What an amazing yet volatile year 2021 has been for the metaverse, blockchain and Web3 spaces! Today, let’s take some time to reflect review the year 2021 via key highlights in the Metaverse and Web3.0. Let’s go~

Closed Metaverses

• Alibaba’s take: Be fast, not perfect – Alibaba launched a Double 11 “Metaverse Art Exhibition” on its Tmall/Taobao mobile app. The campaign shows eight limited collections in the form of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) from different brands such as Burberry and Kiehl’s. When consumers purchase the Double 11 limited edition of a physical product such as a Burberry scarf, they can get a complimentary “digital collection,” or NFT. 

Another similar campaign is the Double 11 “metaverse symphony,” which is conducted by a digital avatar of Beethoven. Musicians are playing virtual instruments (in the form of NFTs) that feature brands such as a Bobbi Brown trumpet or Coca-Cola drums. Consumers can buy these virtual products separately with Alipay.

These are early experiments of using the metaverse and NFTs in B2C marketing use cases — far from mature or sophisticated but a smart move for Alibaba to test the waters by involving brands and launching something new on Singles’ Day (https://www.forrester.com/blogs/metaverse-nfts-sustainability-and-loyalty-highlights-of-singles-day-2021/). 

• Facebook Changing Its Brand Name – On 1 Dec 2021, Facebook changed its stock ticker to MVRS. Earlier, it switched its name to “Meta” in order to bring into line the company and the company’s ambitions to establish its usage of the “metaverse”. This means that it will become an ’embodied internet’ which blends real and virtual worlds. For Facebook and other large corporations, determined to embrace the “next big thing” before their competitors, the metaverse is exciting because it presents an opportunity for new markets, new kinds of social network, new consumer electronics and patents. 
• New Job Opportunities – In October 2021, Facebook announced plans to create 10,000 new high-skilled jobs in the European Union (EU) to help shape the metaverse. Facebook is at the start of a journey to help build the next computing platform. Working with others, we’re developing what is often referred to as the metaverse — a new phase of interconnected virtual experiences using technologies like virtual and augmented reality. At its heart is the idea that by creating a greater sense of “virtual presence”, interacting online can become much closer to the experience of interacting in person. The metaverse has the potential to help unlock access to new creative, social, and economic opportunities. And Europeans will be shaping it right from the start (). 
• Companies Switching to Metaverse – Microsoft and Nvidia are also working on their own versions of the metaverse. that Mark Zuckerberg and team presented. While the Meta version of the metaverse focused on things like being able to take the digital skins purchased in one game environment into another, both Microsoft and Nvidia focused on team collaboration and business-to-business communication.

There are several variations between the different metaverse perspectives. These differences speak to the purpose of the different organizations, the means by which they intend to go to market, and more. Microsoft, for example, will be integrating its AR Mesh technology into Teams, providing a different “view” into the Teams environment for all Teams users. We have also done an in-depth article on workspaces in the metaverse, detailing what Big Tech are doing in the metaverse to deal with zoom fatigue for workers.

Open Metaverses

• Metaverse Needs Cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and Open Standards – Digital items are already more than a $10 billion market, and Fortnite alone has sold more than $1 billion. But as of the moment, Fortnite’s digital items only work in Fortnite, and if Epic Games ever decided to shut Fortnite down, those items would be rendered worthless overnight. A multi-billion-dollar market would vanish into the ether.

On August 13th, Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite sued Apple over the 30% fee for in-game purchases. Facebook announced in December 2020 that it will support Epic Games in the lawsuit because they also had issues trying to release products with in-app purchases on the Apple app store (). 

• Cloud Nine Web3 Technologies Enters the Metaverse – Cloud Nine Web3 Technologies Inc., a principal decentralized network, and data storage technology company, declares that it has contracted a virtual office services agreement with TerraZero Technologies Inc. on November 8, 2021. They do this to deliver Cloud Nine with direct access within Decentraland, one of the leading decentralized Metaverse worlds. Over the coming weeks, Cloud Nine intends to finalize the design and plan for its virtual office, including the creation of avatars to assist potential users and customers at its Decentraland office. The Company will announce a grand opening of its Metaverse store front when it is ready and open to the public.

• Technologies like virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are combined in the metaverse to create a sense of “virtual presence” – Augmented reality contains overlaying visual elements, sound, and other sensory stimuli onto a real-world setting to enhance the user experience. Furthermore, it is good to note that AR can be accessed using a smartphone, and users can control and regulate their presence in the real world. Alternatively, virtual reality is completely virtual and enhances fictional realities. VR involves a headset device, and users are controlled by the system.
• Rise of GameFi, open metaverse and NFT projects – 2021 saw the exponential rise of GameFi, open metaverse and NFT projects. “What drives the value of NFT?” Could NFTs be more than…virtual lands and vtubers? We can’t wait to find out more in 2022~

