The Future of the Metaverse: What 2022 Has in Store?

There’s a popular saying that what will be once existed. And in a way, the truth in this saying is scary. What do you do when you read a book years back only to see the story becoming more of a reality every day? Were these authors with unique gifts that allowed them to see the future?

Well, we do not have answers to that. But one clear thing is that the word “metaverse” is now a thing for every tongue. And what’s to come next regarding this strange new mention in our world today? Read on to find more.

Metaverse: Overview

Metaverse — the same word that has left many with questions today showed up first in a book from 1992. The novel was Snow Crash, and it talked of a pizza delivery driver who hung out in a virtual world.

Reading this, the promise of such a world with no inequalities sounded so much fun — and dreamy. Since then, many have used metaverse to describe a thing or two. Ready Player One, another book — later a movie — told the story of the Oasis Metaverse.

However, 2021 took this name from inked papers and screens to reality. And it came with Facebook announcing its new name, Metaverse Platforms.

This step was, to them, a move to show that their goal goes beyond social media. And since then, the whole world, especially the big techs, all seem to be in a massive race. They want to be the ones to lay the foundations and give an acceptable definition of the metaverse. But to maintain the lead in this race, three things are critical to the survival of the metaverse in 2022. And these are getting the suitable skill set, intentional investments, and innovations.

Getting the Right Skill Set

Since the soaring of NFTs to global fame in 2021, it’s become apparent that the way we value things has changed. But more of that is to come in 2022. Only that this time, what has become so valuable for our future are skill sets necessary to build virtual worlds that we now call metaverses.

Earlier, we introduced Meta’s interest in creating the metaverse, and so far, they’ve promised to hire at least 10,000 engineers in Europe alone. And this was following their vast take-up of about 100 people. These worked for Microsoft’s HoloLens augmented reality headsets last year.

Sadly, the tech market doesn’t have that much supply to cater to just Meta’s plans. And even more interesting is Meta isn’t the only one going around looking for skills to hire. There is the Nvidia who has built the Omniverse Enterprise. Roblox, Fortnite, and many more have spoken of their dreams, vision, and plans. But with only a few hands available to work.

So 2022? Yeah, it’s the year when the tech market has more demand than supply.

Intentional Investments

Investment, as they say, is how you make your money work for you. And regarding the metaverse in 2022, we currently see three aspects of this in action. First is the big tach themselves making acquisitions to increase their community base.

Here’s a piece of news for better context. First off, Grand Theft Auto’s maker, Take-Two, decided to go after acquiring Farmville’s maker Zynga. Microsoft also stated its plan to obtain World of Warcraft and Candy Crush maker Activision Blizzard.

Were all these just because they had so much cash to throw around? Not! These show the desire of big tech companies to acquire already formed communities as a move to attract more people to the metaverse.

The other aspects are believers who are sponsoring companies contributing to the reality of the metaverse. And on the other hand, are those buying themselves lands within such digital worlds as the Sandbox and Decentraland.

Innovations

Lastly, what do you do next when you have all the talent, skill, community, and money you need to build the metaverse? Well, then you’d be a pioneer, and you’d be in charge of setting the innovative structure of the metaverse.

However, one sure thing is that the metaverse won’t be a place only for personal affairs. It’d also be a place for enterprise functions like work, collaborations, conferences, and even school!

Still, a lot is yet to become clear about the complete picture of the metaverse. And one thing of worthy note from past innovations is that we can’t entirely predict the final image every innovation will take. So, like you, we are all waiting for what 2022 — and the future holds for us.

To read more about the Metaverse, check out What is Metaverse? Why Does it Matter to Marketers? article.