Atlas: Earth Brings Real-World Landmarks to Virtual Players
Atlas: Earth, a virtual real estate game, has added a new feature allowing players to purchase digital ownership of real-world landmarks. The first auction, held in April, featured Peggy's Cove Lighthouse in Canada and saw a winning bid of 1,361 Atlas Bucks (approximately $60). This marks the beginning of a broader global rollout planned for this summer.
The game has been around since 2021 and has built a dedicated following by allowing players to purchase digital land tied to real-world locations and earn cash through gameplay. With over six million downloads, Atlas: Earth has distributed more than $10 million in user rewards and has a monthly active player base of one million.
The game's founders have credited their success to avoiding the use of blockchain and NFTs, which they believed were fads that prioritized getting rich quick for founders over providing value to the community. Instead, Atlas: Earth focused on building a complex economy that could last decades.