Shurick Agapitov

Founder and CEO, Xsolla Xsolla

Search every verified Shurick Agapitov interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Shurick Agapitov, founder and CEO of Xsolla, released a book titled *Once Upon Tomorrow: Harnessing the New Opportunities the Metaverse Creates* in March 2024. In interviews promoting the book, Agapitov described it as presenting his vision for a "new internet" that some people call the metaverse, which he characterized as a 3D, video game-like iteration of the internet. He stated that he wrote the book to inspire the next generation of internet entrepreneurs and to encourage readers to find opportunities for themselves in what he called the "3D internet." Agapitov also discussed his earlier venture, X.LA, which he described as a platform intended to facilitate revenue distribution for intellectual property creators and owners, allowing contributors to receive a percentage of sales rather than a one-time payment. In various interviews from 2022 to 2024, Agapitov elaborated on his definition of the metaverse, stating that it is not necessarily about virtual reality or specific platforms like Roblox or Fortnite, but rather a new internet built with video game technologies. He expressed the view that the metaverse will consist of "meta sites" — 3D spaces developed by video game developers for brands and intellectual properties. Agapitov also commented on the role of large companies, saying he would not be surprised if Facebook (Meta) fails within four to eight years, and noted that the inability to create a currency that governments allow for transactions is a "deal breaker." He emphasized that he believes people in the future will work more for protocols and themselves than for corporations.