Metaverse is one of the most used buzzwords in technology these days.
While companies across the world are still searching for business opportunities that the Metaverse can offer, the gaming industry already sees growth potential.
Metaverse games are seen as the pioneers and the future of the Metaverse.
What is the Metaverse, anyway?
Although the term Metaverse is not our main theme today, we believe that a little background is necessary so that we may understand how the gaming industry fits into all of this.
To make this concept closer to you, we will say that the Metaverse is a 3D universe that combines multiple virtual spaces and will allow users to work, socialize, and play games in 3D spaces.
Simply put, it’s destined to be a virtual world based on the internet, where you can do everything that you do in real life.
If you had a chance to see the movie Ready Player One by Steven Spielberg, you should have an idea of what the Metaverse might look like. Of course, it’s maybe too extravagant in the movie, but the core concept is set.
The Metaverse Impact on the Gaming Industry
We can say that video games provide the closest Metaverse experience and represent the first wave of it. How?
It is known that avatars will be a central element in the Metaverse. The whole idea is that, through your avatar, you will be able to execute various platforms, services, and experiences that the Metaverse offers.
The games Second Life, New Horizons, and Cyberpunk established avatars as one of the main elements in the gaming industry. Their fans have an opportunity to create their own avatars and post them online. There are now communities around creating avatars, such as “Rate My Avatar,” that gather thousands of gamers together. Games become a social space where people can interact.
In the metaverse games, avatars are virtual representations of real people, and they live in a metaverse world how people live in the real world. For instance, in Roblox and Minecraft, players use virtual material to make items that their avatars use.
Video game developers have always looked for ways to make the game experience more impressive for players. Metaverse made it possible on a higher level. Metaverse games use 3D technology, full display screens, VR headsets, and features like scent and tactile sensation, which make a gaming experience more real.
Fortnite is not just a “shoot-`em-up” game. It’s a place to hang out with friends, play or watch a movie. This game has gone one step further by hosting Adriana Grande and other musicians’ concerts.
From all of this, we can say that the Metaverse and the game industry impacted each other. The Metaverse transformed the video game world, and video games show what experiences and possibilities we can expect from the Metaverse.
Technology Used in the Metaverse Games
In order to better adapt to the new digital world, the gaming industry switched to metaverse technology. Let’s talk about the top technologies needed to develop games in the Metaverse:
AR&VR
AR and VR technologies offer exciting 3D experiences.
By using characters and visual elements, sounds, and sensory stimulants, AR (Augmented Reality) changes the real world for the user. AR adds digital elements to the real world with limited interaction.
VR (Virtual Reality), on the other hand, is a technology that creates a simulated environment explored in 360 degrees. A simulated environment can be different or similar to the real world. Car racing games are convincing VR experiences. You simply put on VR handsets and you will immerse yourself in speed.
Blockchain
Blockchain has a vital role in the Metaverse. Blockchain uses a decentralized ecosystem of open code to enable users to engage in digital commerce and is transparent for all users.
As an open-source project, Metaverse offers decentralized transactions and digital wallets. Instead of worrying about banking channels, you make transactions using a digital wallet no matter where you are located. Instead of real money, you do your transactions with cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum, Bitcoin, etc. Join the Bitcoin SV community today.
Cryptocurrencies allow users to transfer values in the Metaverse.
You can buy virtual reality items, digital assets, avatars, and even other metaverses with value in the real world.
The gaming industry also adopted blockchain as well, through the idea of tokenization and NFTs.
Tokens are used as a reward system or as an instrument to purchase items in games. This transaction has become the norm in the gaming world. Also, tokens may provide you with the chance to earn digital currencies, trade them, and transfer their value into real-world currency through crypto.
You can sell your tokens or NFPs for cryptocurrencies, and after that, you can sell cryptocurrencies for real money.
NFTs are unique assets stored on a blockchain, such as Solana, Ethereum, and Polygon. They are deeds of property that only exist in the virtual world. As a gamer, you can buy and earn NFTs. In the Axie Infinity game, you can collect and breed NFTs of digital pets called Axels.
NFTs can be everything, songs, images, and even virtual properties on virtual land.
In the game, it can be a horse, armor, or just a piece of armor.
So, we can say that the Metaverse has its own economy that exists in parallel and cooperates with the real-world economy.
3D
Engineering a 3D game requires a lot of graphics designing, image capturing, and interactions between them. The purpose of 3D is to make you feel like you are in the game.
Modern 3D graphics are so detailed that players don’t have to use their imagination while playing.
The same idea is at the core of Metaverse. Make it as real as possible.
Back to the Future
We may say that the Metaverse is already here, in an initial version for now. Yet, it’s hard to say exactly what the future will bring.
However, the Metaverse will change the gaming industry in an unimaginable way for us, according to the gaming companies’ predictions. So, what can we expect?
- The new technology called LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) will make AR more rooted in the real world. It will give a sense of more depth to real-life creations and allow the ability to hide virtual objects behind real ones.
- Virtual reality headsets may be smaller and have features such as eye tracking and hand detection.
- There are new possibilities that VR will offer to increase the gamer experience. It may include robotic boots that will give the feeling of walking or even haptic suits for the whole body.
The potential of the Metaverse is unknown for now. However, with each new day, we witness the creation of this new world, not only through games but also through other industries that are still finding their way in this new world.
Are you ready for a future where you can turn your imagination into reality with just a pair of glasses? Ready or not, the Metaverse is coming in all its glory and will “change the game!”