Epic Games is extending its metaverse campaign into the world of programming. The Unreal Engine developer has launched Verse, a new web3 programming language for the metaverse.
Although some metaverse platforms are based on web2, the main underlying technology that accelerates the development of 3D virtual space with immersive interactive worlds is web3.
Verse programming language
Epic Games has made Verse open source as well as its web2 3D technology platform. The new web3 language uses functional logic such as Curry and Mercury.
Verse joins a large list of web3 programming languages, including Solidity, Clarity, Rust and others.
According to a presentation prepared by Simon Peyton Jones, Tim Sweeney Lennart Augustsson, Koen Claessen, Ranjit Jhala and Olin Shivers of Epic Games, Verse focuses on five key principles that the company believes are fundamental to building the metaverse.
Verse focuses on enabling the creation of social interactions in a real-time, shared 3D environment. The language will also support an open economy governed by rules and without corporate overhead.
The open source product will be available to artists, designers and programmers. Verse also aims to support interoperable content with live updates of running code, while leveraging the operating standards of multiple game engines, including Unity.
The web developer market3 is still at a nascent stage. According to SlashData, 60% of web3 developers entered the market last year.
So far, Solidity, an object-oriented, Turing-complete language, dominates the space. Currently, 4,000 developers use it every month to develop smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain.
However, Rust, which is open source and supports multiple programming concepts, is rapidly catching up thanks to its ability to support the development of highly scalable projects.
While Epic’s Verse developers acknowledge that current web3 programming languages are all Turing-complete (a term used to refer to a computationally universal system), they believe a new language could help the industry evolve.
In particular, Epic highlights scalability, interoperability and the ability to transact quickly as some of the key areas where Verse intends to make progress.
Epic Games and Web3
Starting this year, The LEGO Group and Epic Games have entered into a long-term collaboration to shape the future of the metaverse and make it safe and fun for kids and families. The two companies will team up to create an immersive, creative and engaging digital experience that kids of all ages can enjoy together.
Next, global advertising firm WPP announced a partnership with Epic Games to help WPP agencies deliver customized brand experiences in the metaverse.
In addition, Epic Games and NASA teamed up to create a contest with them and Buendea to develop a simulation of the Martian metaverse.
On the other hand, blockchain gaming company, Gala Games, announced that it would publish its titles on the Epic Games Store with the debut of Grit, a battle royale set in the Wild West.
In addition, Blankos Block Party, a web creation game powered by NFT, debuted on the Epic Games Store, representing the first Web3 title to be published on the popular global PC gaming marketplace.
And most recently, Star Atlas offered fans a small taste of the game for an incredible experience as a limited demo was released on the Epic Games Store.
