The word potential almost feels synonymous with the Metaverse, given that it’s a brand-new frontier and there are so many ways to develop it and make it grow. We’ve already seen huge numbers of businesses and big companies establish themselves there and the numbers are growing.
One area of the Metaverse that has already seen a large amount of development is the entertainment side, with media producers jumping at the chance for the latest outlet to use. In this article, we look at who are the biggest players in the entertainment part of the Metaverse so far, and what the next steps look likely to be.
The Biggest Names So Far
One of the biggest markets to date using the Metaverse is music, especially with live virtual concerts. These concerts haven’t been small-scale artists either, with massive names like BTS, Imagine Dragons, Ariana Grande and many more on top appearing so far. They offer fans an experience close to what they’d get at a real-life live concert, trading a little bit of personal interaction for a huge amount of extra convenience and generally lower cost.
One surprising success story is in the area of theme parks with the massive AstroWorld project still ongoing. The original AstroWorld park closed down in 2005 but it has been given a new lease on life through the Metaverse and VR. A single NFT purchase, and a VR headset, allow users to ride and experience virtual versions of all of the park’s rides and rollercoasters. It’s not a 1:1 replica of the original but it is a fascinating chance to revive something that was lost in real life.
To cap off the entertainment success stories, we can look at the world of Metaverse casinos. The biggest names in this area have sold themselves on the idea of exclusivity, as they require the purchase of an NFT to play, and on the play-to-earn model. These casinos are going strong in Decentraland and are all generally very welcoming places for newbies, although before you head into any of these we’d recommend checking out some poker, roulette and blackjack guides, as the amounts to spend on initial NFTs to play make it worth some research first.
What Comes Next In Metaverse Entertainment?
The most exciting avenue for those who follow online trends is the development of movies and films within the Metaverse. The potential for studios to make fully immersive video content by harnessing the power of VR and AR technologies is huge, Small scale projects like the animated series Lustration have already shown that it is possible to allow viewers to watch content ‘without walls’ by removing fixed cameras and generating a 3D environment.
For bigger productions, a connected technology may have the answer in this case though as companies explore the world of AI-generated content. This naturally includes generating AI-based movies and animations, which would allow for immersive 3D environments with generated crowds and background activity that wouldn’t require direct programming, cutting production time down massively.
Whichever direction it goes, the Metaverse is set to change the playing field again and again for many years to come.
