Building the Metaverse at Napster Inc.
(Infinite Reality)

March 2025 - July 2025

When I joined Infinite Reality (which later became Napster Inc.) as a Senior Full-Stack Engineer in early 2025, the company had an ambitious vision: build the infrastructure for the next generation of immersive digital experiences - what many were calling the “metaverse.”

This wasn’t about hyped-up virtual worlds with cartoon avatars. This was about creating real utility: virtual showrooms for retail, immersive event spaces for concerts, digital twins of physical locations, and platforms for genuine human connection in virtual environments.

Coming fresh off my experience at Looking Glass Factory, where I’d built the first hologram CMS, I was excited to work on another frontier of immersive technology. And Napster’s legacy in music made the mission even more compelling - imagine exploring worlds in 3D.

The Mission: Bringing the Metaverse Back

By 2025, the “metaverse” had become somewhat of a dirty word after years of overhype. But Infinite Reality was taking a pragmatic approach: build real tools that solve real problems, rather than chasing speculative future visions.

The company was working with major brands to create:

• Virtual storefronts - 3D shopping experiences with real product catalogs
• Event spaces - Concerts, conferences, and gatherings in immersive environments
• Social platforms - Places for people to actually hang out, not just pass through
• Creator tools - Enabling artists and designers to build their own virtual spaces

My role was to help build the full-stack infrastructure that powered these experiences.

The Stack: React + Next.js + AWS + Postgres

I worked across the entire stack, leveraging the same technologies I’d mastered at previous roles:

Frontend

• React for component-based UI
• Next.js for server-side rendering and optimal performance
• TypeScript for type safety across the codebase
• Three.js / React Three Fiber for 3D web experiences

Backend

• Node.js for API services
• Postgres for relational data (users, virtual spaces, assets, events)
• AWS for cloud infrastructure and scalability

The Challenge

Building metaverse platforms means handling:

• Real-time multiplayer - Users interacting in shared virtual spaces
• 3D asset delivery - Streaming optimized 3D models and environments
• User authentication - Secure identity across virtual worlds
• Performance optimization - Making 3D experiences work on a range of devices

The technical complexity is significant, but the patterns I’d developed at Looking Glass Factory (optimizing 3D delivery, managing large asset libraries) and Parcel (Web3 integration, component libraries) translated directly.

Building for Scale and Performance

One of my key contributions was optimizing the platform for scale:

Database Optimization

• Designed efficient Postgres schemas for virtual worlds, user data, and asset management
• Implemented caching strategies to reduce database load
• Optimized queries for real-time data retrieval (who’s in what space, what assets need loading)

3D Asset Pipeline

• Built systems to process and optimize 3D assets for web delivery
• Implemented progressive loading for complex virtual environments
• Balanced visual quality with performance constraints

API Design

• Created RESTful and GraphQL endpoints for frontend and external integrations
• Designed for extensibility (new features shouldn’t break existing integrations)
• Ensured APIs could handle spikes in traffic during live events

The Napster Pivot

Partway through my tenure, the company underwent a transformation, becoming Napster Inc. This pivot emphasized the music and entertainment aspects of the platform.

Napster’s legacy is iconicit revolutionized music distribution in the early 2000s. Now, the brand was being reimagined for immersive experiences:

• Virtual concert venues
• Artist meet-and-greets in VR
• Immersive album launch experiences
• Social listening parties in 3D spaces

The technical infrastructure I was building became the foundation for these music-focused experiences.

What I Learned

This role, though shorter in duration, was valuable for several reasons:

1. Metaverse infrastructure - Understanding what it takes to build persistent virtual worlds
2. Real-time systems - Handling multiplayer interactions and live events at scale
3. Brand pivots - Adapting technical architecture to evolving business strategy
4. Entertainment tech - Bridging music, live events, and immersive technology
5. Continued mastery - Deepening expertise in React, Next.js, Postgres, and AWS

Reflections

Infinite Reality / Napster reinforced something I’ve always believed: the future of digital experiences is immersive, but that doesn’t mean abandoning the web. The best “metaverse” platforms will be accessible via browsers, performant on everyday devices, and focused on genuine utility rather than hype.

Working on this project between Looking Glass Factory and what came next showed me the consistency in immersive tech challenges: 3D optimization, real-time data, user experience, and scalability are always at the core.

While my time at Napster was relatively brief, it added another dimension to my expertise in building platforms that blend 3D technology, social interaction, and creative expressionskills that continue to inform my work in live visual production, immersive installations, and creative technology.

The metaverse may have gone through a hype cycle, but the underlying technologies3D web, real-time graphics, spatial computingare here to stay. And I’m excited to keep building at that intersection.

Tech Stack: React, Next.js, TypeScript, Node.js, PostgreSQL, AWS, Three.js, React Three Fiber, GraphQL, REST APIs

Company: Infinite Reality (became Napster Inc.)

Role: Senior Full-Stack Engineer

Key Outcomes:

• Built full-stack platform infrastructure for immersive metaverse experiences
• Optimized 3D asset delivery and progressive loading for virtual environments
• Designed Postgres database architecture for virtual worlds, users, and assets
• Implemented real-time multiplayer systems for shared virtual spaces
• Developed music and entertainment-focused virtual experiences post-Napster pivot
• Created scalable APIs for frontend and external integrations

Focus: Virtual storefronts, event spaces, social platforms, creator tools

Industry: Metaverse, Virtual Events, Immersive Technology, Music Tech