Since late October last year, Mark Zuckerberg announced the creation of a metaverse and the parent company of Facebook was renamed Meta. He continued to talk about this technology, which he said would revolutionize the world as the Internet did in its time.
Despite the media buzz around the founder’s project, several metaverses have emerged and are already changing how people interact socially and economically.
Two of the best known decentralized platforms are GEN and a second major project. Both sell plots of their virtual regions so owners can build their businesses and activities there.
Unlike Decentraland, which builds its own virtual world, OVR offers a unique approach: a digital layer projected over the physical world. It’s built from 300 square meters of hexagonal tiles called OVRLands.
There are more than 1.6 billion OVRLands covering the globe, each represented by a three-word name with specific coordinates, for example blue.sky.dream.
Benidorm “jumps” into the virtual Metaverse to attract tourists
These plots are for sale and are awarded by auction. The average minimum starting amount is around 6 OVR, depending on the area’s quoted value. The OVR token currently costs 1.35 euros, so owning a virtual parcel in this augmented reality metaverse could cost as little as eight euros if no other bids come in. Auctions close 24 hours after the last bid.
People may buy today to develop, sell, or rent virtual events or businesses in these areas, which can only be accessed with augmented reality glasses or a mobile screen.
As noted, these 300-square-meter spatial areas are mapped to real geographic locations. Like web domains, OVRLands’ property tokens (NFTs in practice) grant control over augmented reality experiences in the defined geographic location.
Augmented reality and virtual reality
For example, if the Archaeological Museum of Alicante (MARQ) wants to stage an upcoming augmented reality exhibition or a virtual reality translation of its physical facilities in OVR, it would need to own the digital lands.
Similarly, if a business plans to reach people as an avatar through advertising, it must own the virtual land or lease the service from the owner via smart contracts. The same applies to hosting a virtual conference or a concert.
This is where speculative opportunities come in. Imagine someone today acquiring one or more OVRLands in locations tied to institutions like EUIPO, Ciudad de la Luz, Alicante City Council, or Rico Pérez. If OVR’s metaverse becomes dominant and those entities wish to maintain sandboxes near their real-world hubs, they may need to negotiate ownership or leases for those virtual spaces.
GameFi, the video game economy with potential for significant wealth
This mirrors early internet domain dynamics, though less stark. In a notable incident from the past, a government official briefly revealed a future theme park’s name before securing the domain, illustrating how early missteps can shape later value. In OVR’s decentralized metadata system, there would be no simple alternative unless the physical center of the institution relocates and the virtual plot is left unoccupied.
“A very profitable investment”
A resident of Alicante, whom we will call Eugenio for privacy, holds a small collection of OVRLands, including parts of the Alicante Town Hall and landmarks such as Santa Bárbara Castle and Alicante-Elche airport.
Eugenio views it as a mid-to-long-term investment with strong potential. Critics may dismiss it as speculative, but he argues that value could rise while initial costs remain modest.
Another reason to engage is learning. This space encourages staying informed about emerging technologies and the decentralized economy shaping the future. The OVR platform includes a beta version that lets any user become an interactive content creator on purchased plots.
Spain at the start of acquisitions
OVR already operates a global metastore, though the pace varies by country. At one point there were 426 virtual land auctions active in OVR; later numbers rose to 747 units. Of the 819,172 plots sold, 302,000 are in Spain, with the United States and Turkey following closely.
Most purchases in Spain occur in Madrid and Barcelona, though the Valencian Community and especially Alicante contribute a sizable share. The top purchased domains in Alicante can be viewed on the platform, showing which plots are sold, in auction, or still available.
The entertainment district of the Port of Alicante is among the most sought-after, with almost no free space left. Purchases are traceable to wallet addresses, and most port plots are registered to the same address, bought recently at an average price of 5.4 GEN each.
Geographically, the areas with the highest concentration of sold plots correspond to busy real-world locations in almost every city. That’s why investors also target Alicante’s two-story street and popular avenues like Maisonnave, Alfonso El Sabio boulevard, Esplanade, and Plaza de los Luceros, where sold signs are common.
There are more than 650 owner-owned plots in Alicante, with Elche, Torrevieja, and Benidorm following closely. Purchases have surged in recent months, and total OVR land sold worldwide increased from about 350,000 in October to over 800,000 in a short period.
[CITATION: OVR platform overview and market activity compiled from platform data and public observations]