What is the connection between Gaming, Metaverse, and Work?

Due to the great interest and importance of Metaverse, Industrial Metaverse, Industrial Metaverse for Sales, etc., Rightsourcing continues its series of articles to create a deeper understanding of the topic. What does metaverse really mean with all its facets? Is it just the next buzzword? Does it affect our lives? How is it affecting our lives? Will it change our work? What must companies do? What is the best way to deal with this?

<Continuing unraveling the Metaverse series, let’s now explore the connection between Metaverse and Gaming. >

– A contribution by Suchi Shinde & Prof. Dr. Markus Hesse, May 2023

Figure 1: Gaming in the Metaverse

The Connection between Metaverse and Gaming.

The gaming industry has played a significant role in the development of the metaverse. Games like Fortnite, Roblox, and Minecraft have all created vast virtual worlds that millions of players can interact with. These games have become more than just games; they have become social spaces where players can hang out with friends, attend virtual concerts, and even create their own content. The gaming industry and the metaverse share an inherent experiential, social, transactional, and sometimes virtual nature, with gameplay at the heart of its consumer value. /1/

Gaming has become closely associated with the metaverse and for good reason. The gaming industry currently fuels the prototype for metaverse, which already boasts three billion users globally and a value of over $200 billion, surpassing the movie and music industries combined. However, while gaming is the on-ramp to the metaverse, it will not be the only use case. “Use cases beyond gaming are not just in the future, they’re already emerging” says Kavya Pearlman, founder and CEO of XR Safety Initiative. /2/.

The metaverse is expected to extend far beyond “gaming 2.0,” as evidenced by the increasing spending on in-game virtual goods, which reached $60-70 billion in 2021. Technological advances, as well as broader cultural shifts, are driving the development of the metaverse. Consumers are starting to see it as more than just a gaming space, with social gaming in AR or VR ranking ninth on a list of immersive digital activities that may interest them in the future.

The Connection between Metaverse and Work.

However, the metaverse is not just about gaming. Many other industries are exploring how they can use the metaverse to connect with their audiences in new ways. For example, the fashion industry is experimenting with virtual try-on experiences, and the real estate industry is exploring how they can use the metaverse to showcase properties in a more immersive way.

The connection between gaming, the metaverse, and work is becoming increasingly significant as technology advances and our work lives become more digitized. Gaming and the metaverse are already transforming how we work and collaborate. Many businesses are using virtual environments to facilitate remote collaboration, allowing employees to work together in a shared virtual space. This can be especially useful for teams that are spread out geographically, as it can create a sense of presence and help team members feel more connected. The common conferencing tools known today are only the beginning of the use of available technologies.

In addition, gaming technologies are being used to create simulations that can help employees learn new skills or practice complex tasks. For example, flight simulators have been used for years to train pilots, but similar technologies are now being used in other industries as well. These simulations can provide a safe and controlled environment for employees to learn and experiment without the risk of real-world consequences. Examples are the training of evacuations or of repair situations of complex plants in the process industry.

As the metaverse continues to evolve, it is likely that it will have an even more significant impact on how we work. It could provide a more immersive way for teams to work on projects, allowing them to share ideas, and communicate in real-time. It could also create new opportunities for remote work, as employees could work from a shared virtual office space, rather than from their homes.

Furthermore, the metaverse could change the way we approach work altogether. As more tasks become automated, it is possible that we will need to find new ways to add value to our work. The metaverse could provide a platform for creativity and innovation, allowing individuals and teams to create and experiment with new ideas in a shared virtual environment.

“Play-to-earn” games have already gained in popularity; some people in the Philippines have reportedly begun playing a blockchain-based game where digital tokens can be won and cashed out in local currency, as their full-time, relatively well-paying jobs. Experts have raised concerns about health risks associated with extensively immersing people in a virtual world in order to work – and potentially exposing them to even more dramatic versions of the anomie and sleep disruption that have affected many remote workers during the pandemic.

Overall, gaming, the metaverse, and work are becoming increasingly intertwined, and it is likely that we will see even more significant changes in the years to come. As technology continues to evolve, we will need to adapt and find new ways to work and collaborate in these new digital environments.

Metaverse offers companies many new ways to define their work environment and serve their customers. It opens up a world of new business opportunities and can help improve the customer experience. However, implementing such concepts requires close collaboration between marketing and sales organizations and the use of advanced technologies.

In the future, a collaboration between sales and marketing organizations will likely look different than it has in the past. Customers will likely increasingly want an interactive experience with companies that can also take place in the virtual world. Metaverse can help deliver this experience while revolutionizing the way companies work.

The metaverse will build upon the fast-developing Gaming technologies and has the potential to impact everything from employee engagement to the customer experience, Omnichannel sales and marketing, product innovation, and community building.

Companies already leveraging the metaverse may build lasting competitive advantages /1/

We urge you to visit our Metaverse offering for a taste of the future at https://rightsourcing-gmbh.com/metaverse-virtual-headquarter.

If you are ready to enter the world of Metaverse, let’s catch up in our Metaverse lounge https://rightsourcing-gmbh.com/metaverse-ceo-lounge

Stay tuned in…In our next article in this series, we will address the question Why should my company care about Metaverse?

References:

/1/ Kuang, C., Li, C., et al., Demystifying the Consumer Metaverse, January 2023, WEF in collaboration with Accenture

/2/ https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/what-is-the-metaverse

To read earlier articles on the Metaverse series, visit our Library or click on the links below:

1- What is the metaverse?

2- What is the impact of the Metaverse on our lives?

3- Is Metaverse the future? Part A

3b- Is Metaverse the future? Part B

4- Can Metaverse reshape our work?