Since its advent, the metaverse has been one of the biggest buzzwords in the blockchain and crypto industry. Even in its early stages, the concept fetches the interest of several investors and business organizations worldwide.
The metaverse promises to offer its users a much more immersive, interactive, and collaborative environment than the internet has offered up until now.
The metaverse is undoubtedly a leap forward in the development of internet technology. This potential of a virtual world similar to the real world and without any physical limitations in transactions and communications has led big players like Meta (Facebook) to make big investments in the budding space. In this article, we have brought to you the good and the bad of the metaverse universe.
Often this ecosystem is misunderstood as a platform for the global conglomerates to put their pro-tech bent on display, a perplexing product designed for selected strata of society who can showcase their NFTs or a new sector in the development of the gaming industry.
Contrary to this belief, Metaverse offers everyone a whole new world filled with numerous opportunities for consumers and business organizations. However, this set of opportunities comes with certain risks.
There's no denying that at the moment, the ecosystem is populated with business giants. For this platform to be accepted and adopted worldwide, it is essential that small businesses make transitions.
Let's take a look at the previous patterns in the history of the adoption of new technologies. We can see how small businesses play a huge role in developing acceptance of the technology on the mass level.
According to critical insights offered by Facebook's Connect, 2021, there is no doubt that the era of the metaverse is forthcoming. However, the timeline required for the mass worldwide to widely adopt the metaverse technology is spread out at least over a decade. The policy leaders firmly believe that by 2040, the metaverse would have already emerged as a functional aspect of daily life for more than half a billion people across the globe.
Even though it is not essential to have an immediate transition to pro-metaverse life, businesses are now considering the plausible scenarios with this tech in hand. If a firm strategically invests in the Metaverse ecosystem today, it would be able to build an improved experience for its customers in the future.
With the advent and increasing adoption of this system by several players in the business field, the metaverse is on its way to reshaping the working and scope of several industries. Regarding adopting cutting-edge tech, the gaming industry has always been a pioneer. In the case of the Metaverse, the situation is no different.
Several gamers are already convinced that the Metaverse can be the next frontier in the gaming world. According to developers, the gaming zone at present can often make the players feel. Even though the concept of multiplayer gaming solves the problem significantly, the inclusion of the meta world will take immersion and community to a whole new extent. The Metaverse project can create communities like Decentraland, Sandbox, Axie Infinity, etc., giving users social and monetary gains.
Despite the immense potential, only the more prominent firms now dominate the Metaverse gaming space. Small businesses don't have such a high budget for the research and development of a metaverse game.
Another sector that the metaverse can have a significant impact on is the fashion industry. Some major fashion brands have already started including metaverse-based fashion projects. They have already gotten on board with a successful Metaverse Fashion Week that included runway shows, after-parties, immersive experiences, shopping, panel talks, etc.
While the Metaverse brings immense opportunities and potential for growth and development to a whole new height, it is not free from risks and threats. Small businesses can be more exposed to the risks associated with this virtual ecosystem.
The metaverse ecosystem is yet in its initial stage and is taking shape. Thus, this universe's uncertain and commencing stage could disrupt the roadmap of small industries, leading them astray.
Jake Fraser is the head of business development at Mogul Productions. In an interview, he said:
"Technical expertise and knowing how to structure environments for users virtually is a fluid space and requires people to have their finger on the pulse to execute the best user experience. There also needs to be value for the user and something unique that they can't get from your brand in another place. If there is no clear 'hook,' it can be difficult to drive adoption from businesses."
However, we can see that the relevant companies that ventured into this growing industry have gained a lot from the future's perspective. This platform helps these industries to prepare for the future trend of virtual reality. To add to it, their present offerings also get an edge. If we look at the net outcome, the benefits of adopting the Metaverse have far more profits than the risks.