Some call it the new tech boom, while others are wary of long-term implications. Regardless, the metaverse is quickly shaping into a phenomenon straight out of a science fiction novel. A virtual world that allows you to create customizable avatars, design and stake ownership of digital assets, or simply conduct business in a fantastical space. There is hardly any limit to the extent of its utility. Metaverse is getting touted as a revolution in how we perceive the internet; call it Web 3.0, if you may. However, while the tech giants are all set to reap billions off this fledgling concept, not all stakeholders are on board. The Gaming Industry appears to be leading the defiance as the mainstream appeal of the metaverse dangles in uncertainty – much like the broader crypto market.
According to a research firm, the metaverse marketspace – including games, gadgets, and online services – cumulated over $49 billion in 2020. Further, it is growing at a rapid pace of 40% annually. Clearly, this ‘evolution of the internet’ has attracted the magnates from various walks of the tech industry. Notably, the Gaming Industry is leaning towards the metaverse to offer users a distinctive virtual experience. The concept, however, is not new – just a little unorthodox. For decades, gamers have experienced platforms that serve as virtual reality hosting customizable avatars. Users have interacted in the digital setting, traded collectibles, and even developed arsenals of simulated treasures in the gaming world. Today, this innovative step is a leap towards Blockchain – a decentralized mechanism to interact and trade in a virtual setting. Understandably, the value of items fixed in a traditional format could now vary in a blockchain.
Ubisoft – a French video game publisher – recently announced its foray into Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) – digital assets designed to track the proof of authenticity and ownership – through its blockchain platform called ‘Quartz’. An experimental additional to their popular game “Ghost Recon Breakpoint,” the platform offers players collectible virtual items – like helmets, clothing items, accessories – in the form of NFTs. According to a spokesperson of Ubisoft, this move allows users to collect and trade digital assets on the Blockchain. A similar venture was announced by GSC, a Ukrainian game developer, allowing crypto-based assets to customize in-game characters. While these moves are a transformative step towards the ultimate incorporation of blockchain technology, they have met widespread resistance from the gaming community. The anger stems from a widely shared belief that the gaming companies are now moving to NFTs to ‘squeeze profits’ from their games instead of improving the gameplay. “It is so obviously being done for profit, instead of just creating a beautiful game,” said an enraged gamer protesting on Reddit. Companies like Square Enix and a dozen more are planning a similar move towards NFTs in near-term. However, the industry is unarguably divided.
Major players in the tech industry are leading the road to the metaverse. A spotlight event is the attention-grabbing decision to rebrand Facebook as ‘Meta’. While market leaders like Apple and Google are honing their own devices to jump the bandwagon, not all players are on board. Notable entities have taken a decisive front against metaverse – especially in the gaming industry. For instance, Phil Spencer – Microsoft Xbox Chief – termed the efforts to bring NFTs to the gaming world as “exploitative”. For many executives, the issue is not just the ‘grab-cash’ model of this new transition. Instead, the fear of regulation weighs heavily against the metaverse to expand into mainstream reality. While micro-transactions have an implicit cap on the value exchange between the users, a move to NFTs opens the door to a broader platform for commerce and – inadvertently at least – speculation. Thus, regulatory forces would soon catch up with this tech boom: changing the gaming industry into a regulated exchange-like platform in the long term. “Rushing into offering NFTs without fully evaluating it could lead to serious damage,” said George Jijiashvili, principal analyst at Omdia.
Gaming studios like Ubisoft and GSC are relentlessly getting pushed to abandon their aspirations of a crypto revolution in the gaming industry. While for these studios, NFTs are a “premium (yet optional) addition” to allow gamers to earn by selling unique digital assets, the users are convinced that it’s nothing but a Ponzi scheme. Nonetheless, it is patent that even the industry is in two minds. And despite a conceptual revolution, NFTs are still in an embryonic stage: presumably inflated – via speculation – beyond their actual value. Hence, while a move towards metaverse might be the ultimate future of the tech industry – like the internet in the 90s -, the backlash is currently forcing the companies to backtrack for now. And bidding profitability against innovation – I think the choice is clear!
