Ready Player One (2011) is a prescient novel by Ernest Cline about a dystopian near future where young people, “the missing millions”, spend most of their time in a metaverse called “The Oasis”, which also happens to be the most valuable company in the world. Imagine if Google-owned not only search but every site you visited. When the Oasis’ Steve Jobs-like creator, James Halliday, dies he offers his metaverse to anyone who can solve a puzzle related to 1980s trivia. The upcoming highly-anticipated movie based on the book is being produced and directed by none other than Steven Spielberg.
The book was a best seller in 2011. Along with “Snowcrash”, which introduced the idea of a digital metaverse, “Ready Player One” is now a must-read for anyone interested in Virtual Reality.
Almost immediately after the announcement, an industry begins to emerge around the search for clues to help solve Halliday’s puzzle and produce the three keys that lead to his fortune. Those searching are called “Gunters” (a portmanteau of “egg hunter”). A massive ruthless corporation, IOI, bent on taking control of the OASIS and restricting access via a paywall, employs an army of its own Gunters to search for the keys as well.
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Source: Forbes