The Metaverse and Blockchain Haven’t Seduced Game Studios Yet, and Probably Never Will

Video game studios still see no reason to jump on the metaverse and blockchain bandwagon.. At least not massively. This confirms the latest state of the industry report published by the organizers of the Game Developers Conference (via VentureBeat) based on a survey of over 2,300 industry developers.

If you focus on what is related to the blockchain, the result is not surprising. Especially when you consider that the 2022 edition of the same study gave mostly negative results regarding the adoption of technologies related to the crypto world and NFT.

While virtual worlds also do not cause much sympathy from major game studios. One of the questions posed to respondents about which companies they think are best suited to deliver on the promises of the metaverse concept received an enthusiastic response. 45% marked the option “No. The concept of the metaverse will never be realized as promised.”.

Those who chose any of the listed companies received 14% epic games. This is due to the possibility of expanding the scope of such developments as Fortnite and unreal engine. Let’s not forget that Tim Sweeney, the CEO of the aforementioned study, said that he believes the metaverse could be the engine of the global economy and the generator of “several trillion dollars.”

One step down they were Target D Microsoft With Horizon Worlds D mine craftrespectively, with 7% of the votes each. A rather curious situation, since it is Mark Zuckerberg who today allocates the most resources for the development of life in virtuality. However, their recent financial failures, coupled with the disappointment of their shareholders, make it impossible to consider them the best of those who are able to bring to life the concept of the metaverse, which they themselves have made into a constant topic of discussion in the technology sector.

The video game industry is still far from the metaverse and blockchain

Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash

When it comes to blockchain, game developers remain reluctant to see it as a feasible business model. In fact, only 4% of those surveyed said they currently use it to monetize their publications.. While 50% of respondents work with the traditional modality pay to downloador “pay to download”.

This is another situation that does not present big surprises. After all, platforms such as Steam have long banned the distribution of blockchain games. Something that makes it very difficult for him to reach a mass audience, which is not necessarily limited to crypto enthusiasts. Whereas in the case of the metaverse, it is still not valued as an option to add value to the experience. gamer. Something that works regardless of advances in VR.

Indeed, such proposals decentralized earth They generated a lot of interest, mainly in the marketing world. Some of the world’s most recognizable brands have made commitments to the metaverse, but it’s clear that the proposal still needs a lot of evolution. Meanwhile, in the case of Meta Horizon Worlds So far, it has been a fiasco, with fewer than 200,000 people using the platform regularly.

Mark Zuckerberg said that the metaverse will become possible when virtual reality headsets become available. What today seems very far from happening; especially when you consider that the Meta Quest Pro costs $1,500. But there is another significant drawback of this type of device: low user retention. It is estimated that over half of Meta points are no longer used after only 6 months of purchase. In this case, there is no plan for mass adoption that would be worth it.