Metaverse in Gaming Market Size, TAM, SAM, Competitive Analysis, Emerging Trends & Investment Opportunity

What is Metaverse in Gaming

Metaverse in gaming market is expanding fast. Metaverse finds its most common application in the gaming industry. The industry has been the 1^st mover and the earliest adopter of the metaverse concept on a commercial scale. In fact, most other industries are trying to learn various use cases of metaverse and immersive experiences from gaming industry and apply them in other verticals. Metaverse basically means the games that are immersive, either VR or AR. This means that users can actually enter the digital gaming world as one of the characters called as “Avatar” and play the game not just from outside but by being inside the game. Hence, almost all the VR and AR games, that are played on PCs, gaming consoles and mobile phones, fall under the ambit of metaverse.

To understand this better, let us come to the basic definition of metaverse. So, Staticker defines metaverse as the immersive VR or AR environment which is interactive, and allows performing work individually or in collaborative manner.

 

Metaverse in Gaming, Market size and Forecast

Metaverse in gaming market in 2022 stands at $540 billion. This market size is huge as it takes into account all the stakeholders and revenues earned by them at various stages of the AR & VR gaming industry. These stakeholders include revenues earned by gaming publishing and development companies, gaming hardware providers and game engine & simulation software providers.

The year 2020 and 2021 was not very good for the world economy the time frame is characterized by falling GDP, rising unemployment rates and growing inflation. Amidst this condition, there were very few industries that were performing well and gaming is one of them. In fact, there was a surge witnessed in the demand for video games and gaming products in the developed as well as developing markets.

“The gaming industry is relatively much resilient to macroeconomic factors like GDP and inflation rates. Moreover, the rising trend of remote work is acting as a catalyst.”

In the gaming industry, the demand for AR & VR hardware devices has grown rapidly in past few years. In the year 2022, the market for AR & VR gaming hardware stands at $5 billion. Out of this, the VR headsets market size is $2 billion.

Metaverse Gaming Industry

Metaverse has already been there and most of the games use AR 0r VR technologies. However, the focus on immersive VR gaming has increased significantly. Gaming companies are leaving no stone unturned to explore VR gaming and the metaverse.

Let us first have a look on how the major gaming companies are planning their Metaverse move. To start with, we will discuss a few metaverse games that are set to be released soon:

• “Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora” is one of the most talked about upcoming metaverse games. has been developed collaboratively by the Massive Entertainment (owned by Ubisoft), Lightstorm Entertainment and Disney. The game is based on James Cameron’s Avatar film series and allows users to play the game in immersive 3D environment.
• “Avatar: Reckoning” by Tencent is going to be released in 2023. This will be a metaverse based multiplayer online role-playing game.
• Revoland, the blockchain-based MOBA is going to be released in 2022. Apart from the 3D immersive environment, the game also integrates blockchain technology to sell/trade NFT assets.

Immersive VR gaming is gaining a lot of traction nowadays. However, Staticker believes that AR gaming will also continue to be a significant market as AR technology is more practical and can be assessed without headsets. AR gaming through mobile devices will continue to retain its popularity.

Understanding the Developments in Gaming Industry

The gaming industry is very diverse and includes a range of stakeholders in the value chain who bring in their expertise at different stages like game development, publishing and assessing/playing through hardware device.

In gaming, the metaverse is evolving to introduce concepts like play-to-earn idea, which allows gamers to gain virtual gaming things and sell them for real-world money. Gaming has always been a strong contender for virtual reality (VR). Early immersive 2D games, such as Minecraft and Second Life, featured components of the now-under-construction metaverse, such as 3D avatars, world-building, and observation as gameplay. Gaming now has a new home as businesses like Meta and Epic Games strive to establish a linked universe of virtual realities.

According to a recent poll, 59 percent of industry professionals believe that gaming would dominate VR investments in the next few years. Among all other use cases, 64 percent believe that gaming has the most potential to gain from VR.

Metaverse gaming will move towards interoperability in the near future

 The metaverse is basically a unified and interoperable virtual reality (VR) setting in which users may interact with each other and the digital world around them using an improved human-computer interface (HCI) gear and software. This takes virtual reality gaming to astonishing new heights.

VR gaming is now accessible as independent programs that may be installed on PC, VR gear, or mobile phone to engage in an immersive recreation of classic video games. The key difference is that the in-game environment now appears as a three-dimensional virtual reality world that user can observe in 360 degrees and virtually “touch” with a realistic sense of perception.

