The Metaverse has been a highly controversial subject ever since developers first began creating Metaworlds, especially due to the involvement of real world currency. However, it now seems as though even big high street names are starting to stake their claim on the potentially lucrative future of The Metaverse.
The Metaverse is a virtual world usually accessed through a Virtual Reality headset connected to a computer. It is a virtual space where the user can create their own avatar to represent themselves. They are then free to do whatever they please as long as they do not break any of the rules laid out by who runs the servers. Different Metaworlds are owned by different organisations and have different rules. Which of them will become the most popular still hangs in the balance. The most popular Metaworlds at the minute are The Sandbox, Decentraland and Voxels. Meta also own there own Metaworld called Horizon Worlds.
Many activities can be undertaken within The Metaverse such as exploring, purchasing and monetizing real estate, customizing avatars, making friends, shopping for real and virtual products and even getting a virtual job… we’re not kidding. Although hard to believe, a number of companies have already purchased space in The Metaverse. High street names such as Adidas, Burberry, Gucci, Tommy Hilfiger, Nike, Samsung and more have all spent money securing land within The Metaverse which can be used for virtual versions of their stores amongst other things.
There is a lot of money changing hands regarding The Metaverse. For example, a 96m x 96m long and wide area with a height of 128m in The Sandbox is called a “land”, the average price of which is around £1900. Whilst this is certainly not cheap, many plots of land can be grouped together to form an ‘estate’. The price of virtual real estate fluctuates depending on where it is located – just like in the real world. This is leading to some people spending exorbitant sums on virtual land such as recently when somebody spent $450,000 to be Snoop Dogg’s virtual neighbour.
The future of The Metaverse is still uncertain at this time. However, there is no denying how much some organizations believe in the platform and what could be achieved through it. Time will tell just how much this belief will pay off for companies who have invested so heavily into it but it is clear that the metaverse is here to stay to some degree.
