Innovative tech leader unveils essential tools for constructing the metaverse of tomorrow

Once Upon Tomorrow
Publisher: Forefront Books
Release date: March 5, 2024
Hardcover: 272 pages
ISBN-10: 1637632657
ISBN-13: 978-1637632659

As transformative as the arrivals of the internet and smartphone have been for humanity, they were mere warmups for what is coming next—The Metaverse, says Xsolla founder Shurick Agapitov. This virtual, immersive experience will revolutionize how people live, work, connect and see the world.

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“What’s so important about this Metaverse? It’s not just about 3D graphics or online speed. It is a transformational technology that will change how businesses operate, how consumers work and play, and how humans tell stories,” Agapitov writes in his new book, Once Upon Tomorrow: Harnessing the New Opportunities the Metaverse Creates (Forefront Books; March 5, 2024).

Agapitov envisions a future where every consumer-facing industry, from fashion to healthcare to entertainment, is transformed. If you’re an entrepreneur and you’re kicking yourself because you didn’t grab the opportunities that existed during the rise of e-commerce and the mobile internet, the opportunities that exist today in the Metaverse are even greater. In his book, Agapitov shares the tools that will give you a second chance.

Just a few years away from widescale adoption, the digital revolution of the Metaverse will be more powerful than the internet or mobile phones and will not be dominated by big Silicon Valley companies. But today’s early adopters—anyone with a brand to sell or a story to tell—can use the Metaverse to build a hugely successful business.

Since its start in 2015, Los Angeles-based Xsolla has been the gaming industry’s leading platform. Today it is worth as much as $3 billion, according to Goldman Sachs and Bank of America. It operates in more than 200 countries and territories in more than 20 languages. Agapitov has accelerated the company’s growth with innovation after innovation.

His latest innovation is X.LA, which leverages blockchain and Web3 technologies to create better economic opportunities for creators around the world, with the goal of ensuring that the concepts of Web3 are within everyone’s reach. Shurick is a visionary, creating frontiers for investors and entrepreneurs and showing how, in the Metaverse, everyone can create their own.

In the book, Agapitov delineates how:

– In the Metaverse, we will immerse ourselves in a growing global community that will change forever how we work, play, shop and explore, and engage brands, and how we interact and literally live our lives.

– Large companies such as Nike, Adidas and Gucci are already creating their digital footprints across the Metaverse, but as technology costs shrink, anyone can get into the game and create his or her own mega brand.

– The opportunity to own “real estate” today in the Metaverse is like finding and buying a nearly empty beach, developing it, and then watching a massive community build around you.