LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The winners of the Next Top Metaverse Build competition (NTMB) are set to be announced at One Times Square in Decentraland – the first ever awards to be held there.
With winners being revealed at 6:30pm GMT on 23rd of June, the largest metaverse buildathon of its type saw 160 entries put forward by both students and experienced architects, 3D designers and developers who created novel virtual infrastructure designs across a multitude of categories.
The competition aimed to raise awareness of opportunities in the Metaverse and demonstrate to architects and designers how they can monetise their expertise in these promising upcoming virtual worlds, in addition to the traditional industries they already serve.
NFT architectural marketplace Renovi partnered with digital asset firm GDA Capital as well as Decentraland to launch the inaugural competition in January.
Coinciding with the 4th annual NFT.NYC week in June 20-23, 2022 the awards ceremony for NTMB will be held at One Times Square (-106, -119) in Decentraland, with the winners set to be revealed on a stage below the landmark’s well-known billboards.
Real estate company Jamestown, which owns the real-life One Times Square in New York City, recreated and launched One Times Square in Decentraland in partnership with DCG on New Year's Eve during the MetaFest 2022 global party.
Decentraland is a Metaverse built, governed, and owned by users, which launched publicly at the start of 2020 and has attracted celebrities including DeadMau5, 3LAU, and Paris Hilton to headline its virtual festivals.
Aimed at university students and architectural and design professionals from all over the world, the competition challenged entrants to create virtual infrastructure designs with categories ranging from houses, museums and galleries, to casinos, classrooms and festival grounds, as well as play to earn or play to learn games.
All entries uploaded to Renovi’s marketplace will be available for purchase, with the proceeds going to the contestants.
Renovi is a leading Metaverse marketplace and design studio working with a multitude of global brands and businesses to help create, develop and implement their Web3 strategies.
Prizes will include a parcel of land granted by the Decentraland Foundation to the top winner, as well as Sand tokens from Sandbox, Renovi tokens and software subscriptions.
Judges include Michael Phillips, Principal and President, Jamestown; Martin Shibuya, Art Director at Decentraland Foundation; Lorne Sugarman, CEO, Metaverse Group; Michail Georgiou, Architecture and Design professor, the University of Nicosia; Stavros Zachariades, Associate Architect, Squire & Partners and Fatemeh Monfared, Founder and CEO, Spaces DAO.
Andy Charalambous, co-founder of Renovi, said: “One Time Square is one of the most prestigious areas within Decentraland but also links architecture from the real world into the metaverse. We’re thrilled to be able to reveal our competition winners at this world-renowned location.
“We wish the very best of luck to everyone who entered this incredible competition.”
