Any hot spot in a bear market is likely to suffer a Waterloo. The Metaverse, which has been developing rapidly in 21 years, has reached a "bleak" situation recently. Not only are projects in the cryptocurrency industry no longer taking advantage of the Metaverse or conducting Metaverse narratives, but even the Metaverse stories of the traditional Internet industry are difficult to tell. The number of active users of projects such as decentland and sandbox has decreased visibly. Even the powerful Facebook has not been able to launch a blockbuster product after entering the Metaverse. Although many people are still reluctant to admit it, the hype of the Metaverse has subsided, and capital has begun to look for the next hot spot - AI.
Three reasons why the Metaverse is so popular
The Metaverse is not a new concept. There are three main reasons why it has emerged in 2021:
1. People’s need for socializing, working, and entertainment at home during the COVID-19 pandemic
This is relatively easy to understand. The new coronavirus has caused home isolation to become a common behavior, and people are more inclined to pay attention to the Internet. The emergence of the metaverse meets people's needs to experience virtual environments on the Internet, and outlines an experience for everyone that allows them to travel around the world without personal experience, and even socialize with other strangers and engage in virtual creation, which fully satisfies the participants' curiosity.
2. Rapid development of virtual reality related hardware equipment
Before the emergence of the Metaverse, related hardware for virtual reality had already appeared. Technological development has made the research and development and manufacturing technology of wearable hardware devices such as 3D glasses mature. Multifunctional miniaturized sensors can bring players an immersive experience. Complex equipment that could only be experienced in shopping malls before has also been reduced to an acceptable price. Therefore, the number of Metaverse users has begun to increase rapidly.
3. Cryptocurrency brings an economic model to the metaverse
With the first two, the metaverse can only be called an entertainment tool, and cryptocurrency can truly make the metaverse possible to become an auxiliary method for the real world. The popularity of cryptocurrency in the metaverse also means that the metaverse has begun to have financial activities and various production and consumption scenarios. It can be said that cryptocurrency is the fresh blood that enables the metaverse to operate normally.
The above three factors jointly promote the rapid development of the metaverse. We can consider them to be the "three horses" for the normal operation of the metaverse.
Why the Metaverse has begun to be abandoned
Now that the "three horses" of the Metaverse have been determined, the factors why the Metaverse is now abandoned by capital and the market are also obvious. The new crown has been contained, home isolation has become a thing of the past, people have started to go out again, and the demand for interaction with the Metaverse has decreased.
At the same time, with the arrival of the cryptocurrency bear market, capital investment and financing in the Metaverse is also rapidly declining. The stage of attracting investment by telling stories has passed. The conservatism of investors makes it difficult for emerging teams to survive, and related topics are naturally decreasing.
The hardware is currently developing steadily, but due to the lack of a blockbuster application and people's non-essential awareness of wearable devices, many players are still on the sidelines.
In addition, the existing Metaverse products have average user experience and lack innovation. Many of them are purely storytelling without clear business operation logic. Therefore, when AI became popular, capital chose to turn to AI as soon as possible and no longer wasted too much time on the Metaverse. As a result, there is now a decrease in Metaverse topics, deserted projects, and a situation close to "collapse."
How will the Metaverse develop next?
Since it is facing a "collapse", does that mean that the Metaverse is a scam? Actually, it is not. Although there were a variety of projects and development directions when the Metaverse first became popular, most of them did not work, such as Metaverse shopping, but there were also some good scenarios, such as virtual practical teaching and Metaverse games. These scenarios have begun to show some advantages in the corresponding industries and continue to exert their influence in their respective segments.
That is to say, after experiencing the frenzy of the market, the Metaverse has begun to move towards a rational development period, and this stage will slow down first, and the scene will be gradually implemented. Therefore, rather than saying that the Metaverse has collapsed, it is better to say that the bubble has burst and truly valuable applications have begun to develop gradually, and will completely change our lives in the future.