On September 7th, Pixels played host to one of the first Web3 virtual weddings: a ceremony between content creator Cloudwhite and AxieLau, who met at the Axie Infinity conference in 2022. The event showed the power of love in the next iteration of the internet, where geographical ties mean nothing and people all around the world can participate in important moments without a hitch.
In an interview with Web3 Gamer, Cloudwhite said the virtual event was helpful for his and his bride’s families and friends who couldn’t attend the in-person wedding, as the groups of now in-laws are separated by thousands of miles in distance. Cloudwhite hails from Wisconsin in the United States, while AxieLau, known also by her first name Laura, is from Colombia.
The wedding took place at the Terra Villa Central in Pixels, with players able to attend by taking swan boats over to the location. Pixels got behind the idea, offering attendees the option of wearing a tuxedo or a wedding dress. All told, 3,789 users bought a tuxedo, while 1,865 bought a wedding dress. In addition, the upstart Web3 game offered attendees special hairdos. There was even an “energy party” 15 minutes before the event.
Jihoz, the co-founder of Axie Infinity and Ronin, wrote on X that “Crypto gaming must become emotional and create real social and economic relationships to reach its full potential. This wedding is a testament to the fact that we are leading in this regard. The bride and groom play [Pixels] together. Met at AxieCon. Love. Powered by Ronin.”
Cloudwhite said that the Ronin community around the world had been pivotal in the couple’s journey, with some members hosting them while they waited for Laura’s K-1 visa to be approved. The K-1 visa is a type of United States visa that allows a foreigner to travel to the U.S., provided they will marry their partner within 90 days.
Romance in Online Games Not Without Precedent
Pixels is an open-world Web3 game where players can explore, farm land, and buy non-fungible tokens. Hosting a Web3 wedding, which some publications are calling the first in history, is a big deal but may not come as a surprise. After all, gamers have been marrying their characters in open-world games for decades.
According to a study examining social links in MMOs, 75% of participants said they had met friends in online games and 30% said they had met a romantic associate. Marriage is a possibility in many games, including The Sims, a Final Fantasy title, and others. The trend goes back to Meridian 59, an MMORPG, where at least 20 weddings had taken place by 1997.
Cloudwhite and Laura are actually not the first to do so on a Web3 platform. In 2023, San Francisco-based couple Sheel Mohnot and Amruta Godbole tied the knot in Decentraland. Taco Bell sponsored the event, paying for the entire affair. The pair said their motivation was to do something different, though it had one benefit similar to the Pixels wedding: Family members from all around the world were able to attend.
Web3 technology has many benefits, including the ability to bring people together who might otherwise not be able to. These two weddings show that, as well as the importance of relationships within the space.
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