What is Upland.Me? Virtual Property NFT Game in the Blockchain Metaverse

• How Does Upland.Me Work?
• Final Thoughts

Upland.Me, a virtual property metaverse that offers true ownership of NFT property parcels mapped to real addresses, recently partnered with a company called Tilia Pay to pave the way for what the team is calling a truly digital economy.

Upland is a blockchain-based game in which users can buy, sell, and trade virtual properties mapped to the real world. By becoming a “digital landowner,” users can build properties and earn UPX coins. The project utilizes blockchain to tie each property within the Upland platform to an NFT. 

Perhaps unique from many new rising blockchain-based games, Upland is seeking to create a market-based digital economy that blurs the lines between the real world and the digital world. 

Users can purchase digital assets within the game with fiat or cryptocurrency (using the UPX coin) and trade the assets with other players. However, it’s worth noting that for some time there was no way to cash out your UPX tokens– all you could do is reinvest it in other properties, which earn you more UPX. 

Its partner Tilia Pay specializes in helping video game publishers create in-world economies and monetize their interaction with other users. This partnership now enables users to essentially convert their holdings back into real-world value, breaking the barrier between the real world and the digital world. 

Upland.Me’s users can sell their virtual NFT property assets using Second Life’s payments network, called Tilia Pay, which supports PayPal as a main payment mechanism. So, players could technically buy NFT representations of real estate in Upland’s virtual world and sell it for real U.S. dollars.

Known as the Property-to-USD beta program, it has three top sales of around $1,000 USD per piece. Since launch, Upland’s players have spent $29,250 USD on properties in the Upland metaverse, with the average spend being $39.50 USD.

How Does Upland.Me Work?

Upland aims to provide a clean, smooth user experience on the web, iOS, and Android in an effort to attract a wide audience. The Property-to-USD program is still in beta, the ability to sell properties for USD is currently open to 100 Uplanders. However, the team plans to increase that number gradually and the feature will eventually be available for all. 

Here’s how it works for the beta testers: 

• Players can place their assets up for sale on the platform in USD.
• The user goes through a KYC (Know Your Customer) process.
• Once a property NFT is sold, the Uplander can pull out their USD earnings directly to their private Paypal account.

The Upland community appears to be small but fairly interested in the gameplay. One player, Wulfinite, bought three properties for $500 UD each and his logic was as followed:

• 350 Mcallister St. (initial mint price of 193,280 UPX, or ~$193 USD) was bought because it is near City Hall.
• 3 Community Visitor Center (initial mint price of 135,520 UPX, or ~$135 USD) was bought because of the Rarity of Angel Island locations.
• 401 23rd St. (initial mint price of 356,860 UPX, or ~$356 USD) was bought for its area, as Wulfinite intends to create a preschool there.
  

Final Thoughts

Upland.Me’s partnership with Tilia Pay enables Upland players to trade NFT-backed virtual properties based on real-world locations. With more than 10,000 daily active users and over 40,000 monthly active users, Upland is making progress into an array of quickly growing blockchain-based games.