Metaverse: invest now or wait? That’s going to be the question of 2022, both within the technology sector and beyond. But it’s a question that looks set to be resolved this year and in the medium term. Ever since Facebook – one of the world’s biggest technology giants – became Meta in the final quarter of 2021, both the term metaverse and the very concept of a virtual metaverse have become familiar to 40% of global users.

And plenty of global Internet companies are already beginning to address the concepts around virtual realities with ease, concepts that will soon be in common use by Internet users. But also within retail and ‘real world’ products and services markets, which will transfer part of what they do to a market dominated instead by avatars and digital personalities.

Cryptocurrencies, art and entertainment at the forefront of the metaverse

Besides revolutionising financial markets with blockchain technology and associated cryptocurrencies, today, other frameworks, such as the art market, collectibles and, more generally, digital assets, are giving us a more precise idea of what exactly will be commonplace in future metaverses thanks to the revolution brought on by the latest technological paradigm shift: elements that don’t exist or even relate to the physical world – at least in theory – that are listed, bought, sold and traded in a strictly digital format. And they’ll be available to people who exist in the virtual world themselves through unique avatars. We’re talking about a market that could reach $800 billion in just two years. And that’s just for starters.

The closest experiences to what we could see in a fully developed metaverse are what we often find in the video gaming world of today. This concept was recently explained by Wildbytes CEO Julio Obelleiro in a recent interview in Computing magazine. Mr Obelleiro gave the example of a game, like Fortnite, where purchasable avatars, skins and customisable weapons have been a reality for players there for a long time now, the buying and selling of which have already created a solid market in that arena. Furthermore, participants in that particular metaverse can enjoy entertainment experiences, such as concerts, within the actual game world itself.

Big fashion brands also taking up positions in the metaverse

Within the context Julio Obelleiro sets out, it’s not surprising to see other economic sectors with their eyes firmly on a slice of the succulent ‘cake’ the virtual metaverse could represent for them. Prestigious brands like Balenciaga have already introduced their products on the Fortnite platform, Vans has created its own space within the Roblox video game world, while the RTFKT studio — recently snapped up by Nike — sold virtual shoes worth €3.5 million in just five minutes! “The world of fashion is experiencing a historic revolution both in terms of economic impact and the experiences that could be generated with the associated psychology. The value of digital clothing that you can only enjoy in virtual environments is already exceeding the value of their physical counterparts in many cases”, explains Mr Obelleiro.

The metaverse that Mark Zuckerberg has in mind may be pioneering. But it remains to be seen whether or not it will bring about the same revolution online that Facebook brought to the world in the early 2000s. What is clear is that his creation will not be the only metaverse available. The interaction between users of more than one virtual world, the rules that govern each of them and the economic sectors – and not just those necessarily related to leisure – that will be able to expand their businesses into these digital environments are all aspects that are yet to be seen and fully understood. For now, the automotive sector and the beauty products market are two industries seriously exploring the possibilities the metaverse can offer them.