- Yuga Labs invests in Hadean, a spatial computing startup, for its Otherside metaverse development.
- Hadean will help scale Otherside to support a high number of players simultaneously.
- The investment will enable Hadean to establish a US-based team to work on mass concurrency for the metaverse.
Yuga Labs, the creator of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT brand, announced a significant investment in Hadean, a spatial computing business that is assisting in the development of Yuga’s future Otherside metaverse on Thursday.
Hadean is supplying technology to assist in scaling the game to deal with large numbers of concurrent players. According to a Yuga Labs official, Hadean and other technical partners will be crucial to the “next phase of development” on Otherside.
In March, Moreside’s “Second Trip” playtest attracted almost 7,200 concurrent players, overwhelming the game world with a crowd of avatars. Those playtests were created using Improbable’s MSquared metaverse technology and did not incorporate Hadean.
Yuga Labs refused to divulge the amount invested in Hadean, but a spokesman stated that it was “meaningful” compared to Hadean’s prior fundraising round. The startup company last funded $5 million in March, following a $30 million Series A round in September 2022, which included Fortnite creator Epic Games.
With the new investment, Hadean will form a team in the United States to collaborate with Yuga Labs on Otherside, focusing on “mass concurrency”—the ability to accommodate several users in the same online environment simultaneously.
Daniel Alegre, CEO of Yuga Labs, stated, “As we double down on Otherside and look to build out unique, live experiences in entertainment and gaming, we are excited about deepening our commitment through investing for the long term with Hadean.”
Yuga Labs announced a business arrangement with Hadean in September centered on the technology underpinning Otherside. At the same time, Yuga announced technical and creative collaborations with startups AccelByte, Bad Rhino, and Faraway, all of which are focused on Otherside.
Hadean is majorly known as a metaverse infrastructure startup. Spatial computing is often defined as the intersection of digital technology with real-world applications, with Apple’s Vision Pro mixed-reality headset serving as a famous example.
Yuga Labs also holds the IP to the popular CryptoPunks NFT collection, in addition to the Bored Ape Yacht Club, one of the most prominent NFT ventures on the market. The company raised $450 million in March 2022 at a $4 billion valuation and has gradually increased its focus on gaming as it expands Otherside.
