In case you hadn’t noticed, there is quite a lot of information going around about the Metaverse and its role in society and in our lives across the globe. So, how big is the Metaverse?

Essentially, the Metaverse is the next big thing in technology. It’s a platform that online game developers find attractive. It’s also expected to become an $800 billion industry by 2024. 

The Metaverse is still an indeterminate ideal, but there are still some implications that this concept could potentially be a massive opportunity for developers, corporations, and investors. 

The preferred goal of those involved in the concept of a Metaverse is to create virtual 3D worlds across social networks, making it a combination of the physical and digital worlds.

It’s being called the next overarching evolution of social networks and the internet.

The Metaverse offers an opportunity for the leaders in the social media and entertainment industries to take advantage of new types of revenue streams.

Perhaps that’s why there is so much hype surrounding the concept.

Let’s look into the metaverse to see if we can answer the question, “How big is the Metaverse?”.

How Big Is the Metaverse?

Basically, the Metaverse has the potential of being as big as the creators that get involved want it to become.

Therefore, the sky is almost the limit regarding this concept. 

A more narrowly defined Metaverse is interactive virtual 3D worlds one can access via VR headsets that may broaden the whole internet.

Since this concept is still ambiguous, Bloomberg performed an analysis and determined that the Metaverse is larger than the standard definition implies. 

Why?

Because it is a combination of live experiences in the digital world, digital advertising, and gaming software and hardware. 

Using that definition, the Metaverse’s worth is around $478.7 billion as of 2020.

It’s expected to become an $800 billion industry by 2024. 

It seems much larger than the conventional definition of this technology would imply. 

So, how big is the Metaverse? It’s as big as we can make it. 

What Is the Potential of The Metaverse?

Now that you have an idea of what the Metaverse is, we can move forward with its potential. Firstly, we will discuss the long-term opportunity the Metaverse offers. 

The long-term analysis shows this opportunity to offer the potential of a market worth $783.3 billion by 2024.

For comparison, $783.3 billion is almost triple the size of the current total gaming industry. 

Therefore, the potential is that the Metaverse could become a trillion-dollar industry.

In terms of how that would look to a country, it would be one of the biggest economies on the globe.

What Activities Are Included in The Metaverse?

Primarily, the revenue for the Metaverse will be within the video gaming industry (hardware, software, and services) and its developers.

This market in the Metaverse is expected to reach $412.9 billion by 2024. 

In comparison, the 2020 market value of the total gaming industry accounted for $274.9 billion.

Next, live events like concerts and sporting events are expected to go beyond $200 billion in the Metaverse. 

Gaming

The gaming world is the current market for game makers (online) is where the existing concept of the Metaverse has the most potential.

Gaming PCs, hardware, gaming peripherals, and VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) cover the rest of this market share. 

Social Ads – Live Events

We’ve already had a little taste of live events through live-streaming across platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Rumble, and other social networks large and small. 

You may have already engaged in watching live events like concerts, film festivals, or sporting events.

That said, the 3D world that the Metaverse is expected to bring is supposed to boost your online experiences.

Game publishers like Roblox and Epic Games have already been hosting concerts within their games.

Unity has been investing in bringing live sporting events to its 3D virtual experiences. 

Social

Due to the partnerships between the gaming and social media industries, social networks and online game makers are vying for the potential $800 billion market size of the Metaverse economy. 

As an example, Meta’s Oculus VR investment has the potential to give them an edge in the Metaverse market.

However, Unity, Epic, and Roblox offer much more to the market. It all remains to be seen.

How Is Big Tech Tapping Into the Metaverse Opportunity?

How big is the Metaverse? It’s big enough already, though currently a concept, that the biggest tech giants want their piece of the pie.

Since tech giants like Meta (Facebook) and Microsoft have already invested enough to try to dominate, what’s next?

Facebook even changed its name to Meta and created the Oculus headset and the Horizon Worlds that will work with it.

Microsoft has been concentrating on its enterprise programs through its new platform they are calling “Mesh”. 

Mesh is planning to combine enterprise applications with its own AR headset, Hololens to allow for realistic-looking virtual business realms for businesses and professionals.

Its goal for the future is to play an imperative role in business and education.

It’s not surprising that the biggest tech corporations would want to dominate the Metaverse, but who else is vying for their market share?

Blockchain technology may enter the Metaverse in a grassroots effort that could be essential for making the Metaverse platform successful.

One example of this is Axie Infinity, which is an online game that is using the blockchain to create an autonomous digital economy. 

Love potions and NFTs are and will be traded within this ecosystem by its thousands of game players all over the globe. 

The literal future of education, marketing, collaboration, and work could potentially look like Axie Infinity the game.

Conclusion

Now that you know the answer to “How big is the Metaverse?”, you can now see it’s much larger than can be imagined.

Some people say the Metaverse is the beginning of the downfall of the world as we know it. Others say it’s the beginning of a whole new world and are excited about it.

The Metaverse is huge, or it will be before we know it, so what do you think about it. How do you feel about mixing the physical realm with the digital realm? 

Sources