The insanely talented Creator Jam community in the innovative social VR platform NeosVR is once again hosting a competition for content creators, with prizes in 13 different categories consisting of Neos Credits (NCR), NeosVR’s cryptocurrency (at press time, 1 NCR = 3.88 USD, but at times in the recent past, cryptocurrency speculators have driven NCR to reach the dizzying heights of 10 USD each!).
The Metaverse Maker Competition (MMC) is a month long competition in NeosVR where participants make a world, avatar, or other type of creation to win a prize. In past MMC competitions there were creations ranging from avatar creators, social worlds, games, NPCs, generative art, custom tools, and much more. Entry is free, and anyone can participate, either as individuals or groups (if you are looking for a group to join, here’s a shared spreadsheet of opportunities).
Here’s a summary of the MMC prize categories (source; please also read the official contest rules):
Prizes
• 50,000+ NCR (~$150,000) Total
• Official Badges (supported by Neos)
• Digital TrophiesPrize is in the form of NCR (Neos Credits cryptocurrency, not USD). More info can be found here.
Prizes are split by category and placement (winner and honorable mention).
13 Total Categories:
• World: Social (Individual/Team with 5 or fewer members) – environments focused on social gatherings and groups
•World: Social (Team with 6 or more members) – environments focused on social gatherings and groups
• World: Game (Individual/Team with 5 or fewer members) – worlds that are games
• World: Game (Team with 6 or more members) – worlds that are games
• World: Misc – any world that doesn’t fit into the Art, Educational/Science/Dataviz, Meme category or Social, Game subcategory
• Avatar: Avatars – if the avatar is equippable, it counts
• Avatar: Accessories – any wearable item for use with avatars such as equibbables, clothes, user interfaces, etc…
• Avatar: Misc – anything avatar related that doesn’t fit into Avatars or Accessories subcategory such as avatar creators, avatar animation systems, etc…
• Other: Tools, Apps. and Utilities (TAU) – objects that create additional functionality such as tools, apps, and utilities.
• Other: Misc – any object that doesn’t fit into the Art, Educational/Science/Dataviz, Meme category or TAU subcategory such as weapons, code, special effects, etc…
• Art – entries with the primary focus only on art
• Education/Science/Dataviz (ESD) – any works that focus on educational, tutorial, scientific aspects, and or data visualization.
• Meme – humor and parody category. Works will be a form of parody and comedic use so any asset is acceptable.
Here’s the online registration form for the Metaverse Maker Competition, if you’re interested and you want to enter.
(By the way, the Creator Jam is still looking for prize sponsors; here’s the sponsor guide in English, Japanese, and Korean. One kind soul recently donated 30,000 NCR to sweeten the prize pot, the equivalent of US$90,000!)
If you want to learn more about NeosVR, you can visit their website or their wiki, check out their Steam page, join their Discord server, or follow them on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. (The Creator Jam community has their own separate Discord server, which you can join as well). And, of course, you can always choose to support the project through their Patreon page (as I do).
UPDATE 9:16 p.m.: I have been informed that the MCC prize pool has now increased to over 70,000 NCR (approximately US$210,000 at current exchange rates), thanks to another sizeable donation by someone who wishes to remain anonymous. I have therefore updated the title of this blogpost accordingly.
UPDATE Jan. 19th, 2022: The Creator Jam announced on Twitter that NeosVR has added 30,000 NCR to the Metaverse Maker Competition prize pot, bringing it to 100,000 NCR (equivalent to US$300,00!):
I have updated the title of this blogpost accordingly.