Metaverse Technology Market Outlook

Metaverse Technology Market Outlook - An Opportunity worth $224 Billion by 2030

The Metaverse is a virtual space where users are immersed and virtually present in. The metaverse created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical and digital reality. Technologies contributing to the development of the metaverse include augmented reality (AR), flexible work styles, head-mounted displays (HMDs), an AR cloud, the Internet of Things (IoT), 5G, artificial intelligence (AI) and spatial technologies. The metaverse consists of several key features including real-time persistency, economies, communities, digital avatars, and accessibility across multiple devices.

As per this latest market study, Metaverse Technology market was valued at $32 billion in 2021 and is likely to reach $224 billion by 2030. Software contributed more than 80% of the market in 2021. The metaverse technology is expected to create revenue opportunities across multiple verticals, particularly for those companies that develop virtual platforms and their components, semiconductors and chips that render ultrarealistic graphics, and the related software. 

Key Drivers

The global gaming industry has reinvented itself to derive the maximum consumer engagement and revenue growth on a global level. Gaming has been revolutionized completely in the last 10 years, from organizational and business perspective, regardless of the gadgets used. Nowadays, games allow people to actively participate and enjoy their passion for gaming that suits any mood, interest, lifestyle, location, and budget. Almost all the new games include live events, pro-gamers heroes, and teams with millions of fans. Old gaming techniques are being replaced with upcoming technologies such as gesture control, facial and voice recognition, and high-definition (HD) displays; consumers have a wide variety of games available in the market, such as racing games, role-playing video games, and sports video games, according to their preferences. Thus, there is a constant increase in the number of gamers worldwide.

Game developers continue to leverage numerous technology trends, which further drive innovation and improvise the gameplay. For instance, mor immersive playability through VR and AR supports photorealistic graphics, making it almost indistinguishable from real life. VR/AR gaming platforms also enable players to connect and socially interact with each other in virtual spaces. The launch of the fifth generation of cellular communications or 5G is likely to reflect positively on the metaverse market. This is primarily because 5G networks will go a long way forward towards improving the performance and reliability of connected devices

Metaverse related companies raised USD 2.6 billion in 2021 as compared to USD 2.1 billion in 2020. Magic Leap raised USD 500 million in October 2021 while Niantic, a builder of augmented reality platforms, closed a USD 300 million Series D in November 2021. 3D avatar application developer NAVER Z raised a Series B worth approximately USD 188.2 million, in November 2021. In April 2022, Epic announced a $2 billion round of funding to advance the company’s vision to build the metaverse and support its continued growth. In March 2022, Yuga Labs announced that is now at valued at $4 billion, following a $450 million funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto fund, a16z crypto. Qualcomm launched the Snapdragon Metaverse Fund, established to invest up to $100 million in innovative developers and companies building immersive experiences with AR, mixed reality, and VR.

Metaverse Technology Market - Highlights

• In augmented reality (AR), head-mounted displays (HMD) and Head-up displays (HUD) are mostly used. Three main types of devices used in virtual reality are HMD, projectors and display walls, and gesture-tracking devices. Standalone AR/VR devices eliminate the requirement of personal computers or smartphones to deliver metaverse experience to users as these devices have in-built displays and processors. In terms of unit shipment, AR devices contributed only 1% of the overall metaverse hardware market in 2020 and is likely to have more than 90% share by 2030.
• The consumer segment is going to have the largest share (~29%) of the market by 2030, including gaming and entertainment applications wherein AR is used to create 3D objects the real world. The flourishing gaming and sports and entertainment sectors fuel the use of metaverse in consumer industry. VR technology also offers remarkable results regarding visual effects when used in gaming and sport broadcasts.
• The metaverse market in APAC is expected to grow at the highest CAGR of 25% between 2022 and 2030. North America led the market in 2021. Growing use of smartphones, increasing adoption of smart devices, and surging demand for AR/VR in various applications are the key factors fuelling the growth of the metaverse market in North America. However, the market in APAC is expected to surpass the metaverse market in North America by 2028. The metaverse market is expected to witness significant growth in the next few years owning to increasing adoption of metaverse in China, Japan, and South Korea.
• The presence of companies such as Blippar, Inde, Engine Creative, and Holition that are actively involved in AR/VR industry is expected to drive the growth of the metaverse market in the UK. The digital change in the UK is anticipated to fuel the growth the extended reality market in the country. The UK is becoming a hotbed for AR devices. The demand for metaverse is expected to surge in the UK, mainly from the gaming industry, as the country has one of the largest video gaming industries in the world.
• In the metaverse, users are connected to their avatars or any other digital representation, and the information collected about their activities is personal data, which is liable to existing privacy and data protection laws. Regulation on privacy may vary based on the physical location of an organization or a user, the type of an organization or a user, the type of data collected, and the type of data collected, and the purpose of data collection. Organizations will be subject to General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the UK data privacy laws

Metaverse vs Digital Twin

Digital twins enable the creation of rich digital models of physical or logical assets that can be products or complex environments. Such models can be brought to life and synchronized with the physical world that acts as a foundation for enabling the metaverse platform. Anheuser-Busch InBev, one of the largest brewers in the world, uses metaverse application. AB InBev uses Microsoft Azure Digital Twins to create a comprehensive digital model of its breweries and supply chain. AB InBev uses mixed reality over its digital twin for remote assistance, fostering effectiveness sharing across geographies. 

Virtually scanned objects in the metaverse are not digital twins. A scanned object, once incorporated with real metadata and live data feeds from sensors overlaid simultaneously, makes it a digital twin. According to David-Weir McCall of Epic Games, the metaverse is the digital world that lives alongside the physical world and allows people to live, work, and play alongside each other, and digital twin are the foundations of which the metaverse will be built. Digital twin in the metaverse allows the creation of a virtual world where live data is fed, and it will operate exactly the way it would in the real world. Examples include retail store where the shopping experience is optimized in real time and shelves are always stocked.

Metaverse 

• The metaverse need not be tied to any existing physical asset
• The metaverse does not need sensor data to exist. However, real time can be utilized for various applications
• The metaverse requires a level of immersion where a user must immerse in a virtual world

Digital Twin

• Digital twin requires an object or process that can be represented. Any change in the physical world is reflected in the digital representation
• Digital twin depends on data integration. Sensors attached to a real-world asset are utilized where real-time data forms the bridge connecting to its virtual counterpart 
• The digital twin can be accessed by anyone, even on a computer, a smartphone, or a tablet

Company Profiles

1. User Interface: Apple, HTC, HP, Meta, Sony, DPVR, Pico VR
2. Virtualization: Microsoft, Google, AWS, Oracle, ClearBlade, Edgegap, Alibaba Cloud, Tencent Cloud, Unity Technologies, Improbable, Manticore Games, Sandbox VR, Epic Games, Roblox, Decentraland, The Sandbox, Somnium Space
3. Infrastructure Providers: Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei, Samsung, Nvidia, Intel, Qualcomm, AMD

Key Questions to be answered through this study

• What is the market size and forecast of the Global Metaverse Technology Market?
• What are the driving factors and impact of digitalization shaping the Global Metaverse Technology Market during the forecast period?
• Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Metaverse Technology Market?
• What is the competitive strategic scenario for opportunities in the Global Metaverse Technology Market?
• What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Metaverse Technology Market?