While the most successful virtual platforms benefit from strong virtuous feedback loops, there are still many that could exist and become popular. As a point of optimism, consider the past seven years. When Mojang was sold to Microsoft in 2014, Minecraft had sold more units than any other game in history and had more monthly active users 25MM than any Western game in history. Today, Minecraft is over 5 times larger. Meanwhile, Roblox has grown from less than 2.5MM MAUs to over 200MM, created Fortnite and now has 70MM, and GTA Online has more than doubled to 50MM+, in addition to various blockchain-based platforms.
Just like decades ago every company created a web page, and then at some point every company created a Facebook page, I think we’re approaching the point where every company will be present in real-time 3D through uganda mobile database partnerships with gaming companies or through games like Fortnite, Minecraft, and Roblox. It’s starting to happen now. It’s going to be a much bigger thing than these generational shifts that came before it.
Of course, the techgaming community believes there will be more to come. Early last year, Riot Games acquired Hypixel Studios, which operated the largest private Minecraft server before shutting it down, to build its own sandbox platform. Several well-funded startups, such as Mythical Games, Playable Worlds, and Singularity6, are also starting to gain traction.
Crucially, the Metaverse is designed with interconnectivity in mind, whereas today’s dominant socialWeb 2.0 platforms are not. If Facebook doesn’t represent “the Internet,” then neither can GAFAM Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Apple, so the Metaverse’s ecosystem should also be very rich.