With the help of new technologies, the growing Metaverse trend, the NFT concept, and the spread of the crypto world, the game industry is moving towards virtual spaces that combine entertainment and social interaction. It is seen that the Metaverse concept, which is presented as a virtual universe, shows its ethics in the gaming industry the most. While it is stated that the most visited content in Metaverse is games, it is also mentioned that users spend longer time on games in Metaverse than other content.
3 billion players worldwide
Newzoo’s report shows that the gaming industry reached $193 billion globally in 2021. In 2022, the market will reach $203 billion. According to the data shared by KPMG, there are approximately 3 billion players worldwide. Looking at the year 2024, the number of consumers in the gaming industry is expected to reach 3.3 billion.
In recent years, investments in the game industry have continued exponentially. The spread of the crypto world in the gaming industry has likewise increased. With the concept of NFT and Metaverse, all eyes were turned to the game industry. With the idea sparks of Metaverse, various initiatives began to grow rapidly, from blockchain-based video game platforms to assistants developing game levels and improving the gaming experience with augmented reality, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence.
Giant companies are in the game
Along with game development studios, many technology companies are currently undertaking certain initiatives. Regardless of the game, the developers combine their own worlds with other virtual worlds through events such as the inclusion of heroes from the movies and concerts and offer very different content to the players. Apart from this, giant game development companies make large-scale investments. For example, the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, one of the leading companies in the gaming industry, by Microsoft for $69 billion this year was the largest transaction of all time in the global gaming industry.
Apart from all these, there are also blockchain-based gaming systems such as The Sandbox, Axie Infinity, and OVR.AI. Such games also offer players the opportunity to play games with crypto infrastructure and trade and earn real money in a completely virtual universe.
Gamers are already familiar with Metaverse
Metaverse is not a new concept for the gaming industry. The experts state that Second Life, Virtualika, Knight Online, Fortnite, Minecraft, and many similar game universes have provided the possibilities offered by Metaverse before. If technology allows in the long run and the fictional Metaverse world is approached, then the game world may be the most significant part of this ecosystem. Accordingly, all new projects, games, and virtual worlds can be part of a whole, namely the Metaverse.
According to KPMG, the VR game market, which has an essential place in the market and is developing with Metaverse technologies, continues to grow on the mobile side, especially with 5G. Game companies such as Epic Games frequently state that they support Metaverse technologies. Giant software companies like Facebook are investing heavily in VR and AR technologies.
It is stated that game lovers are the first to adapt to the system since the functioning of Metaverse is similar to the game dynamics. Although the Metaverse is limited at the moment, it provides the players with the most realistic, interactive experience. KPMG states that its market expects to reach over 250 million active users in VR and AR by 2025.