The Future Of The Metaverse And Its Impact On The Economy

Today, it still seems that people know little about the metaverse and have only heard that it is the future of the internet. The reality is soon enough, it will become a part of our daily lives transforming a variety of industries from real estate and fashion to gaming and entertainment.

The metaverse is still a new concept to many consumers and businesses. However, the internet and the omnipresence it allows the world gives people the option to be in the metaverse in a variety of ways. It will create new jobs and support remote collaborations like never before. The metaverse will be a new shared space for anyone worldwide to coexist and interact.

The Challenges of the Metaverse

Although a new world brings excitement and anticipation, it also brings its share of challenges that must be addressed before being fully integrated with the economy. One of the main challenges is the need for more advanced technology to enable a more immersive and seamless experience. This includes improvements in areas such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence and blockchain technology. Seemingly every day there is a new technological development or breakthrough, so it won't be long before this vision becomes a reality.

Additionally, there are concerns around data privacy and security, as users will be sharing a lot of personal information within the metaverse. In the real world, there are systems in place to protect an individual's information and data, but this needs to be implemented into the metaverse. It's also worth noting that there is also standardization between metaverse platforms. Multiple platforms exist independently of each other, making it difficult for users to move between them. Collaboration between these platforms must occur to create a fully immersive ecosystem.

As a platform, the metaverse can be a viable alternative to our lifestyles and precise use cases and sectors of the economy and society that will upend its importance and position it for success. Technology, along with social and cultural changes, will need to be addressed before the metaverse becomes a mainstay in our economy.

As with any virtual platform that connects itself to the internet, every metaverse user and company relies on a great internet connection and low latency for a seamless experience. The applications, such as gaming, that are live in the metaverse right now, have the same connection challenges that circle the PC and Console experience. When paired with VR, latency and connection issues can be twice as frustrating as you are physically engaging with those applications directly. It is important that every company that goes into the metaverse have a dedicated squad to test and address connection experience.

Think about it from the standpoint of going to a concert to see your favorite artist. Would you rather watch from the last row or be seated in the VIP section? The connection must be taken seriously because it has the vital aspect of making or breaking an experience to give the user what they want and expect, and that won't be any different in the metaverse.

Technology and Gaming's Role

The gaming world is poised to have a much easier time adapting to the metaverse given the similarities. Gaming is a precursor of the metaverse. Within the gaming world, it has always been common to create your own avatar either in a massive multiplayer online (MMO) setting or select a predetermined avatar created by a game. The concept of creating a virtual avatar to perform tasks in a virtual world isn't new. We've seen this in many popular titles like Roblox, Minecraft, Fortnite and others where the community can create an environment of their choosing to enjoy and play together. Gaming gives people the metaverse experience that can be further translated into other practical areas of our life, such as work, health care, shopping and many others.

Technology, on the other hand, brings with it explicit narratives from Customer Journey documents to Simon Sinek's Golden Circle. For the metaverse to thrive, it really needs to structure growth with high regard for its narrative and those who can bring it to life — developers and users. In gaming, we see this all the time: New titles need to bring not only gameplay or graphics innovations, but they need to bring new and engaging stories and community-building assets and continue updating those assets and stories to secure a brighter and better future.

The Metaverse's Economic Impact on Tech and Gaming

As technology continues to evolve, just like any new disruptive innovation, the metaverse will bring new streams of revenue for companies as well as create new industries, and with that comes the creation of new jobs. Looking back, we didn't have social media 20 to 25 years ago. The first platform was Six Degrees in the late 90s, but it wasn't until Myspace in 2003 and Facebook in 2004 that it became popular. Now, we have new professions, from social media managers and specialists to content creators and influencers. The same thing will happen with the metaverse as professionals will be needed to handle the technology, content creation and eventual evolution.

When we see the metaverse purely as a new technology or platform, it brings a potential supply and demand impact in the form of more jobs, new companies and hardware and software sales. In a more qualitative fashion, we can see its impact ranging from better products to better experiences in technical education, mental health and cultural education — all of which are pillars for productivity, sociability and economic growth.

As it relates to gaming, in its "final form" with VR, the metaverse will bring forward a new era of engagement, interactivity and immersion. This will bring together the two dominant pillars in the industry, the MMO genre, with games such as World of Warcraft and interactivity, popularized by Nintendo Wii.

The metaverse offers an amazing opportunity to get best-in-class personalized gameplay with immersive graphics and sounds that will build up this "dream scenario" of agency in stories for users, where you can, quite literally, use your body to be part of a virtual story and control movements. It's like the predecessor for the technology we read in books and see in movies such as "Ready Player One" or "Peripheral," and it can change the way we fundamentally engage with gaming of any kind. It is opening new pathways for genres like puzzles, fantasy and rhythm games that can build and bring in this "wow" factor.

Conclusion

The metaverse has a network effect that, with good positioning, can bring a resounding positive impact on the future. However, we still must be wary of content moderation and use-time moderation, even more so with VR sets and especially with participation from children. The path forward for the metaverse needs to be sustainable for everyone, both mentally and physically.

The metaverse ecosystem has endless possibilities, but connectivity issues must be a focal point. Companies must invest in technologies that resolve these issues, as they will be even more essential to regular, daily activities within the metaverse.

(Lucas Stolze is the Chief Executor Office at ExitLag. He holds a BS in ME and an MBA degree both from Purdue University. Lucas is a true leader and a passionate businessman who is fascinated with technology, entrepreneurship and esports.)