The many facets of the metaverse
Science fiction lent us the words. It remains to be seen whether we will be the players or the played.
You have surely heard the name «metaverse» more than once. Well then, it is a concept of a 3D virtual setting that links almost every aspect of the private life of multiple users, users who interact thanks to a personalized graphic representation called an «avatar».
As tends to happen, science fiction has already got ahead of these important cultural changes and it is precisely the school that has provided us with the names we use today to refer to these new «realities».
Two precedents: the novel Neuromancer, by the celebrated Canadian pioneer William Gibson, which bequeathed us the concept of «Matrix», and Snow Crash, by the American Neal Stephenson, who openly pays homage to Gibson. From Snow Crash come words such as «avatar» and «metaverse».
What does the metaverse promise?
While this virtual space does not fully exist, we have plenty of references and approximations. For example, 3D games could in more than one case be considered a faithful representation of what the metaverse aspires to be. But this does not follow from the mere fact of being three-dimensional games; the decisive factor rests on the services and features that are carried over from digital platforms to the many varied areas of our life.
One sample of the activities that can be carried out in these alternative universes is Roblox, where events such as gatherings and concerts take place in which the user is not playing in the strict sense. In this case, the most overwhelming example was led by the singer Travis Scott, when two years ago he put on a virtual concert inside the game Fortnite, producing exorbitant figures: 27 million users online watching the concert, and 45.8 million plays thanks to all those who repeated the viewing. Then… the platform put various personalized items on sale —merchandising of the concert itself— that users could apply to their avatars. This paradigmatic case has driven the interest of big companies, thanks to the fact that it shows the unprecedented mass reach that can be achieved with this kind of initiative.
And here we hit the essential point this new reality focuses on, which is, strictly speaking, a new economy. So, the idea of «working» from the metaverse has been promoted. In what way? Well, through various video games that are called play-to-earn, something like «Play to win». To put it in one word, a gradual transition from one way of life to another.
Video games and their progress over time
At first, there were only video games that had a set beginning and end; you bought them to play on your platforms and, once finished, you got others under the same concept. The business was nothing more than the classic commercial exchange. Then, free-to-play games prospered, free online games where you interact with a vast community of players and where the business is based on microtransactions, the purchase of various items put on sale by the developing company (outfits, armor, weapons, pets, and so on). Still, it should be pointed out that, in parallel, there was always a market generated by the users themselves, who trade game items for real money.
In this way, and thanks to technologies that use cryptography (an encryption that guarantees the uniqueness of the items), today multiple video games place their objective on generating digital currencies that are legitimately exchangeable for tangible money; users earn money while they play, as well as opening the possibility to countless investments that do not imply that whoever makes them is also a player. But, and far beyond how it may look like an advantage in every respect, this carries certain risks that are still not very clear and that need to be put under the microscope.
Also, you can bet real money, which opens new opportunities for players to take part in online games and potentially win tangible rewards.
Where do play-to-earn video games prosper?
As is to be expected, this kind of practice is highly regarded in underdeveloped countries, countries with very low purchasing power. That is so, mainly, because the digital currencies acquired are exchanged for dollars. Two countries strongly linked to games of this type are the Philippines and Venezuela, given that 10 USD a day (the average money earned by an experienced player) is a lot for their respective economies.
The Philippines is the number 1 country in the world in this kind of practice. That is because it has the highest rate of Axie Infinity players, a game that was developed by a studio in its neighboring country, Vietnam, and that handles two types of digital currency. During 2021, this game managed to take in more than 42 million dollars in sales.
You may wonder why we have alluded to the risks behind these trends, and it is a legitimate question. In the first place, our concern focuses on the fact that the developing companies take a commission on the multiple transactions carried out in each game, which makes a certain dark leaning in the idea of stimulating the player’s behavior evident. In the second place, because this new universe makes the blatant scams of many companies that speculate with the money private individuals invest uncontrollable and, also, because at no point does it seem to be pointed out that various existing psychological disorders are dangerously compromised.
A well-known pathology that could multiply
It almost seems that, by the mere fact of being inside a video game that also generates income for us, we are devoting ourselves to nothing more than a mostly beneficial pastime and, in the worst case, a harmless one… but we consider that the complete opposite could happen.
Specifically, we are talking about gambling addiction, a serious chronic illness that shows itself in the compulsive practice of one or more games of chance. If to that we add that the nature of digital currencies is mostly fluctuating and that they are subject to exchanges of the kind mentioned, the equation is not encouraging. In fact, not long ago, we have seen how big investors in this kind of asset have seen their fortune threatened.
Although it is also reasonable to consider that not everything related to the metaverse is vile and is, so to speak, poisoned. We even have to keep in mind at all times that it is unimaginable to reverse the mass processes characteristic of a historical situation. The world will incorporate these trends more and more, not less. Nor is it about being allergic to technological progress, which is a good thing if used wisely.
That is why it is worth pointing out that video games are not the only agents through which the possibilities of the metaverse can be exploited. Being, as is clear, an alternate universe, it is to be expected that there are also countless realities, worlds, systems, galaxies…
In this regard, we have witnessed some variants.
Cannes Lions and some directions toward a less alienating metaverse
At the last Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the McCann group proposed an experience in the metaverse: the MWverse. It consisted of a virtual gallery with 10 different rooms in which a compilation of its most outstanding work was offered. According to Elav Horwitz, the group’s Chief Innovation Officer, the aim was to «democratize and celebrate creativity». It was about bringing various scenarios closer to a target audience that otherwise could not attend the event.
This inspires the vision that certain experiences can be widened, including people who are very far away or, why not, disabled; let us say, being able to adapt experiences for every possible audience. From this angle, inclusive if you will, we can foresee many benefits; the stimulating possibility that many people widen their capabilities almost indefinitely.
On the subject mentioned, it has been said many times now that the aim is also, however contradictory it may seem, to «humanize the metaverse», and it is something R/GA subscribed to at the same festival, when Josefina Casellas, the agency’s new ECD for the Spanish-speaking region, said in an interview that «we have to be very careful that the digital does not override the human».
Either way, at Argency we believe one thing is certain: we must keep our eyes wide open.
Conclusion on the tentative plans of a world to come
It is somewhat unsettling to think that many of the terms we use to refer to our present have been inherited from dystopian science fiction works; that they are the fruit of hypothetical but apocalyptic realities. Which does not specifically mean that we are at the gates of a catastrophe, but it does indicate in some way that we must tread carefully.
We cannot ignore that many of the developers of these new virtual worlds intend, among other things, to sustain their constructions at the expense of unfortunate populations… that they pursue almost rapaciously another version of precarious work. We could say that, if we are not careful, we are one step away from the benefits of technology bringing us closer and closer to new and worse forms of slavery.
We must follow the truly edifying and solid examples, devised by the great minds of humanity. Examples that, very fittingly, we also find in science fiction, as is the case of the Briton George Orwell, who, more than half a century ago now, announced a society of control.
Reflection and critical judgment must be two unavoidable defenses against the presumable debasement of those who only think of their own benefit. We must ask ourselves at all times, as a mantra, the following:
Will we be the players or will we be the played?
