It’s Friday evening and I am sitting on my couch, watching my son play Minecraft alongside his cousin who lives 600 miles away. They are laughing as they race each other on a custom hide and seek map, which one of them created. That’s when it struck me. We don’t have to wait five to ten years to see the metaverse. It is already here and the next generation lives in it.
How do we then compare that with the most recent figures from a report? Information(opens in a new window) which shows that Meta — and other companies like it — are spending in upwards of $70 billion to build the meta(opens new tab)What will the future hold for the next ten years? As The Information’s article points out, this is twenty times the amount Apple invested when building the original iPhone.
But, here’s the deal. While many elements of the Metaverse as a noun certainly exist, it’s going to take a whole lot more to truly create a digital world that converges all the existing metaverse concepts into something interoperable. This would mean that it would be more expensive to make a whole product than just one. Duh.
Is it necessary to create a cohesive virtual world? I’d like to explore that question in today’s Editor’s Desk piece.
There is a common argument that games like Everquest and World of Warcraft popularized the idea of an internet world where players can create an alter-ego and live their lives as something more exciting than normal life. While these games were a great way to create a virtual world that feels more real than the others, they don’t fit into the definition of a metaverse.
Why? You can’t create or build your own worlds within these games. Even though it’s a large one, everything is still done within a predesigned framework.
Games like Fortnite and Minecraft better represent what we can and should be expecting from any type of proper noun Metaverse in future. Why is this? Simply put, there is no restriction on who a person can be and what they can do.
Online games have a predetermined structure, but metaverses don’t place any restrictions on who can play them and what they can build.
The creation aspect of Minecraft is clear. Minecraft was created for people who love to explore and build. It gives them the ability to create anything using its unique voxel style. As the years went by, Minecraft’s updates have focused heavily on giving people the power to go beyond the in-game tools and create truly spectacular things — even games inside of the game.
Minecraft’s marketplace offers a way for creators of worlds and characters to make and sell them for real-world cash. You can be Buzz Lightyear.
Fortnite has also taken on the role of allowing players almost any type of character they wish. It may actually be the best example of how amazing a metaverse can look when all is well. Do you doubt me? Take a look at the video. This video is available as a Tweet(opens new tab)(written warning) For what I believe is the best example I have seen of the game.
This type of fandom mashup was not possible before in bootlegged games or fanfiction. But it’s possible today in the most beloved online game.
Goku races through a field and the sound and visual flair a Kamehameha rings in the distance. Goku jumps up and uses Spiderman’s web shooters, to web swing quickly from tree to tree until reaching the players fighting. Only then does Darth Vader pull out his Lightsaber to annihilate each player almost instantly.
You might be convinced by the Xenomorph from Aliens. Dance to a Wu-Tang Clan tune(opens in a new window)? You could also consider characters from animes such as Dragon Ball Z or Naruto, along with many other original characters. Having the time of your life(opens new tab)A virtual BTS concert
This kind of fandom mashup was previously only possible in fanfiction or bootlegged games, but it’s now possible in the most popular online gaming site. This is the power of metaverse and it has only been possible in the last few decades as a living concept.
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VR Chat is more than an online forum. It’s a visual platform that allows people to interact and discuss current events. It’s an entire culture.
Fortnite and Minecraft are two of the most prominent examples of what you might call a metaverse today in pop culture, but there is a more obvious example that only exists in VR: VR Chat.
VR Chat is a totally free title that can be overwhelming for new users. VR Chat is more than an online forum. It offers a visual platform for people to connect and discuss current events. It’s a whole culture that is displayed prominently in the festooning catgirl avatars and other things that you will really get to know if you are a regular user.
VR Chat is not just for people to chat with their virtual avatars while they lounge on their couches at night. You can recreate classic games, and even jump into the worlds of new-generation games such as The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild.
Virtual Reality Chat has remade almost every thing you can imagine. It doesn’t matter if it’s real or virtual. VR among Us(opens new tab) before the actual official game comes out later this year, drifting cars in Ridge Racer — with proper PS1-era visuals — blasting imps in the original Doom while playing as your avatar, or tagging walls in the ever-lovable Jet Set Radio, VR Chat has it all.
Meta’s Metaverse is basically a mix of VR Chat and Pokemon Go. It allows people to interact with each other and make transactions wherever they are.
Meta’s Metaverse idea (capital M), comes into play. While VR Chat’s aim is to be a virtual place for you to spend time with friends — including friends who don’t have a VR headset with the game’s desktop mode — Meta’s concept goes beyond the four walls in your home and includes your phone and any other digital device you might have on your person.
Meta’s Metaverse is basically a mix of VR Chat and Pokemon Go. It allows people to interact with each other and make transactions wherever they are.
This complexity is what will be the most difficult part of Meta’s Metaverse. It’s also the reason why it’s the most expensive and transformative metaverse concept.
To compare the cost of creating other technologies, we can estimate that the initial investment in the creation would have been approximately $125 million, or $235 million today. The Information reported that Android cost $1 billion to make, while the original iPhone is around $3.4 million.
It’s possible that those who did the engineering in the early days didn’t know what the internet would look like or how large its knowledge base would be.
A proper Metaverse, on the other hand, would be more comprehensive than the initial internet infrastructure because it must bring together so many different things in one large, coherent virtual universe. As most comparisons show, it’s not surprising that such a design is more costly and complicated than investing in one product.
A true Metaverse would encompass more than the initial internet infrastructure because it must bring together many things into one huge, cohesive virtual universe.
It could be a game-changer, and I don’t believe it is fair to compare them all. It’s definitely fun to see how the numbers differ from one another — especially given that Meta looks to spend $70 billion on the development of the Metaverse over the next few years — but that cost also includes tertiary things like VR and AR headset development. It’s more than $10 Billion.
If Meta can find a way to bring all your favorite brands, characters and places together in one place that is accessible via almost every device, and create an ecosystem that benefits real people and real money, then it will be able to do something truly transformative.
It takes more imagination than imagination to create something as vast and complex as the metaverse. It requires a lot more than just imagination.
It is not clear whether Meta will reach the $70 billion mark by 2026. However, Meta’s recent hiring freeze, as well as rumors that it won’t hire any new employees in 2023, tell me that cost-cutting measures are already underway. What seems like an absurdly large number now, will decrease when the money comes back into Meta’s coffers.
We still need Roblox, Fortnite, Minecraft and Roblox to keep us occupied. It seems like it is at least. One of them(opens new tab)It is already in the works.
