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Metaverse Statistics 2022-2021

  • Facebook known as Meta plans to invest $10 billion U.S. dollars into the company’s Reality Labs segment, which creates AR/VR technologies.
  • The global Metaverse market is projected to be worth close to $280 billion by 2025.
  • A version of the Metaverse, a game called Decrentraland, raised $24 million in advance of its February 2020 launch.
  • With more than 18% of all 2020-2021 retail transactions worldwide conducted online, businesses have a vested interest in bringing the Metaverse to life.
  • Athletic goods company Nike has already filed four U.S. Patent and Trademark requests for certain “downloadable virtual goods” to use in the Metaverse.
  • Digital items already have a market value of more than $10 billion.
  • A study found that most online streamers are not vastly different from the people they spend time with in real life.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic drove consumer and commercial interest in the concept of the Metaverse.
  • Decentraland Games’ casino earned $7.5 million just 3 months

Metaverse Facts 2021-2022

  • The COVID-19 pandemic drove consumer and commercial interest in the concept of the Metaverse.
  • A study found that most online streamers are not vastly different from the people they spend time with in real life
  • Nike already has Metaverse Patents for their brand

metaverse meta logosAltered and Virtual Reality are a large and important aspect of how Meta sees the metaverse functioning in the future. These technologies, known colloquially as AR/VR, are not yet widely used in the general public. To help expedite this technology’s spread, Meta has created an internal arm, called Reality Labs. This division will develop the hardware, software, and content required to have robust and widespread AR/VR use. In 2021, the company announced that it would be investing $10 billion U.S. dollars into this segment of the company. The investment is already beginning to yield new products. In September, Reality Labs announced a new line of glasses from the company Ray-Ban. The eyeglasses can record and upload videos to Meta’s various platforms. Additionally, in October 2021, Meta teased a new VR headset and the first AR glasses.

If successful, the Metaverse will irreparably change the ways in which humans interact with each other, both in person and online. This will be a massive and costly undertaking. But, for investors who have a financial interest in the technology’s success, the payoff will be worth the effort. Currently, the global Metaverse market is projected to be worth $280 billion by 2025. Current investors include technology giants like Microsoft, Roblox, and Epic. Investors and technology professionals agree that it will “take a village” to bring the Metaverse concept to life. This, in part, explains the large and quick growth in valuation.

The Metaverse is not a new concept, and companies have already been working to create platforms with similar functions. Decentraland, launched in February 2020, is one such platform. The company raised $24 million in advance of its launch. Decentraland is a user-owned platform and utilizes Etherium, a cryptocurrency, in its in-game economy. Users can purchase virtual “land” and NTF goods. People who use Decentraland have complete control over their individual “parcel,” which they can use to advertise businesses, videos, and certain in-world apps. This company is on the forefront of Metaverse technology and illustrates the consumer appeal in these platforms. The technology is so popular that the recently launched Samsung Blockchain Wallet supports Decentraland transactions.

metaverse logoFor many, 2020 marked a pivotal moment in purchasing goods and services. More than two billion people made online purchases online, accounting for 18% of all retail transactions worldwide. Now, retailers and businesses are using this indicator to understand how they may benefit from the Metaverse’s development. For example, Epic Games, a virtual gaming platform, announced in April 2021 that they had raised $1 billion to accelerate its long-term vision for the Metaverse. Famed racing platform NASCAR announced a partnership with Subnation Media to build its digital ecosystem to create more opportunities to expand into the Metaverse. The Walt Disney Corporation announced a Metaverse “Theme Park,” where users can visit Disney properties without leaving their homes. These announcements illustrate just how important online retail transactions are and will continue to be as engineers continue to develop the Metaverse.

In anticipation of a new digital commerce platform, athletic wear company Nike has filed four requests with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for “downloadable virtual goods.” These downloadable goods could be purchased within the Metaverse to enhance a user’s experience. To this point, many companies have begun experimenting with branded digital items. Nike is among the first to put labor and funds behind the effort, but companies like Gucci, Coca-Cola, Balenciaga, and the NFL have also begun experimenting with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to use in the Metaverse.

Technological developments, like cryptocurrency and NFTs, have already amassed a huge market valuation. As of 2021, digital items are already more than a $10 billion market. Fortnite, a virtual gaming platform, has sold more than $1 billion in digital items. For both companies and consumers, this illustrates the growing interest in non-physical items to buy and sell. Gone are the days when we received a CD-ROM in the mail for software tools. Now, all transactions and deliverables can take place online.

Many think that the ease of social interaction will make or break the Metaverse’s success. As a result, research firms are beginning to unravel the ways in which online interactions differ from in-person interactions. A 2018 Reach3 Insights study found that most streamers – people who stream video gameplay online – aren’t too different from the friends they might already spend time with in real life. This means that humans gravitate toward people online who are similar to those they know in person. This will hopefully ease the transition into digital-forward interactions.

According to Emergen Research, the COVID-18 pandemic was essential to introducing the Metaverse concept in 2021-2022. During the pandemic, remote work, schooling, and social interaction became widespread. Even as COVID-19 restrictions ease, people are continuing to rely on digital tools (see Metaverse statistics) for these interactions. Normalizing this form of socialization is a crucial aspect to the success of the Metaverse