How many times has your peer mentioned the term “Metaverse” in the last 1 week? Probably countless times. 

Layal Hassi

The concept of the metaverse; when first announced, exploded in less than 7 days with countless industries, each racing towards understanding what it would take, to create a customizable digital representation of themselves in an open virtual world.

The difference between industries in real life and industries in the metaverse, is that the virtual world allows companies to have fun, acquire, compose and conduct business in any way possible that you can imagine, for as long as it is immersive. 

The list of industries that began racing towards becoming the first company to create a metaverse immersive experience, were the likes of banks, film industry, entertainment, luxury, FMCGs, retail, culinary, healthcare and the list is endless. At first it was almost impossible to imagine how something that is not yet fully tangible, could end up being a $700 + billion market opportunity. 

What everyone is yet trying to figure out is the complexities of creating a world that will never run down, fatigue or become less immersive, but rather ongoingly innovative.

The first impression across all industries, once the metaverse was announced, was that it was found to be a new gateway to digital experiences, as it eliminates literally all terrestrial limitations and it opens up exciting new possibilities for productivity, collaboration, creativity and immersiveness. 

Besides the fact that the global pandemic accelerated the digital economy, major technological developments also raced towards the future with those being cloud technology, blockchain and 5G.

Let’s take a deep dive into the most evident changed industries since the inception of the metaverse:

  • Gaming

How many times in the last few weeks have we seen 3D avatars or Roblox being a key discussion across the gaming industry? Roblox has seen a daily active increase in DAUs from 32.6 million in 2020 to nearly 50 million in 2021. Additionally, it has signed multiple high end partnerships with brands such as Wimbledon, Sony music entertainment, Nike and Ralph Lauren specifically to take a key part in the metaverse journey.

The gaming industry will continue to unlock major new revenue streams as the metaverse becomes a key revenue driver in this industry.

  •  Media and Entertainment

How often did we change the way we consume content in the last decade? Probably a whole lot of times. We have gone through an era of changes starting with traditional media to social media, from live TV to online streaming etc… and so the metaverse is just another way to create a new content stream that we consume and immerse our customers in. Brands always wanted to find a stronger and more immersive way to connect with customers. Now is the best time to connect customers and their human desires with brands, in order to tell stories and share experiences.

  • The Culinary Industry

The virtual experience will connect all multi-senses such as smell, taste and feel to the metaverse. Momentarily, it is quite difficult to imagine immersing the dining experience into the metaverse, however the culinary industry will transform the way we will experience the meals of our future. We are already witnessing restaurants add multisensory VR masks to the customer experiences, a device that adds smell, wind and water to the virtual reality. However, the culinary industry will need to keep up with the rising cost of technological deployments to be able to race towards the metaverse.

  • E-commerce and Retail

This industry in particular already witnessed a massive revolutionary change since the COVID period, quickly shifting customers from a physical shopping world, to online consumption. Upon the launch and announcement of the metaverse, the retail industry quickly announced that it was the next big opportunity for retail brands to unlock additional revenue streams by allowing customers to better visualize their potential purchases via AR and 3D in order to make informed decisions that could potentially lead to an increase in conversions.

  • Architecture and Engineering

The metaverse will represent a whole new era of unbound and untouched constraints to the physical world. There is an entire world of construction and real estate that will host all metaverse activities, and a place furthermore, that can work more creatively and fiercely. Most engineers and architects, on the long term, will be able together to visualize and build on designs that will be hosted within the metaverse.

However, we shouldn’t confuse the VR for the metaverse within this industry. The VR will be a way to populate the metaverse, but how people will use it professionally, will dictate how and where it is hosted, since not every scenario will require an immersive environment.

  • The Advertising Industry

The global advertising market is not showing any signs of slowing down. Recent official advertising figures announced, indicate that the global market value has reached a staggering $700 billion globally. With the announcements of the Metaverse, the advertising industry will no longer be any different, with brands and advertisers bringing real characters to life enabling a more fun advertising environment for both brands and consumers.

So what is the actual near future, next big thing for industries?

There is a current need for an exceptional amount of 3D content to be produced, with an ongoing opportunity for 3D creators and developers and designers to become the next big main roles of the future as new jobs and new occupations arise.

Although still in early stages, the metaverse will quickly move brands from one stage to another. And so what this means is that industries will need to conduct solid, well planned and agile strategies that will envision how the next 4-5 years will look like for brands that are planning to move from the current world to the metaverse. But a strategy does not simply come into play without having the right physical and digital infrastructure to move ahead. So as industries move towards the metaverse, there will be a need to address the infrastructure of the future which will require a need to invest in talent, time and effort.