Hajime Tabata Discusses Ryugukoku Metaverse Project

On Facebook, Hajime Tabata once again reiterated his interest in the Metaverse. This appeared after the announcement that several major Japanese corporations came together to work on Metaverse project Ryugukoku. He stated that this has been something that JP Games thought about ever since its creation. It will be a project in which users can coexist with corporations within a new-generation RPG (a Metaverse). [Thanks, Resetera!]

Tabata stated that he hopes for everyone’s support as he continues to work on expanding the possibilities of games. As for Ryugukoku, it appears to be a combination of multiple Metaverse services. A flying castle of sorts would contain all the different Metaverses. As players would traverse through the various worlds, they would be able to experience a wide variety of content and services.

The second half of Tabata’s explanation on Ryugukoku is as follows:

“Additionally, Ryugukoku (TBD) will deliver an open and secure Metaverse infrastructure that enables safe and stable use of identity authentication, various payments, data infrastructure, insurance, etc., through collaboration with leading Japanese financial institutions, major corporations, and TBT Lab Group. Furthermore, by providing this infrastructure to companies and government agencies outside of Japan, we will be able to expand the ‘Japan Metaverse Economic Zone’ globally.”

Several major Japanese corporations, including Mitsubishi and Fujitsu, announced in late February 2023 that they would create an “open metaverse infrastructure from a role-playing game perspective.” In other words, this is the Japanese Metaverse Economic Zone project that Tabata mentioned. TBT Lab, which Tabata is the representative of, was part of this agreement. An open Metaverse and social infrastructure would supposedly let people acquire personalized through a digital avatar.

The Ryugukoku Metaverse project is in development. Square Enix, which Tabata formerly worked at, is also interested in NFTs and the Metaverse, as shown with Symbiogenesis.