Since Facebook announced its name change to Meta due to its commitment to the metaverse, this concept has been climbing positions to become one of the main trends that will mark 2022 and, perhaps, the next five years. But, in reality, Zuckerberg has not invented anything new , since we have been seeing glimpses of the metaverse for years without realizing it (or calling them something else).
When we talk about the metaverse, it seems that we are referring to a parallel universe in which we are all going to enter and live together as if it were a fictional city from 'The Sims', when it is not really like that.
There are many questions that arise around this term, from what it is to whether it can be accessed already or how a brand can take advantage of it. To resolve these questions, we will have the help of Marc Pérez , founder and CEO of Playoffnations , an agency specialized in connecting companies with the gaming world, eSports, influencer marketing and the metaverse.
The distinction between metaverse and metaverses: is it accessible yet?
The first thing to do to begin to understand it is to know that there are two concepts. On the one hand, the term as such that we know and that Zuckerberg coined. " It refers to the fact that there is no distinction between the physical and the virtual and the technological , that is, that we are capable of living a life beyond and freeing ourselves from the physical space, where what I do will have a life of its own and an impact on my virtual avatar," says Pérez.
“We don’t know what there is or what there will be, but we do know what technologies will be part of this future metaverse, such as 5G, blockchain, NFTs, mixed and augmented reality ,” he continues to explain. “At the moment when technology advances and we are able to unite it, the metaverse will arrive, which is a totally abstract concept that no one can define,” he says.
On the other hand, we find metaverses, “mass virtual online spaces in which cutting-edge technologies are used.” The best-known and greatest example of these is the world of video games, where brands are developing advertising campaigns.
social networks and young people "because it is the best breeding ground and experiment to understand virtual behaviour patterns and then create generic examples."
So the answer to whether the metaverse is accessible yet is that there isn't lithuania number data one we can enter, especially since it doesn't exist. We can dabble in those that are working, like Fortnite .
Types of metaverses and examples
There are many types of metaverses, but we must start from a basic differentiation. On the one hand, there are centralized metaverses . “They are those that have an owner and everything you can buy within that environment is not your property , but rather the property of the owner of the metaverse,” says Marc Pérez.
Within this field, it is worth highlighting the presence of video game titles such as the aforementioned Fortnite, a virtual space in which you can interact with people, buy accessories and which can be themed if a brand wants to take action.
"There are very powerful brands that are basing their business model on entering this video game and selling through other brands entering their space in the same," says the professional.
He then goes on to point out that the change in user behaviour in the virtual environment must be understood, since, as he emphasises, "he prefers to buy a virtual weapon that is not his and in a game in which if that weapon dies it is worthless, which is nothing more than speculation, rather than buying that replica or a football in real life."
Decentralized Metaverses
On the other hand, we find decentralized metaverses . These are those in which users can buy a property and it becomes theirs directly, which gives rise to a “legal loophole”