Technology often surprises us in a way that nobody can predict and this time it’s with the advent of the Metaverse. The next version of internet is called the Metaverse, a term born from science fiction, defining a shared, virtual space that’s constantly online and active, even without people logging in. It’s a parallel universe having its own economy, complete with jobs, shopping areas and media to entertain. The Metaverse trend is inevitable and the Silicon Valley C-suite has been obsessed with the idea, along with many gaming companies.
The Metaverse concept is new to video games and the industry hasn’t capitalised widely on the trend yet. It is however, emerging as a driving force for the industry and various gaming companies are going strength to strength by building on newer ideas on the Metaverse. Video games play a significant role in the Metaverse of media, technology, fashion and the entertainment industry.
As Covid lockdown measures and work-from-home policies push more people online for both business and pleasure, a new era of digital transformation has dawned upon us. Unsurprisingly, it is the video game technology infrastructure that is expected to bring immersive interactive experiences to every aspect of life. The industry has already opened new opportunities for product discovery, education, virtual co-working, commerce and social interactivity. Hence, it has already begun capitalising on the Metaverse trend. Leading companies have built popular games where players enter immersive digital worlds, getting a glimpse into immersive digital worlds. This new trend is emerging to merge virtual entertainment with the real-world economy.
Mark Zuckerberg, for one, sees great potential in the Metaverse. It is a major factor driving his company’s investments towards cloud computing and augmented and virtual reality companies. Computer-graphics chipmaker Nvidia Corp. also wants its Omniverse platform to power some of the underlying framework of the Metaverse, as does software-maker Unity Software. Chinese gaming giant Tencent has also launched a slew of Metaverse-related trademarks for its own social app QQ. Even Indian leading independent game studio Gamestacy’s flagship game ‘Influenzer’ gives an immersive gaming world that has all the social and interactive elements you expect in the Metaverse. Digital economies thrive in this virtual world and gaming companies are using block chain technology to create their economy, including crypto-currency and NFT based virtual in-game items which will allow users to create, share and trade unique digital goods. The Metaverse gives an opportunity to people to engage like never before. Gamers experience a deeper reality rather than being focused on a flat screen as they actively participate with the environment around them.
The Metaverse won’t reach its full potential without people having access to ultrafast, low latency internet. Today’s 4G connections support multiplayer games but cannot handle hundreds of concurrent streams of time-sensitive data. As such, mobile carriers worldwide are spending billions to build the 5G network and it’s definitely not ending here. The world may also need 6G to take things further. We are currently witnessing enormous levels of advancement in technology and internet interaction. The Metaverse is being supported by the gaming industry because video games are at the forefront as they have the highest technological needs and are designed for the masses. They also tend to own the most powerful computer processors available to consumers, thus giving gamers a glimpse of the Metaverse.
The Metaverse has reached our shores without us recognizing it, and it is here to stay. That is precisely what the gaming world has proven. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, the virtual and augmented market is predicted to grow in value from USD 46.4 billion in 2019 to USD 1.5 trillion in 2030. The scale of VR, AR and AI are expanding beyond the world of video games, and hence, the Metaverse will come to stimulate every aspect of our lives, until the point when the Metaverse itself is no longer a simulation. This is exactly what the Metaverse is – a digital matrix so lifelike that it could become the primary reality in which humans experience life.
