Raphael Thys
The metaverse is a shared space, created by communities or individuals to share information. It has been described as the next evolution of the internet.
The metaverse consists of virtual worlds that are constantly connected through networks and servers. Web 3.0 will allow for more immersive experiences in these virtual worlds, making it easier for users to communicate with each other and explore together.
The idea is that the metaverse is a digital space that will soon be as real as the world we live in. In this article, we will discuss what the metaverse is and its implications.
We’ll also talk about why Facebook and Epic are both investing heavily into metaverses now – and how they’re going to affect our lives in the future.
Metaverse: What does it mean?
The metaverse is a virtual reality or computer-generated environment which allows users to interact with one another through avatars, sounds, text messages, music videos, video games etc.
A web 3.0 metaverse could have many applications; for example, education where you would enter an immersive classroom and interact with your teacher and other students.
There’s even a metaverse for business; where you could upload assets to share with colleagues in real-time. The opportunities are endless!
As software developers continue improving their design skills – the metaverse will become more immersive and realistic over time (more like real life). This means that our virtual reality experiences will be almost indistinguishable from the real world at some point in the future.
This is already happening: games such as Second Life have been in development since 2001 and take place entirely in a computer-generated environment so it comes as no surprise that metaverses need lots of computing power behind them to work well.
For game designers, the metaverse is an amazing opportunity to create another world for their players to explore.
They are already experimenting with metaverses, working out how to design objects that can be used in different metaverses and thinking about the rules of the universe they have created.
For example, what happens if you create something within a metaverse? What is its value outside of this universe?
The future looks bright because metaverses promise even more than just immersive gaming experiences.
It also allows other industries such as education, architecture and healthcare to benefit from VR technology too by allowing people access to entirely new worlds where simulations could play out before making life-changing decisions.
How is the Metaverse linked to web 3.0?
Web 3.0 is a term used to describe a metaverse that uses the internet as its substrate.
In other words, its virtual world would exist online and be accessed through your web browser.
This is in contrast with both VR technology which usually requires expensive hardware such as Oculus Rift or HTC Vive headsets and current metaverses like Second Life where you have to download an application before being able to access it (the server then runs on powerful remote computers).
The metaverse is often compared with virtual reality (VR) because of its immersive experience, but it’s important not to miss the big picture here: it isn’t about games or entertainment like VR technology companies are trying to sell us on.
The metaverse has the potential to be used for all sorts of things, such as business, education and healthcare. There are metaverses that offer spaces for users to rent out or ones where you can buy and sell products.
In addition, the metaverse is not limited by time and space; this means people from all around the world can meet up in a metaverse just like they would in real life.
This makes it a great place for businesses to connect and network with one another. It also allows educators to teach students all over the world without having them leave their homes.
A key structure of Web 3.0 is the use of NFTs or non-fungible tokens. NFTs are used by games and other metaverses to keep track of your items.
You can trade these tokens with others on the metaverse or use them as a sort of currency. For example, an NFT might be designed for trading armour in one metaverse while another uses it as money; they are both used differently but still fall under the category of a non-fungible token.
The metaverse is all about connecting people through digital space, so the use of NFTs allows people to freely trade their digital goods and items with others. It allows people to access a metaverse without having them leave their homes, which is great for those who cannot travel because of age or health problems.
What should we expect to see in the future of metaverses?
As for what will happen next within metaverses themselves; they’re likely going to become more popular with time because people are naturally drawn towards them. As mentioned earlier, they allow us not only to socialize with others but also to take up new hobbies and build communities. A functioning metaverse is still a long way away, but Facebook and Epic both want to take the lead in developing it.
As we all know by now, Mark Zuckerberg bought Oculus back in 2014 because he recognized that VR was going to become really popular fast; so it makes sense if he wants his company to lead this movement too (as well as other more traditional internet services).
Oculus has already made metaverses a key part of their business model, as they intend to launch Oculus Home – an online metaverse for gamers where you can buy games and connect with friends.
Facebook’s metaverse has been focused more around social media than games – implying that you’d use your existing identity on FB rather than creating new avatars each time you another metaverse world
Epic Games recently announced that they will be releasing their own game engine (Unreal Engine) for free with full source code so that others can easily build on top of it.
Building on top of an open platform like this would allow developers to quickly create metaverses without having to invest too much time or money into building one from scratch.
One key idea is to move away from seeing it as an alternative reality but instead think about how metaverses could supplement our daily lives in positive ways by giving us access to new technologies such as augmented reality and virtual assistants.
Why do investors care about metaverses?
Investors are interested in metaverse companies such as Oculus Rift because metaverses will allow them to bring their ideas into the digital world and monetize them. For investors and big businesses like Facebook and Epic Games (Fortnite), metaverses offer a digital landscape that can potentially bring in billions of dollars if monetized correctly. Facebook is trying to lead the metaverse alongside Epic Games by way of investing in VR technology companies. Investors are interested in metaverses because they provide an entirely new landscape for digital experiences that can be monetized—bringing ideas to life online before having to make big changes IRL.
Facebook, with its immense financial power and virtual reality company Oculus Rift, has made it clear that metaverses will become a world dominated by social media platforms where people spend most of their time. Meanwhile, game developers like Epic have also shown interest in bringing this emerging space online as well–in order to benefit from the massive amounts of traffic and players who would exist within them (Fortnite alone brought in $296 million USD in revenue in March 2018).
More broadly, metaverses could be a way for brands to become more immersive and interactive. While the industry is still at an early stage of development, investors are beginning to pour capital into metaverse startups.
What does this mean for web developers?
Web designers need to plan ahead if they’re going to keep up with technology developments around metaverses. Companies that produce virtual reality headsets have started doing so only recently but already we’ve seen two iterations on our way towards what might be “the perfect headset.” As metaverses continue evolving it’ll become even more important for designers who want their websites viewed by large audiences to have metaverses in place.
With metaverses, Facebook and Epic are aiming to lead in the development of web technologies. Both companies have billions at their disposal and they’re willing to spend it on obtaining a competitive edge over each other. It seems like this is going to be an arms race where we’ll see huge amounts of technological advancements in very short timeframes with metaverse developers investing more than $500 million into metaverse related projects already within two years.
What does the metaverse mean for games developers?
Watch this discussion about the potential the metaverse can unlock for games.
The playground of the future
As we’ve said, the metaverse is still very much at the conceptual stage, but as Web 3.0 develops and becomes a more functional foundation for ideals like the metaverse, we can expect to see some really cool applications of this technology both inside and outside of the gaming industry.
Machinations
Orchestrator
Machinations is a visual and interactive tool for evaluating the impact any game system, mechanic, or parameter has on your players’ experience. Entire games can be mapped and played through in Machinations, to easily spot any flaws, before writing a single line of code. Then, forecast game progression or free-to-play revenue with confidence, understand and maximize different player journeys. It's time to fuel your game design process with data, not guesswork!