Microsoft recently bought Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. The main reason as mentioned on the Microsoft website was to accelerate the growth in Microsoft’s gaming business across mobile, PC, console and cloud and provide building blocks for the Metaverse.
While its as Fuzzy as it can get as it is still a rudimentary stage for standard METAVERSE definition, lets see how the world is talking about it.
So what is the Metaverse ?
Metaverse comprises 2 words- META and VERSE. Meta is a Greek word meaning Beyond and VERSE comes from word Universe. It used in the context of Digital World or Virtual Reality thereby meaning Beyond current Digital World or Virtual Reality or simply put future of Virtual Reality.
Facebook explains it as “a new phase of interconnected virtual experiences using technologies like virtual and augmented reality. At its heart is the idea that, by creating a greater sense of “virtual presence,” interacting online can become much closer to the experience of interacting in person.”
Investopedia defines it as a digital reality that combines aspects of social media, online gaming, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and cryptocurrencies to allow users to interact virtually. It further explains Metaverse as a shared virtual environment that people access via the Internet which in a way is a very easy explanation for a layman.
Wikipedia defines Metaverse as a network of 3D virtual worlds focused on social connection facilitated by the use of virtual and augmented reality headsets. The term was coined by Neal Stephenson in his 1992 Dystopian Science Fiction novel Snow Crash to describe a futuristic virtual world. Resembling a massively multiplayer online game (MMO), the Metaverse is populated by user-controlled avatars, as well as system daemons. VR goggle-wearing users take 3D avatars
Venture capitalist Matthew Ball who has written exclusively about this topic, describes Metaverse as the next wave in digital internet or Virtual Reality that would succeed Mobile Computing.
Has the Big Tech Adopted Metaverse?
All the big tech giants like Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Apple are heavily invested in Metaverse.
According to MONIES (Youtube channel) Mark Zuckerberg is trying to suck as much of the metaverse market share as he possibly can. But that doesn’t mean the other big tech companies are just going to roll over and settle for second place. What about Apple? Well, they have big plans to make themselves market leaders in the Metaverse. In fact, Apple plans to unveil an Augmented Reality device before the end of 2022 and this is just the beginning as shown in the below video.
Metaverse could be worth $800 billion market by 2024.
Bloomberg mentions that the Metaverse is the next big technology platform, a big market opportunity for online game makers, social networks and other technology leaders as the global Metaverse revenue opportunity could approach $800 billion in 2024.
Some simple videos explaining the concept of Metaverse:
BBC Video explains the METAVERSE as below:
Metaverse for Layman- see this video by MM Labs
