Startup nets $2M to build Metaverse, a platform for DIY AR games

This week saw the public debut of GoMeta, a new company dedicated to creating a platform where people can play and create their own augmented-reality mobile games -- a la Pokemon Go.

Devs should note that while Metaverse is hyped as a platform for people to build "drag-and-drop" AR games ("you can create an AR experience in under a minute," reads one tagline) it also offers an API that game devs can use to build games and experiences that integrate with Metaverse on a deeper level.

Metaverse progenitor GoMeta was founded earlier this year by ex-Googler and longtime tech exec Dmitry Shapiro, who managed to raise at least $2 million from investors (like Disney chief Michael Eisner) looking to fund the venture.

While Shapiro is making a show of selling Metaverse as an AR game play/creation platform, he says it could be more than that, giving Buzzfeed the example anecdote of how his niece and her friends use it as a way to leave location-based messages for each other.

The Metaverse platform is currently in beta, though a number of AR games (including one trick-or-treat game for Halloween) have already been created and run on its platform. Developers curious to check out its content creation toolset, branded the "Metaverse Studio," can do so via its developer signup page.