Cricket legend Kumar Sangakkara has is the latest sporting icon to be dipping their toes in the metaverse, co-founding an AI-powered tech company that is building a virtual sports landscape for sportspeople to create virtual characters.
Behaviol, backed by Sangakkara and several entrepreneurs to have accrued close to $2.5 million USD in seed money, will enter the Esports stage in hope of emerging as the face of sport the metaverse.
Backed by a wave of initial investors, the company are well underway with their first game, Meta 11, which will see players use artificial intelligence to compete on a virtual cricket pitch in front of fellow participants watching as spectators.
Meta 11 is seen as the first step in Behaviol's technology pathway, hoping to utilise similar structures for other sports in the near future.
“For me, creating a new platform for cricket players and fans to enjoy is like creating the next chapter in the history books," Sangakkara said, via Business Daily Media.
“The idea of Meta 11 is rooted in cricket because of our affinity for the sport. My background in cricket started out when I was 22 years of age, counting for 15 years of playing international sport for my country.
"As I reflect on my time playing the sport, and now looking to the future, it is extremely exciting to feel as though we could be creating a platform that ultimately defines the future of the sport that I grew up with.”
Behaviol will allow any and all sports fans to acquire and own their own sports teams in the metaverse in a new age of esports.
“What started out as a general conversation between friends sitting around the table, has now morphed into a stimulating new gaming concept that has the potential to redefine esports as we know it," Behaviol chief executive Krishan Deegalla said.
“Meta 11 is a paradigm shifting technology that not only introduces players to a new method of gaming, but creates a future-focused pathway that brings artificial intelligence to esports in the metaverse.”
Sangakkara played in over 134 Tests for Sri Lanka across a 16-year career, while also amassing over 28,000 runs across Test, ODI and T20 formats.
