The expansion of the Upland Metaverse is an ongoing endeavor, and our decisions to release new cities are constantly influenced by the macroeconomic conditions of the Upland economy. Our strategy for city releases generally revolves around 2 major components: the health and sustainability of the economy, as well as incoming partnerships and activations; which provide opportunities to onboard new Uplanders into the metaverse. The former is constantly under review by the Upland team, and is currently the driving force for upcoming city releases, most notably, Detroit, Michigan. 

TL;DR

1. Upland’s Next City is Detroit, Michigian
2. Overview of Secondary Market Trends in the Upland Metaverse
3. Potential Upcoming East Coast Expansion to Relieve Local Secondary Market Pressure

Macroeconomic Conditions & Strategizing for New Cities

Among other factors, one key element of a healthy Upland economy is access to affordable properties for new players. While Los Angeles did provide some access to FSA properties for new players, property pricing is still on the higher end, and many of the most affordable properties have already been sold. Beyond LA, FSA properties are few and far between, making it more difficult for new players to jump right in and get settled. This limits our ability to onboard new players into the metaverse and make them active contributors to the economy. 

Currently, across Upland, there are about 43,000 FSA properties available in LA and Kansas City, with very little inventory of properties under 5k UPX. If our current rate of FSA property minting persists, this leaves us about 20 days before FSA inventory is completely empty. As such, we plan to open Detroit next Thursday, March 3rd, at 8:00 AM PT, as our next “starter city” since Bakersfield, with 70% of properties being reserved under the Fair Start Act or “FSA.” From a real-world perspective, Detroit is a perfect match for a starter city given its affordable pricing, wide availability of property, and cultural significance.

Conditions in the West, East, Central, and Southern Regions

While Detroit will surely be a huge help in providing accessible inventory to new players, it’s unlikely to result in a major relief for the economic conditions of the West Coast and East Coast hubs. Prior to the release of LA, we saw significant secondary market pressure in both the Bay Area and Manhattan hubs, resulting in sky-high markups for properties across the board. As evidenced in the graphs below, the release of LA shows clear trends of relieving some of this pressure on the West coast. Although the release of the Bronx provided some relief in the East, pressure in the Manhattan hub is still maintaining unhealthy levels. As a result, expect to see an additional expansion on the East Coast to mitigate this pressure in the near future. 

In our Central and Southern US cities like Chicago, Nashville, Cleveland, Kansas City, and New Orleans, there is still ample inventory among some of these cities, and they are not experiencing the same type of pressure of the above locales. In these regions, economic conditions are normal and even though some of these markets are sold out, these levels do not call for any urgent expansions in these areas. 

Moving forward, we will always work to contextualize upcoming city releases by highlighting the conditions of the economy. Now, on to the details for Detroit!

Detroit Release Details:

Detroit is currently planned to release on Thursday, March 3rd at 8:00 AM PT, and roughly ~70% of properties in Detroit will be reserved under the “Fair Start Act” (FSA). As with most recent city releases, Detroit will be released in “Vanilla mode”, and collections will be revealed 1 week after the release. 

City Information

Send Fees (Lo/Hi/Default): 5/25/10 UPX

Airport: No

Train Terminal: Yes

Collections: ~19

FSA Allocation: ~70%

Treasure Hunt Tier: 3

Fun Facts About Detroit

1. Thanks to Barry Gordy in the late ‘50s, Detroit became the birthplace for a music defining genre called “Motown,” featuring artists such as Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, and many more.
2. During prohibition in the 1920s, Detroit was responsible for smuggling most of the alcohol in the United States, due to its close proximity to Canada.
3. Detroit’s Belle Isle Park is the largest urban park in the United States, sprawling a whopping 1,000 acres and features a golf course, museum, zoo, conservatory, and more.

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Detroit Terminal Sale

Starting Monday, February 28th, at 8:00 AM PT, players will be able to register for the upcoming sale of Detroit terminals taking place on Tuesday, March 1st, at 9:00 AM PT.

Registration for Detroit travel terminals will only be available in the Upland Store on the web version of the Upland app.

Registration Details:

Registration Start: Monday, February 28th, at 8:00 AM PT

Registration Close: Tuesday, March 1st, at 8:00 AM PT

Sale Start: Tuesday, March 1st, at 9:00 AM PT

Train Terminal Qty: 10

Train Terminal Pricing: $255

Getting to Detroit

Note: Travel routes to Detroit will have boosted capacity for a few days prior to and during the release.

Detroit Release Schedule

Thursday (3/3)

• 8:00 AM PT: Phase 1 of the Detroit release will begin by opening the “Fox Creek” and “Greenfield” neighborhoods in Detroit

• A 5-minute warning will be issued before beginning Phase 2 of the city release

• Phase 2: Assuming platform stability, we will proceed with releasing all remaining properties in Detroit

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Get ready to check out “Motor City” and discover the rich and unique history of Detroit!