A Rocky Crypto Summer

As the world awaits the big day that Ethereum merges to Proof-of-Stake, the market continues to play with our feelings. The Global Crypto Market Cap has dropped below $1 trillion and has settled in around $950 billion. This year has passed quickly, many projects have died, others ‘HODL’, and few are still thriving. Amidst the uncertainty, the decentralized gaming-verse seems to be in a state of evolution. 

The Metaverse Is Coming

In late July, PwC announced a survey stating that 66% of executives reported that their companies have already engaged in the metaverse while 82% of executives plan to integrate a portion of their business in the metaverse. Although these new technologies are still being formulated, it’s stated that over 40% of businesses around the world are already making investments toward technology support. Many are currently hiring and forming partnerships in preparation for full immersion in the metaverse. Although the technology for seamless integration is not yet clear and set in stone, we may be closer than we know.

Web 3.0 Adoption Is Still Bumpy

In contrast to the anticipated growth of Web3.0, there are a few large names reluctant to adopt these new technologies.  From November 2021 to today, Netflix has lost more than half of its value and reported in Q1 2022 that its customer growth rate had also fallen by more than half. The production and streaming giant recently announced a new subscription tier in hope of gaining more users once again. Although it will be cheaper, it will also include prescreened commercials that will exclude politics, gambling, and anything related to cryptocurrency. 

The tech giant Microsoft, owner of Minecraft, has also joined the anti-blockchain bandwagon by banning any blockchain technology integration, stating that the technology conflicts with their guidelines. What may not be easily visible is that Microsoft’s announcement can possibly stunt creativity for the Microsoft community and has led to the collapse of some projects attempting to integrate web3 technology into Minecraft, such as NFT Worlds. Minecraft gamer’s opportunities to earn while building something that truly belongs is stripped away if integration is denied. 

Many speculators around the world have stuck their noses up towards the new world to come but in the same way that the Internet has made its difference in our lives, so will Web3, which includes the Metaverse, and blockchain gaming. Change is inevitable and with it carries imagination and creativity. It seems like some of the large, centralized companies today refuse to understand and if they do understand, their resistance to the technology proves an unwillingness to allow their users to take advantage of such opportunities. 

Signs That the Metaverse Is Closer Than We Think

Besides large names in the space who have tossed the idea of such opportunities, there are many others who have welcomed them:

• Facebook renamed their brand to Meta in anticipation of their metaverse currently under development.
• The Sandbox, an S-tier community-driven metaverse partnered and collaborated with single artists and whole brands such as Snoop Dogg, Adidas, Atari, LG Technology, Samsung, South China Morning Post, Steve Aoki, The Walking Dead, and many more.
• Ticketmaster recently announced they will be using Dapper Labs Flow blockchain to mint ticket NFTs for live events.
• Epic Games began sharing Gala Games, a leading Web3 entertainment platform, on their marketplace to “bring Web3 games to the masses.” 
• The 2022 MTV VMAs hosted a new ‘Best Metaverse performance Category’. Artists such as Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, BTS, and others were listed as nominees who performed in different metaverses. While in-person concerts are not expected to not die out, there are now opportunities for people to experience live concerts from the comfort of home.
•  Fashion brands such as Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co, Vogue Magazine, Zara, Gucci, and many others joined the web3 space by entering different metaverses and offering NFT products to expand their brands and allowing people to express their true selves virtually. 
• Decentraland, an OG in the space, partnered with names such as Samsung, Amazon, Snapple, and many others. Decentraland hosts events in categories such as, fashion, sports, gaming, art, culture, and much more.  
• Founders of Twitch, Discord, and Reddit have all joined the space in one way or another as well whether they have been an investor in a funding round for a project or an advisor. 

Collaborations, partnerships, new projects, individual developers, and beyond are creating new content every day all integrated with blockchain technology offering new experiences and fun freedom. Crypto has had a rough year but people are taking advantage of these low prices looking at this time as a perfect discount to build their projects. Blockchain technology is about community and innovation. 

Written by Jenny Mongan