1.1 About The Metaverse

In June 2022, renowned consulting firm McKinsey published a report titled "Value Creation in the Metaverse – The Real Business of the Virtual World", which forecasts that the metaverse may generate up to $5 trillion in impact by 2030. Although largely driven by gaming in the early phase, it shows that the metaverse will span activities well beyond gaming and make a difference in almost everyone's lives in 8 years. It also estimates that the metaverse will have a $108 billion to $125 billion impact on the gaming market by 2030. With billions of investments pouring in, the metaverse has hit a milestone in its development. While its definition is still fluid—and will likely continue to be for some time—the consensus view is that the metaverse is the next iteration of the internet, where it becomes something we are immersed in, rather than something we just view. “The metaverse has put us at the cusp of the next wave of digital disruption,” said Tarek Elmasry, senior partner at McKinsey. “It’s transformative. It will likely have a major impact on our commercial and personal lives, which is why businesses, policymakers, consumers, and citizens may want to explore and understand as much as they can about this phenomenon, the technology that will underpin it, and the ramifications it could have for our economies and wider society.”

The "proto-metaverse" is fueled by the gaming experience. Almost two decades ago, Second Life introduced game players to the notion of “living” in an always-on virtual world, but the reality is that the metaverse is different. With more than 3 billion users globally and a total value of more than $200 billion, the gaming sector is larger than movies and music. Consumers and companies are already experimenting with the early metaverse for everything from socializing to fitness, commerce, virtual learning, and scores of other daily activities. Gaming has acclimated customers to the concept of the metaverse: a survey from McKinsey found the share of millennials very excited about the metaverse was about 50% higher than that of Gen Z. There are 3 billion gamers in the world, spanning geographies, generations, and genders. For instance, the gaming platform Roblox reportedly had nearly 55 million daily active users (DAUs) and generated $1.9 billion in revenue in 2021; Minecraft has about 140 million monthly active users, and Fortnite about 80 million.