The metaverse (a term invented in the 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash) expands on this idea. It proposes that several VR games – and, indeed, any VR application or area – might be linked to form a unified interoperable environment for users.

They would be able to switch between gaming applications, communicate with the same gamers in different locations, and even transfer their winnings without having to remove the VR headgear. In this sense, gaming will have the following characteristics:

• Games-as-platforms – The game experience will become far more adaptable. Users can contribute to the virtual world by creating content, creating sub-games inside a game, and generally treating the gaming environment as a platform-like place for other activities.
• Social gaming – The metaverse is essentially social, which distinguishes it from standard solitary VR experiences. Multi-player gaming will take on a new level as gamers may invite real-world friends, communicate with other players, form connections, and so on.
• Play to earn – This will be an important aspect of metaverse gaming. In addition to following linear narratives and laws, players can engage in rewarding As an example, they may be able to sell the items they have gained in the game to other players in exchange for cryptocurrency.

The potential for portable gaming assets – The metaverse’s interoperable design may enable asset portability. Weapons or avatar upgrades earned in one game might be transferred to another, with NFT rules governing persistent ownership.

The metaverse uses augmented and mixed reality to give a more organic experience. Gaming in the metaverse might involve mixed reality, with users seamlessly transitioning from group chat in AR to an MR board game to a full-fledged VR realm.

Companies Changing the Metaverse’s Gaming Future

 Despite this, the metaverse has drawn considerable investments from game firms, tech titans, and venture capitalists alike. There is no denying that the metaverse is the future of gaming. Companies such as Decentraland, Sandbox, Epic Games, and Meta are among the important early movers to watch:

• Decentraland

Decentraland is one of the first companies to aggressively pursue the creation of a metaverse. It has a 3D VR platform with measured real estate, an Ethereum-based economy, and distinct venues for multiplayer games. Decentraland has also invested in Decentral Games to expand its game possibilities.

• Sandbox

 Sandbox is another video game that allows you to play, construct, own, and manage a virtual area. The Sandbox economy is built on user-generated crypto and NFT assets, and it collaborates with worldwide companies to provide unique and rewarding experiences. Over 20,000 NFTs are available for purchase and inclusion into your VR world in the Sandbox marketplace.

• Epic Video Games

Epic Games is well known for Fortnite, a virtual reality game and event venue in one. With the surge in popularity of Fortnite, musicians from all over the world have performed using the game’s metaverse-like powers. Epic Games has announced a $1 billion investment in their gaming-centered metaverse.

• 4.  Meta (Facebook)

Meta is a newcomer to the metaverse, but it has a strong track record of VR innovation. Facebook created a comprehensive immersive environment around its Oculus family of devices, and these advances will continue to shape the company’s metaverse vision. Developers may use Horizon Worlds by Meta to build and publish games within the metaverse.

Of course, VR and video games, in general, have always had to deal with legal and ethical difficulties, and the metaverse will be no exception.

Metaverse is the hottest investment opportunity

Metaverse is set to transform the way in which people socialize, interact, have fun and do much more in the coming decade. There is a lot happening in the gaming metaverse industry and Covid 19 has certainly acted as a fuel in the fire. The importance of socializing virtually is being felt like never before and gaming industry is eager to capitalize on this.

There are three major issues to address:

Controls and services for children – It can be difficult to monitor children’s behavior and distinguish minors from adults if avatars are heavily customized. Games must have adequate controls to ensure age-appropriate experiences.

Ownership of NFT – The laws governing the ownership of in-game assets are still hazy. NFTs obtained during a game may not be globally transferable. Furthermore, the scope of ownership rights must be defined so that users understand how to interact with, trade, and profit from NFTs.

Infrastructure flaws – The huge scale of interoperability necessary to construct a game metaverse of future has yet to be realized. Tech titans and patent holders will have to collaborate, various governments will have to agree on a single body of metaverse regulations, and our technology will have a long way to grow.

Understanding the TAM, SAM, SOM and detailed industry scenario

Metaverse gaming will expand rapidly and there will be continuous developments in AR and VR games. For industry stakeholders, knowing the TAM, SAM and SOM for their specific operating segment is very critical. It is true that the total metaverse gaming industry size is $550 billion in 2022. However, knowing the segment wise market analysis and breakdown is very important to understand this market on a deeper level. For example, the TAM for a company operating in gaming engine business is different from the one manufacturing VR headsets, although they are a part of the same gaming ecosystem.

Metaverse in Gaming Market, Competitive Analysis

Metaverse