Valentino Rossi, motorsport icon and nine-time motorcycling champion, officially enters the world of the metaverse with his virtual world on Roblox. Below are the details.

Valentino Rossi and the launch of his metaverse

The nine-time motorsport world champion and VR46 Metaverse officially enters the world of Roblox with a unique and authentic experience dedicated to motorsport fans.

VR46 Metaverse is proud to announce the launch of Moto Island, The Official Valentino Rossi Experience, on Roblox. Created in collaboration with Metaverse Dubit studio, Moto Island offers high-octane online multiplayer racing in a vibrant open world.

The experience is the first foray into virtual worlds for VR46 Metaverse, the company developing the image of nine-time world motorcycling champion Valentino Rossi in games and metaverse.

Roblox, the popular gaming platform with 58.8 million daily players, was chosen as the home of Moto Island by the motorsport legend himself because of its prominence in the gaming landscape and its power to reach players in fun and engaging ways.

Moto Island is built around two core values of accessibility and customization, aiming to authentically convey the competitive spirit of motorsport.

Statements regarding the launch of the Valentino Rossi metaverse

Valentino Rossi, on the launch of Moto Island, said the following:

“I really wanted to create such an experience, for all motorsport fans and beyond: with Moto Island we want to take this sport to another level, offering all players a fun, quality experience. Interacting and communicating with my fans has always been a key aspect throughout my career and now it’s so exciting being able to do the same with younger generations through Roblox.”

Moto Island is an open world environment filled with cities, countryside, snow-capped peaks, ocean roads, forests and, of course, race tracks that allow up to thirty racers to line up and try out some of the best physics engines on Roblox.

Inside Moto Island are dozens of bikes with thousands of enhancements in appearance and performance, including user-generated content elements such as suits, helmets, and even a turtle companion to ride the seat.

Jean Claude Ghinozzi, CEO of VR46 Metaverse, commented:

“The release of Moto Island constitutes a major milestone in the VR46 Metaverse timeline for 2023. To make this happen we wanted a partner who had great experience in this industry and working with Dubit was the best choice we could make.”

Matthew Warneford, co-founder of Dubit, said:

“The release of Moto Island constitutes a major milestone in the VR46 Metaverse timeline for 2023. To make this happen we wanted a partner who had great experience in this industry and working with Dubit was the best choice we could make.”

Moto Island will be constantly evolving and updated in the coming months to create value for players with new content and events.

Is the metaverse our future? The hearing in the virtual world

It is no secret that in recent years many physical events have had digital interactions or have been fully digitized in virtual reality.

Recently, in Colombia, a local judge ruled to hold a hearing in the metaverse as a technological experiment.

Specifically, it was a civil case related to a traffic accident, which will “partially” progress into the metaverse.

While many believe that the metaverse will reshape our social lives, one wonders whether digital reality can best serve to address important moments in society, such as court cases, where an individual’s future may be at stake.

Carlo D’Angelo, a former law professor and defense attorney specializing in cryptocurrency, gave his opinion to better understand the possible role of the metaverse in the legal system.

The metaverse’s court case in Colombia does not differ much from what legal systems around the world had to do during the COVID-19 pandemic, namely convert to digital. Indeed, D’Angelo reported that:

“The urgent need for judicial work amid a global pandemic has certainly accelerated the mass adoption by judges of Zoom and other video conferencing services.”

D’Angelo also said that although these Zoom sessions have worked for moving files and court hearings around, the technology we are currently working with is not particularly well suited for jury trials.

The main reason is that “subtle visual cues,” biases, and in-person verbal and nonverbal cues are not picked up at a distance, especially when faced with an avatar in the metaverse.

Valentino Rossi, 9-time world champion, is back on the track, but this time he does it by racing in the metaverse. 

Valentino Rossi’s VR46 brand expansion into Web3 and the metaverse

The “Doctor” this time decided to create flagship products that can inspire motorsport lovers. To this end, he has created a new company through a joint venture with The Hundred, the Italian media holding company par excellence. 

The company will be called VR46 Metaverse and will accompany the already existing VR46 Racing Team and Academy divisions, aimed at those who want to learn the secrets of the trade. All under the umbrella of the VR46 brand and guided by the expert eye of Valentino Rossi.

VR46 Metaverse will aim to develop and bring to market innovative entertainment products. The perspective will follow the vision of the evolution that the Web3 is experiencing, with a focus on gaming, NFTs and, indeed, the metaverse.

