Interconnected Realities

5The Gaming Metaverse

• Purpose: Entertainment, social connections, earnings
• Problems Solved: Eliminates physical distance between friends/family, provides the ability to meet new people with the same interests, and pleasure from conquering challenges
• Key Access Method: PCs, gaming consoles, consumer VR headsets, smartphones, tablets
• Contribution to the Wider Metaverse: Social interactivity, importance of player agency and rewards/gamification, immersive worlds created with only 2D interfaces

Much is made of gaming worlds and their role in the Metaverse as fully‐fledged worlds in which people interact with each other as avatars. Gaming certainly sets a precedent for creating worlds that players can spend hours or even days in at a time (my total playtime of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild must be at least one full month's worth of hours, maybe two), but it makes strong contributions to the concept of an ideal Metaverse in several other areas as well. Gaming fosters connections between people, even while being all about competition on its surface. It demonstrates the attractive power of giving players agency and asking them to perform certain tasks to receive rewards, and gaming shows that even a two‐dimensional screen can deliver an experience that feels immersive. All of these elements will be important building blocks for creating the Metaverse of the future.

Gaming Connects People

I've been a gamer since 1978, when Space Invaders showed up at my local bowling ...