Who Will Rule the Metaverse?

There is a lot of talk about the Metaverse these days. Much of the Metaverse is built on existing technologies and some is very novel. We have created an infographic outlining many of the key players in the Metaverse ecosystem.

The three main components of the Metaverse include crypto-related payments/NFTs, content, and software/hardware. Some of the main players in the Metaverse includes Coinbase and OpenSea for the crypto payments and trading NFTs. The main Metaverse content platforms include Minecraft, Roblox, Decentraland, Snap, and Sandbox. The main hardware/software players include Nvidia, Microsoft, Meta, and Google.

A fundamental tenet of Web3 and the Metaverse is to avoid a centralized firm from creating a walled garden. It will be interesting to see how the new entrants and established players work together (or not) to create this next internet platform. Technology is important, but Content is typically king. I can envision the large media companies like Disney and Warner Brothers start deploying their content as entire virtual worlds and or minting NFTs around their content. Perhaps this will result in an online battle between the Marvel Universe (Disney), DC Comics (Warner), and Viacom.