Who will judge the “Metaverse”? From giant Facebook, which has made it its strategic priority, to video game players like Roblox or Fortnite, via niche startups, the parallel digital world stirs many cravings. But will there be room for everyone? The “metaverse”, a contraction of the meta-universe, is a kind of digital underlay of the physical world, accessible online. Thanks to virtual reality and augmented reality in particular, it should make it possible to increase human interactions, freeing them from physical limitations. The next big leap in the development of the Internet, this “cup”, which science fiction has imagined for nearly 30 years, has become a new horizon of development. But will there be room for all suitors regarding the massive investments required to create it?
“There is a strong chance that there are many gauges, many immersive experiences available at multiple points,” Nicholas Rivett, partner in charge of media at Bearing Point, told AFP. “The meaning of the story is not that there is only one face that carries all the experiences,” he adds. By their nature, we don’t imagine that they can be possessed.” A review of existing forces. American tech giants, Facebook at the fore, have already launched big maneuvers. Mark Zuckerberg’s renamed Meta Group aims to establish itself as the creator of a modular global digital space, such as the Apple App Store or Google search engine. To achieve this, it plans to invest tens of billions of dollars every year and employ 10,000 people within five years in Europe. But other “Gafam” do not intend to remain on the sidelines, such as Microsoft and the “company metaverse”.
On the occasion of its annual conference dedicated to professionals, the company announced last Tuesday the launch of “Mesh,” a new functionality in Teams that will make it possible, during 2022, to appear in the form of a custom avatar rather than enable video. In the same business niche, processor champion Nvidia has already launched its “Omniverse” platform, which aims to allow international 3D design teams working in several software suites to “collaborate in real time in a shared virtual space.” More than just a free online video game, Roblox, Minecraft or Fortnite has become, thanks to the pandemic entertainment platforms, where players can lead a parallel social life. To the point of destabilizing the dominance of social networks such as Instagram, TikTok or Snapchat and promoting their ambition to build their own “metaverse”.
Epic Games, the publisher of Fortnite, has indicated that part of the billion dollars raised this year from investors will go to its development. The first tangible tastes: virtual concerts of international stars such as American rapper Travis Scott or pop singer Zara Larsson, which were followed by tens of millions of players. “It’s a great opportunity to connect with a younger audience. It really is the future,” the Swedish singer said last week at the Web Summit. But also to double their sources of income. If Zara Larsson fans had the opportunity to purchase a T-shirt with her doll when out of their concerts, they can now spend their money in the singer’s virtual store on Roblox to wear their avatar with sunglasses.
At Decentraland, an online platform considered one of the precursors of the “metaverse”, it is possible to purchase virtual plots in the form of NFTs (digital certificates of authenticity for online content) via a cryptocurrency associated with them. called MANA. Several other startups are trying to follow suit, such as The Sandbox, which has just raised $93 million from a group of investors. In South Korea, a coalition of companies and public institutions was formed in May under the leadership of the Ministry of Science to avoid “dependence on foreign transnational actors,” as Nicholas Rivett explains. Called the “Metaverse Alliance”, it includes more than 200 companies along with leading domestic companies such as Samsung.
