst business owners, and introduce diminishing returns if the market becomes oversaturated. Owners will also have the option of moving their Metaventures to avoid high fees and capitalize on developing markets.

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As with all metaverse mechanics, we’ll be carefully monitoring the results of this new model and will make any necessary adjustments to best suit the needs of our metaverse entrepreneurs. Venture Dues also has the added benefit of ensuring that the metaverse is useful as a whole, and marketplace activity doesn’t become siloed to the largest cities and markets. More than anything, this means that Metaventures will mostly be self-regulated, and will require little interference from the Upland team. In other words, we’re leaving things in the hands of the community and the free market.

Looking Ahead

As we inch closer to the launch of Metaventures, please keep in mind that the above is still a work in progress, and there may be some minor tweaks prior to this feature going live. Our plan is to first enable Metaventures for our Businesses Beta group, and then open up things to the public after we’ve had sufficient time to measure the results. As such, the first Block Explorer shops to appear in the metaverse will not operate under this fee structure at release.

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With the goal of launching Block Explorer shops in the near future, we are incredibly excited to add this new, dynamic system to the Upland ecosystem. Ultimately, Metaventures is a groundbreaking development that will enable players to engage with the Upland metaverse in ways unlike any other game on the market. We can’t wait to get Metaventures into the hands of our metaverse entrepreneurs to see what they can accomplish!