After Facebook rebranded as Meta, everybody is now talking about the metaverse. But what is it?
The metaverse is a new term that refers to mostly digital worlds and games. Many gamers who have played open-world sandbox games like Roblox or Minecraft will likely recognize the metaverse as a rebranding for gaming. However, metaverse has a colorful twist – it generally includes elements of augmented reality, virtual reality tech, real estate, or social features. When you put it like that, it’s easy to see why Meta – which has struggled to stoke growth in its Family of Apps – would want a piece of the “gaming space.”
However, metaverse precedes Meta – and it even precedes the idea of the blockchain. The term was coined in 1992 when Neal Stephenson wrote about it in his science fiction novel “Snow Crash.” The author imagined different avatars meeting in realistic 3D buildings and other virtual worlds.
Games were arguably the first iteration of the metaverse, but it wasn’t until Ethereum came along that people talked about a metaverse where everybody owns their own assets – generally represented by crypto and NFTs representing in-world assets.
Metaverse might sound like a buzzy new term to you, and it might prove to be one of the latest thematic flavors of grift in the coming years. After all, nobody really talks about ICOs, the Bitcoin Civil Wars, or “Bitcoin Killers” anymore – right? It’s very possible that the metaverse might just be a passing fad used to juice money out of VC…
But what if it’s not? What if we really do log onto virtual worlds, VR goggles and all, and go shopping with our friends? What if we go to a virtual theater to watch new movies in the future? What if we visit coffee shops, go to class, and go to concerts online? It’s already happening, but the possibility it becomes a global phenomenon is not all that farfetched.
However, there is great contention over who will own the metaverse – the people or Big Tech companies like Facebook? That’s an important distinction for one core reason:
The metaverse is not only about gaming and expression, but also about capital and money.
The metaverse offers players the opportunity to make money. One example could be play-to-earn video games like Axie Infinity ($AXIE.NFT), where players buy their Axies, or avatars, play the game, and earn $SLP tokens as rewards.
In real life, your avatar can attend a virtual meeting with your colleagues, go out shopping, and swipe your card for a transaction. These kinds of experiences are already available on platforms like Decentraland and The Sandbox.
The metaverse as it is today is primitive, much as the Internet was in the 70s. However, the metaverse’s close relationship with blockchain only solidifies the point – we might very well be in the early stages of a decades-long, global tech revolution involving digital assets, digital worlds, and economies. Companies know they want a piece of it – grift, passing fad, or the future. However, the real question is: will ‘normal people’ want to be involved too?