This will allow the motorcycling champion not only to return to soaring on virtual circuits but also to compete on four wheels.

In fact, for Valentino Rossi it has always been like a forbidden dream, so much so that in 2006 he came close to getting involved with Ferrari.

And now, the “Doctor” explains in an interview how driven he is by the thought of challenging F1 champion Lewis Hamilton on the tracks of the metaverse.

Statements from those involved in the VR46 Metaverse project

Nicola Volpi, lead investor of The Hundred, promoted the joint venture with great enthusiasm:

“The Hundred will provide its know-how in the industry to develop virtual experiences dedicated to Valentino Rossi’s large number of fans around the world, motorsports enthusiasts and gamers in general”.

The goal of VR46 Metaverse is to bring MotoGP fans even closer to this exciting world through experiences that become increasingly immersive. 

Blockchain technology allows people to create new ways to entertain their audience, revolutionizing the concept of customer journey and brand visibility. 

This platform, dedicated to the Doctor and his enviable career, will be able to take fans on a fantastic journey. Users will have the opportunity to meet riders in the metaverse, interact with a large community and, most importantly, compete in exciting races. 

The project is obviously not only dedicated to hardcore fans, but also invites a vast number of video game lovers. 

Valentino Rossi is keen to reveal that:

“Entering this industry is a really exciting adventure that I have decided to take on in a structured way together with level-headed partners. It excites me to be able to reach fans around the world, bringing them the atmosphere and enthusiasm of VR46 through new technologies, and I think this project marks a very important step forward for the brand”.

For those who do not like waiting, the first content is already planned for this year, and the developers, in support of the potential of this technology, state that:

“They will immediately be able to immersively and actively engage both Valentino Rossi’s historical fan base and the new audience generated by the growth of these new technologies”.

Valentino Rossi in partnership with The Hundred launches ‘VR46 Metaverse’ to offer new immersive experiences, NFT content and gaming for motorsport fans globally. 

Valentino Rossi with The Hundred for new ‘VR46 Metaverse’ joint venture

Italian motorbike racer with 9 world titles to his name, Valentino Rossi, is racing for new pole positions with Italian media holding company The Hundred. 

Valentino Rossi fa il suo esordio nel metaverso con VR46 Metaverse#SkyMotori https://t.co/lMBkFhpcyk

— Sky Sport MotoGP (@SkySportMotoGP) May 18, 2022

This is the launch of VR46 Metaverse, the new joint venture dedicated to the creation and development of unique content about the VR46 brand in the metaverse, gaming universe and NFT environment. 

In this regard, Rossi, also known as “The Doctor”, commented:

“Entering this industry is a really exciting adventure that I have decided to tackle in a structured way together with some great partners. I am thrilled to be able to reach fans all over the world, bringing them the atmosphere and enthusiasm of VR46 through new technologies, and I think this project marks a very important step forward for the brand”.

VR46 Metaverse dedicated to The Doctor and more

The aim of the VR46 Metaverse is to create, within persistent virtual worlds, a global platform dedicated to “The Doctor”, the VR46 Racing Team and the Academy, where fans of the rider and all motorsport enthusiasts will be able to meet official VR46 riders, interact with other users and even compete against each other.

At the moment, the project has a multi-year roadmap, starting in 2022 and guaranteeing continuous support in the years to come.

Jean Claude Ghinozzi, as CEO of the joint venture, will direct the work. In the early content of 2022, there will be immersive and engaging experiences for both Valentino Rossi’s historic fan base and the new audience generated by the advent of these new technologies. 

VR46 is a group of companies owned by Valentino Rossi, created to manage various projects in the field of Motorsport:

• VR46 Racing Team, created to support emerging riders from Moto3 to MotoGP, and already world champion in 2018 with Francesco Bagnaia;
• VR46 Riders Academy, an innovative project to provide professional and sporting support to young Italian riders during their career; 
• VR46 Racing Apparel, a sports merchandising project inspired by Valentino Rossi’s revolutionary vision.

The NASA Martian Metaverse

In addition to the world-famous sports champion Valentino Rossi, the metaverse has also won over NASA, which aims to create the new Martian Metaverse. 

Recently, the US space agency, in collaboration with Epic Games and Buendea, launched the NASA MarsXR Challenge. A new challenge to find developers who want to help create experiences in the Mars metaverse using Virtual Reality. 

The Challenge has a total prize pool of $70,000, divided among twenty individual prizes.