Blockchain + AR/VR + Gaming has given birth to a new industry called Metaverse. Imagine you are living in a stimulated world - buying, selling, trading, playing with digital goods within that world. A virtual world, mirroring the real world but more efficient. We have games, NFT’s, apps and DApps all being build in several of these virtual worlds. Even our beloved Facebook Zuck is building one such Metaverses of Metaverse for this 3 Billion slaves. NewYorker has a great piece on this btw:
While virtual games have existed for many years now but two things happened since 2020 that brought this Metaverse future closer to reality:
COVID led boredom, especially among millennial and teenagers
Incentives laid by blockchain projects like Axie & Punks
And I am no one to give a new lesson on how much time your kids are spending on video games rather than helping you in the yard or mom in the kitchen (lol, you wish)
Here is a much better description of Metaverse and why NOW, and where TO?
Sweeney says no one knows what its going to look like but there are some characteristics that are here to stay:
Its always “ON'“
It is real time
Changes happen in real time
There is an underlying economy (incentives and rewards)
Hundreds of millions of creators and users can co-exist and b rewarded
Earning power will no longer be limited to top 1% . Anyone with an innovative idea and innovative service can become popular and make money
No one owns it, or no one company will be able to build or own it
Businesses and Apps will be build on top (they already are)
Blockchain and decentralized network will provide safety and instantaneous rewards, like in Ethereum. NFT’s on top them enable universal digital representation & ownership layer for any digital asset without any broker fee to Visa or Mastercards or Apple or Google.
Most Metaverse will start with a real world mirror copy and build on them in a democratised way where the best creator wins
Economic efficiencies will be the key for this open platform.