Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney recently stated that “virtual worlds have the potential to become a trillion-dollar part of the world economy over the next few decades.” We’ve all read a dozen or so stories
about the Metaverse A similar statement in the future, but Sweeney has more insight than most. Epic, the games company behind Unreal Engine, which has powered AAA games for more than 20 years, and Fortnite, one of the most popular video games of all time, is a transformative virtual space in its own right.
For a long time, games have shown us the promise of the metaverse. More than a decade ago, massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) like "World of Warcraft" and "EverQuest" created persistent online worlds where digital goods and clothing were worth the money. Today's online games amplify this financial muscle with real-world brands that design and sell virtual items and experiences: Louis Vuitton designed skins and weapons for League of Legends, while Ferrari let players test drive its 296 GTB in Fortnite. Hundreds of millions of gamers play online games every day for entertainment and socializing. Epic Games alone hopes to expand Fortnite's 60 million monthly users to 1 billion.
Games today are not the final form of the metaworld, but there are some lessons we can learn from the gaming community as we imagine and build an open and thriving metaworld.
Lesson 1: Gamers join the digital space with purpose.
Online gamers play games for many reasons, but they all boil down to one purpose: to play with other people. It doesn't matter how great a game looks, how detailed a virtual world is, or how big a company's marketing budget is - if it's not fun to play together, it's not going to be a success.
Takeaway: Provide special purpose why your customers spend time in your Metaverse corner. What can they experience there that they won't find anywhere else? Maybe it's a unique live event, a special competition, or an educational opportunity that you alone provide.
Lesson 2: Gamers develop their own culture, slang, and style based on the existing game world.
Designers make games, but it's players who bring games to life. The most popular games give players the freedom to create their own culture and meaning within and outside the game world.
Blizzard's designers and developers deserve credit for the enduring popularity of their game World of Warcraft. They have created a game world with a variety of compelling experiences, quests and environments. But a big part of what made this MMORPG a global phenomenon is the digital culture of the millions of users who have been playing the (and still active!) game since 2004. For example, the designers created a guild system where like-minded players can team up in group missions called raids, but it's the players who make each guild's personality and style unique. Without these guilds, we'd never have seen the legendary Leeroy Jenkins become an eternal symbol/meme, rushing into dangerous situations before you're ready.
Key takeaway: Digital culture develops from the bottom up. Build a multifunctional virtual world that enables people to build their own community and meaning, rather than setting rigid guidelines for how to interact or play.
Lesson 3: The game operates in a relatively closed world, but the metaverse should be more open.
Despite their global popularity, online games still operate within their own digital spaces and do not offer universal access. Even a free-to-play game like League of Legends requires a fast computer and a fast internet connection. What's more, today's gaming world isn't cross-pollinating content, because you won't find Elder Scrolls Online weapons in World of Warcraft. But remember: gamers rarely play just one online game. This means that there is a cross-game virtual culture of shared players, design trends, and memes.
Because today's online games are purpose-built for group entertainment in relatively closed environments, they create digital silos that lack the openness and cross-platform presence of an ideal metaworld. A thriving Metaverse will feature interoperability and cross-platform data sharing for a truly open experience.
Takeaway: Find ways to expand your Metaverse experience beyond relying solely on technology and digital assets. How does your digital culture and stories cross the boundaries of virtual worlds?
Lesson 4: Today's games require too much boot and startup work.
There is no doubt that today's online games can help us better envision the possibilities of the Metaverse. But we should think of these games as metaverse prototypes, not final products. Today's online games require too much onboarding and startup effort to attract a truly generic user base. Just learning the systems, strategies, and environments of a new game can take days or even months.
To move beyond these archetypes and build a better Metaverse for everyone, we need to deliver progressively immersive experiences. This will first make the onboarding process of joining a new virtual world as easy as opening a web browser.
Once the user is comfortable entering the virtual world, there should be easy steps to gradually gain more engagement. Think of how a mobile site can provide an easy way to interact with a business that can be more engaging than a desktop site, which then directs users to download that business' app. Likewise, Metaverse experiences can start in a web browser and eventually lead to VR headsets and deep immersion.
Takeaway: A better Metaverse will be built through progressive experiences. Think about how you can lower the barrier to entry.
Today's gaming world shows that the metaverse is not some abstract marketing concept or the pipe dream of some tech billionaire. Instead, Metaverse and its interconnected virtual worlds are real entities that most people will one day join — and brands and businesses need to be ready.
Source: Metaverse Matrix