WEB 3.0

• Radical upgrade from the current internet – Web 3.0 would be meant at being more autonomous, intelligent, and open. In the same manner, it would work on interrelating all the data in a decentralized way — a huge step from the existing arrangement where the data is stored in centralized repositories or storehouses. Furthermore, it is likely that Web 3.0 will give a more personal browsing experience and will help establish a more equitable Internet. Once this infrastructure is put into place, it is possible to trigger a new tendency of innovations that will empower users with more control over their data. It will also make the Internet more integral to our daily lives. Most of today’s offline machines — like home appliances and transport systems — come online and interact with their autonomous servers. Moreover, since Web 3.0 will function via decentralized protocols, which are based on blockchain technology, it is predictable that these two and cryptocurrency will congregate in a close relationship.
• Web 3.0-related project tokens have seen a massive rise in value this year alone – Many people are knowledgeable of the main cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, possibly Dogecoin however, several people aren’t familiar yet with Web 3.0 tokens. Even so, Web 3.0 tokens- especially those related to GameFi and the metaverse- have seen an enormous growth in value this year alone. Truth be told, Web 3.0 tokens are tokens connected to Web 3.0 based applications on the blockchain  
• Importance to Crypto – Crypto and blockchain are a necessity for Web 3.0 as they allow the three key characteristics of Web3 — decentralization, pricelessness and trustlessness to take in place. Cryptocurrencies, as we see them today, are likely to largely be for public and open-source utilities, which is where the market will head for anything built around a community or consensus aspect. For private companies with no need for cryptocurrencies, they will probably build private systems that interact with public systems but have no need for internal economies or full consensus-driven models.

Web 3.0 is developing dynamically. Now, an increasing attention in the cryptocurrency market can be spotted to the extent that some countries even decided to adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender. This only means that crypto is taking up the world.

In this regard, crypto markets will only continue to develop and grow rapidly. Also, new concepts of meta-reality crossovers that we can’t even fathom will be created. It will influence people’s everyday life, including transportation, jobs, education, food, and even religion. The crypto metaverse can be a huge opportunity for the crypto market. In an open, decentralized virtual reality world cryptocurrencies and NFT could gain even more followers. 

With the metaverse having an independent, whole economy of its own, cryptocurrency and digital currency will likely become the key transactional method. The most widely known cryptocurrencies today are Bitcoin and Ethereum, but the list of digital currencies will likely become more and more diverse as new ones are introduced continuously. Either way, such currencies will be key to trading across the real world and the digital world, all while being supported and distributed by technologies such as blockchain.

Gaming x The Metaverse

Amongst the companies that are already first comers in this new metaverse economy are gaming companies — namely Epic with its Fortnite game that has been completely transforming virtual games as players know it by creating a convincing, realistic world around the game. Some of the game’s biggest initiatives sparking the metaverse were the concerts, the game hosted, including shows with Travis Scott and more recently Ariana Grande. Other industries will be swift to follow Fortnight’s lead, as the lines between reality and digital get increasingly blurred.

Another great example of the how the metaverse is starting to manifest itself in entertainment was John Legend’s recent Bigger Love virtual concert that used the Wave XR’s technology to broadcast a virtual John Legend, raise funds for charity and was seen by 500,000 live attendees.

The evolution of metaverse will also give impact, if not redefine, the way people work. Undoubtedly, the Covid-19 pandemic has already been the biggest test for the corporate world, shifting work and employees to remote collaboration in no time and forcing people to merge their real and virtual personas. Furthermore, people across the globe saw the even more abrupt rise of platforms like Zoom and Slack, which enabled collaboration at a distance and across time differences and proved to be key in fighting for high levels of engagement and productivity in difficult times.

As our lives return back to normal (normal lives prior Covid-19), although not fully the same, some things won’t easily change – and one thing that’s certain is that people have discovered that working remotely opens the door to new opportunities for collaboration, growth and success, even though it all seemed scary at the start of the global pandemic.

The future of work in the metaverse is much more efficient, streamlined, and convenient for employees and employers alike. One can say that the future of commerce won’t be the same as well. While after the pandemic, online shopping and deliveries have become the new standard, the metaverse will only accelerate this trend. Consumers will no longer need to frequent physical stores to try new products before purchasing. VR and AR experiences will allow exploration of brands and their offerings from the comfort of customers’ homes. Then again, the metaverse will also enable more interactive in-store experiences. VR and AR sets will make it possible to try numerous products within the store, whether the product is in stock or not. 

These potentials are no longer imaginary — and they haven’t been for a while. One of the best examples of how the metaverse is already here without us realizing it is Snapchat. From customized filters that allow brands to connect with consumers on deeper levels to Snapchat’s study that reveals users would like to see more of such interactive content, it’s clear the future is here already even if people don’t fully realize it yet.

Is There Anything Else We Should Know?

The “metaverse” might be seen as a recent catchphrase in 2021, but unlike many others, it has its roots in society already. With Covid-19 speeding up large-scale digitization and forcing people around the world to immerse themselves into the digital world, the metaverse is not a fictional, sci-fi future anymore. Actually, it’s one of the possibilities that is closer to a full-swing realization than any other.

There are of course questions about what the metaverse will mean for privacy, whether it will be inclusive, and how to mitigate harmful content and environments that could be created. Because the metaverse is in the initial phases of progress, there is an opportunity now to shape in these attributes by design.

The idea of the metaverse may sound promising, which is why many of the world’s leading technology companies are investing in its development. If it can come to fruition, it is conceivable that it will convert consumer and enterprise behavior. 

We Couldn’t Have Done This Without You~

Thank you for joining us on this journey in Web3.0 and the metaverse.

At IKIGUIDE, we believe that NFT, metaverse and GameFi projects will see a massive boom in 2022. We fully intend to focus on individual GameFi projects moving forward, analysing GameFi projects using the IKIGUIDE framework. We will be launching our youtube channel officially on 1st January 2022, and you can subscribe to it here!

Do stay tuned for more updates, and our team at IKIGUIDE wishes you an exciting 2022 filled with new achievements and growth together ahead! 🙂