Author name: @nobumei (https://twitter.com/nobu_mei)
<aside> đź’ˇ This page describes the Metaverse from a Web 3.0 perspective.
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In the previous sections, we introduced the new business models that are emerging with reference to the token economy of Axie Infinity. In this section, we will look at the "Metaverse," which has become a buzzword along with GameFi and NFT, from the perspective of Web 3.0.
Around the end of 2021, "Metaverse" became a buzzword when Facebook changed its name to Meta. At the same time, the blockchain industry began rebranding its name to Web 3.0, so there were many articles with the tone of "Web 3.0 = Metaverse," a combination of two unfamiliar things, and the value of NFT and FT, projects that claim to be in the Metaverse, soared.
Reference: Facebook Changes Company Name to Meta in Focus on Metaverse
State of The Sandbox Q4 2021｜MESSARI
In the context of Web 3.0, Decentraland and Sandbox are well-known metaverse brands, where land in 3D space is turned into NFT and traded at high prices. Axie also sells land in the game as land, so it is sometimes counted as a metaverse brand. However, while the question of whether this is a "metaverse" remains unanswered, the current situation is that each stock is trending and has a high market capitalization.
Market size of Metaverse stocks | CRYPTORANK
At the time, the term "metaverse" was overused both within and outside of the Web 3.0 industry, and a heated debate ensued on how to define and perceive the metaverse, as the term "metaverse" would cause stocks and tokens to soar and market capitalization to rise.
I don't know if this trend is being followed, but in Japan, Namco Bandai, a major game development company, has decided to enter the market with an investment of 1.5 billion yen. I hope it is enough digits….
Reference: Bandai Namco will invest $130 million to develop “a metaverse for each IP”
In my experience, my boss at that time started making empty-headed comments like, "Metaverse is the future!”. The word "metaverse" has taken on a life of its own, and everything has become associated with it, giving rise to memes such as the following.
Metaverse meme image
The top one is lined with plausible sayings, while the bottom one adds pornography and potatoes to the "metaverse". This image is very useful when your boss starts saying "Metaverse" and you ask, "Which Metaverse?". When your boss says, "Oh come on, it can't be Potato," you can ask, "Well, which one are you talking about?" and reduce unnecessary conversation. If they can't answer, they are just talking in the mood, so you can ignore them. Let's use this useful method to test whether your boss's head is in a "Potatoverse" or not.
As the story is told in this image, metaverse is a word that is prone to many gaps in perception in conversation because it includes many different elements. Below are the results of the co-occurrence word analysis for the metaverse, but people associate different worldviews with it, such as the Crypto domain in the upper right and the VR domain in the lower left.
Metaverse Keyword Analysis | Source