Uplandme

Upland operates a free-to-play, browser- and app-based simulation game in which players, called Architects, claim and develop virtual properties tied to real-world addresses across more than 50 cities, including New York, Paris, Tokyo, London, Berlin, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Miami, Rome, Rio de Janeiro, Porto, Buenos Aires, Birmingham, Saint Denis and Bermuda. Onboarding follows three steps: pick a city, claim a property at a real address, and build on the block by placing structures such as homes, shops, schools and hospitals.

Developed properties attract "Uppies," digital residents with stated preferences that determine where they settle based on what an Architect builds; resident counts function as the player's score. The game supports multiple parallel playstyles: planning and building, trading and running shops, farming crops and animals, racing vehicles and running trade routes between cities, exploration and treasure hunting, and creating structures, karts, decor and manufactured goods for sale. A layer called "Troves" links these activities through an "Architect's Loop" in which collected Troves are combined via recipes to produce rewards including rare Troves, SPARKLET, UPX, STEM, yield and Uppie friendships, which in turn feed further activity. Uppies can be collected, merged and evolved from Level 1 up to ultra-rare Iconic Parody Uppies. The company states the map has run continuously since 2019 without resets, and that player holdings persist.

Business model

The game is free to play, with a player-driven internal economy denominated in the in-game currency UPX plus additional reward tokens (SPARKLET, STEM). Players can trade assets with one another on a live marketplace, operate in-game shops, and earn royalties on items they create. A regulated USD path allows players to list assets for US dollars: sales require identity verification (KYC), clear through payment partner Thunes, and pay out via PayPal, with availability and fees varying by region.

Traction

The company reports more than 4 million players joined since 2019, an in-game population of 234,342 updated daily, more than $20M in cumulative player-to-player trades since 2019, and more than $1M in player trades settled in USD since the USD path went live in 2020.