Ready Player One Nearing Reality After New Metaverse Deal Announced

Ready Player One is one step closer to becoming reality. Earlier this week, AI and metaverse and content company Futureverse announced Readyverse Studios, in partnership with Ready Player One creator Ernest Cline and Ready Player One film producer Dan Farah. According to Futureverse, Readyverse Studios is a first-of-its-kind studio and is "building the definitive destination for fans to explore their favorite stories in IP in the metaverse, leveraging web3, metaverse games and experiences, augmented reality, and virtual reality technologies."

According to Futureverse, Readyverse Studios has already partnered with Warner Bros. Discovery to bring the Ready Player One franchise to the metaverse and the studio also has exclusive web3 rights to all future IPs from Cline. "The Readyverse", an interactive platform of interconnected digital experiences, is expected to launch in 2024.

"The future has arrived even more quickly than I imagined," Cline said in a statement. "With Readyverse Studios, we have the opportunity to leverage the revolutionary technology Futureverse has been building for several years to bring to life the best possible version of the metaverse. I'm confident with this team, we have the brightest minds and biggest hearts in place to lead us into the next chapter of our collective future… a future that would make Wade Watts and James Halliday proud."

"We could not be more excited to be sharing this unprecedented news with the world today," Readyverse Studios co-founders Shara Senderoff and Aaron McDonald said. "With Ernie, Dan, and our partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery we have the unique opportunity to help bring the metaverse to life beginning with the IP that first showcased its potential. This is just the beginning of our collaboration with both Hollywood and global brands as we set out to develop a path for beloved commercial IP to shape the future of online entertainment, gaming, and social experiences."

"Ready Player One has become a cultural touchstone, inspiring technology innovators, creators, and visionaries and we're excited to be partnering with Readyverse Studios to introduce these unique characters, immersive environments, and more to the metaverse across web3," SVP Franchise Development, Warner Bros. Discovery Josh Hackbarth said.

What Is Ready Player One About?

Ready Player One is a 2011 science fiction novel written by Cline. Set in a dystopian 2045, the novel follows Wade Watts as he participates in a worldwide virtual reality game searching for an Easter egg that would let him inherit the game creator's fortune. A film adaptation directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tye Sheridan as Wade Watts, was released in 2018. A sequel novel, Ready Player Two, was released in 2020 though it received largely negative critical reception. A sequel film was also reported to be in the early stages of development back in 2020, but there have been no additional updates.

"It's in the early stages right now, especially since Hollywood is in limbo right now," Cline said in 2020. "But I can tell from the experience of making the first movie that everybody had a lot of fun. We talked about the possibility of there being a Ready Player Two when we were making Ready Player One. In Hollywood you never know. I really tried my best to focus on just writing a sequel to my book. There are characters in the movie that are alive that aren't alive in the book. I focused on trying to give fans the book without letting the film influence me. The movie will sort itself out later."

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