The metaverse emulates a real-world cosmos where participants can be anyone they want to be, create anything, and travel everywhere regardless of real-life circumstances. Within this virtual space that is similar yet so different from the real world, it is not impossible to imagine the opportunities that will emerge 'living' in a world liberated from the laws of physics. Collectively, these worlds, together with their discrete features and themes, will integrate with the internet.
The metaverse has two profound divisions: the physical world and the internet. Its division from the physical world is characteristic of the fact that it integrates a 3D virtual universe. Its internet division occurs because the metaverse acts as a 2D internet. Therefore, we can see that the metaverse is a 2D internet inside a 3D virtual universe. The financial implications of this combination are extensive opportunities that could drive diverse sectors of economic growth.
The Metaverse Economy
History shows that Christopher Columbus led Santa Maria and Nina into the Asian lands where the riches of gold and spices awaited them. Little did Columbus and his colleagues know that their exploration would mark the start of the American civilisation. Scientists often argue over the question of where the next generation of explorers and voyagers will travel to. The answer is usually our solar system. But, according to emerging proof and research, the metaverse could be the next anticipated destination.
There is compelling evidence that shows that the world's gross domestic product has reached almost $10 trillion. With this soaring economic figure, it is hard to deny that the world could invest in new cities, towns, and digital infrastructures within the metaverse. Thus, the metaverse shall represent an integrated and interconnected network of worlds, each with interests, priorities, and varying community and cultural levels.
The Economic Advantages of the Metaverse
The first network effects and mover advantages of the metaverse will rise in the economies of the first world nations. This is because there is a considerably higher level of investment by the first world economies, which indicates an upper hand in building a metaverse that responds to users' needs. As we have experienced with the dot-com bubble, the metaverse worlds (or websites) with the most traffic represent those that offer the best services, features, user experience, themes, and functionality.
It is important to think of the many ways to monetise traffic inside the metaverse. Well, to budding entrepreneurs and investors eying the metaverse as a potential investment, the best way to monetise is to think of how malls and governments attract or collect revenue. For instance, enterprises like High Fidelity have pioneered various ways to monetise their beta in virtual social worlds. For example, high Fidelity is taxing transactions in virtual spaces and leasing spaces in specific coveted locations.
How the Metaverse Redefines Business Opportunities
Companies are also compensating developers of top locations inside the metaverse. As a result, there is revamped competition from investors and big techs to capture value in the metaverse. This competition will lead to the same capitalistic effects that have designed most civilisations in history.
There is a question as to whether the metaverse will be a business opportunity of a lifetime. Well, monetising the metaverse goes beyond the traditional view of it as a collection of cities, towns, or physical locations. Instead, metaverse monetisation involves understanding how the virtual space integrates business priorities with consumer interests and creates value through shared capabilities.
As we reiterate, the metaverse is the immediate successor of the internet. This means that all the metaverse worlds represent different websites hosted on the internet. Therefore, we can experience all the World Wide Web offers with a fully immersive 3D interface through visualisation with the metaverse.
Looking at the metaverse economic potential, we can see that the 3D virtual interface will unlock countless financial opportunities for brands and websites to reinvest their customers' user experience. As a user, think of going from Amazon.com to shop to visiting a virtual 3D Amazon Mall inside the metaverse. Such transformations will redefine how businesses approach customers and deploy technology in redefining their customer relationship management.
In an animated Disney film titled Wreck-It Ralph 2, there was an interesting exhibition of how the eBay auction warehouse would resemble in the metaverse. Instead of scrolling through 2D photos on a website, users would touch and test out a digital version of a product before making a bid or a buy-in this animation film. Such enhanced customer experiences represent opportunities for enterprises and organisations willing to leverage the metaverse as the next frontier.
Metaverse: The Future of Business
Metaverse will spark new business opportunities for streaming companies like Netflix that rely exclusively on monthly and yearly subscriptions. For now, Netflix generates revenues from subscriptions, but soon, it will diversify in the not-so-distant future of selling merchandise in metaverse or initiating a theme park like Disney. Since its inception, Netflix banned advertisements because they were intrusive to users' immersive experiences.
Netflix can now open theatres and monetise the incoming traffic of nearly 150 million customers in new and innovative ways. Metaverse provides many aspects that will help enterprises like Netflix revamp their business models and achieve profitability and sustainability. These aspects include merchandise stands, placing simple ads on walls, and ordering options from McDonald's or Dominos. In addition, while digital film enterprises have VR movie theatre applications – it is only a matter of time before this experience becomes social and integrates lucrative capabilities.
The Metaverse is a Lifetime Business Opportunity
Before social distancing regulations, when people held cocktail parties, the metaverse would have been a party term in its rights. After all, the metaverse is trendy, hot, and no one seemed to know exactly what it meant when it was conceptualised. Hence, it acted only as a conversation starter. However, as the metaverse gradually shifts from a concept to reality, it could transform the retail space and become a lifetime business opportunity.
Facebook Horizon was launched as a virtual space to be accessed by Facebook's Oculus headsets. Presently, Facebook Horizon is getting the most attention and popularity. It can be accessed in beta and allow users to explore virtual worlds, play games, and interact with connected users. In addition, users can launch Facebook Horizon and host a meeting. Regardless of all these provisions, the true power of the metaverse lies in economic transformation.
The metaverse will tilt the equilibriums of demand and supply, revamp the retail space, and respond to shifting consumer demands. Physical enterprises will launch metaverse stores where consumers can visit metaverse malls, and this interconnectedness in shared virtual platforms will be a business opportunity of a lifetime. Indeed, with an economic system intact and favourable policies and regulatory framework in place, metaverse will drive significant growth in different sectors.
Looking at the metaverse earning strategy, we can tell that in the future, companies will have dedicated teams working to identify ways to innovate, advertise, sell, and build products inside the metaverse. The metaverse will seamlessly integrate the virtual and physical spaces, blend human and business capabilities, thus unlocking countless economic opportunities.
