Major companies in Japan are taking metaverse development to a whole new level

Japan, a country often associated with technological advancements, has taken another step towards dominating the metaverse space. On February 27th, a group of Japanese technology and finance companies agreed to establish a Metaverse Economic Zone. This will pave the way for an open ecosystem where users can interact with various virtual services and businesses to thrive in a new digital economy.

JCB, Mizuho Financial, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, Fujitsu, Mitsubishi, TBT Lab, Sompo Japan Insurance, and Toppan are the 10 Japanese companies that have signed the pact to build an open metaverse called RYUGUKOKU. Inspired by game creator Hajime Tabata's vision to bring innovation through gaming, the metaverse will be integrated with role-playing game (RPG) elements, allowing everyone to experience it in an RPG setting. 

"Each Metaverse service and content presented inside RYUGUKOKU (TBD) takes on the form of a moving 'city,' 'castle,' or 'vehicle' that roams around that virtual world. Users will be able to engage in an RPG-like experience as they travel through different realms and encounter a variety of content and services," wrote Fujitsu. 

The metaverse platform will be constructed using the framework provided by "PEGASUS WORLD KIT," an advanced tool for creating metaverse and game services. Organizations that signed the pact will be able to operate in an interoperable metaverse that serves as a new social infrastructure for businesses to launch digital experiences. These include marketing campaigns, information sharing, consumer engagement, and much more. 

Additionally, RYUGUKOKU will leverage Japan's secure financial infrastructure through banks and other financial services firms that have signed up for the initiative. This will allow the Metaverse Economic Zone to "deliver an open and secure Metaverse infrastructure that enables safe and stable use of identity authentication, various payments, data infrastructure, insurance, etc." The companies also intend to make this infrastructure available to foreign companies and government agencies to expand the Metaverse Economic Zone globally.