The Interplay between Gaming & The Metaverse

By Karina Ng (Duke ‘24)

Mirabella, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

The gaming industry is currently one of the fastest-growing sectors in the entertainment economy, backed by advancements in VR technology and cloud gaming. These technological advancements along with the emergence of web 3.0 have put the gaming industry at the forefront of the developments of the metaverse. While people debate about the exact definition of the metaverse, it seems that most people imagine it to be a real-life version of Ready Player One. The race to dominate the metaverse has already begun, with top companies like Sony, Microsoft, and Meta already pouring billions of dollars into investments. While we are still several years from the metaverse actually being here, gaming as a social platform currently offers the closest experience to the metaverse, with developments of the metaverse also driving advancements in gaming.

Some of the most popular games that you’ve probably heard of are considered at the forefront of the metaverse race

Some of the most popular games that you’ve probably heard of are considered at the forefront of the metaverse race, like Roblox, Fortnite, and Second Life. While many of these do not require a VR headset as expected of future metaverses, they are already virtual worlds in which millions of people can socialize, jump from experience to experience, and participate in the digital economy. Built by Epic Games, Fortnite is one of the best examples of this phenomenon. Outside of being a gaming platform, the virtual world has hosted ultramodern events such as an interactive Ariana Grande concert, crossover events with the Marvel Universe, and even spaces they call “Party Worlds”. These virtual spaces emphasize self-expression through emotes and outfit changes while also encouraging social interaction, giving players a space to make new friends or even create new teams.

A game that has gained a lot of traction recently is The Sandbox. The Sandbox is a blockchain-based 3D Metaverse game that gives players creative freedom in building gaming experiences and monetizing them. It offers players a patch of virtual land in the form of NFTs, which they can buy through their crypto wallet. The game itself also has its own currency, Sand. Though it is still in development, the game has surpassed 2 million users in its alpha launch and has already partnered with notable companies and people such as Atari, Snoop Dogg, and The Walking Dead. The use of cryptocurrency will be incredibly beneficial in the metaverse with digital proofs of ownership, digital collectability, and most importantly transfer of value. The Sandbox is currently in its second Alpha season and playing the game will help players earn chances to win a season 2 pass.

Not only are these games a window into a hypothetical future, but gaming will catalyze growth in the metaverse. It is one of the most dynamic and interactive categories in entertainment, which keeps audiences playing and in a state of active cognitive engagement.

Not only are these games a window into a hypothetical future, but gaming will catalyze growth in the metaverse. It is one of the most dynamic and interactive categories in entertainment, which keeps audiences playing and in a state of active cognitive engagement. These platforms will not only allow for the development of connections in the metaverse but also creativity. We can see this already with Roblox, which gives players a space not only to play, but also to create their own games with a free in-platform game creation engine. They pride themselves on being a platform in which you can not only share experiences but also “make anything you can imagine”. The Sandbox has the same concept in which anyone can build 3D games for free without any coding experience. For game makers, monetizing their game will earn them SAND.

These gaming platforms provide a sense of connection through virtual universes and are the segue into the more established metaverse that we imagine. As we see in Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, top companies that intend on participating in the race to dominate the metaverse space may find that it goes hand-in-hand with overtaking the gaming metaverse and redesigning it as their own.