“All you need to understand about the future, is video game culture is the future”. Benoit Pagotto, threw the fashion audience at the WWD Metaverse Symposium a curve-ball. Where the audience was expecting how their brands can thrive and drive sales in the metaverse, Benoit woke everyone up with an education in gaming.
The fashion industry might have woken up to the power of the metaverse during Travis Scott’s 10 minute concert where he grossed $20Million. For some kids in their bedroom during lockdown, this was their first concert ever. Imagine your first concert — getting ready, waiting in line, the sweet experience live. Now imagine theirs: waiting for the live stream, their friends on Twitch, dancing going crazy. Even if you prefer your experience, you both are captive audience members. The virtual concert was a success. Benoit poked fun at the fashion audience for their response in trying to generate the same experience during Men’s Fashion Week — which was a flop. 😂
It begs the question, who are brands and companies really targeting with their attempts to enter the metaverse? Are the customers you’re targeting today actually there? Or is it a new audience you’re creating?
There’s already a strong existing audience that is metaverse native and needs to be understood in order to understand any metaverse strategy — gamers. But this online community isn’t the only one. We can’t forget the creator economy — individuals who are creating and monetising online content. I see that there is also a rising new niche of fashion-heads born and bred via internet communities like Bliss Foster’s Fashion Friends. Where embracing decentralized tools like Discord is native to support their content creations. A community of ‘non-fashion people’ who are actually extremely fashion, and who, embrace newness.
So how does one understand the gamers in the metaverse?
Well, take a look at the collage of interests of Benoit and his friends below. Start here, and then get gaming. 🎮
Press Start: 🎮
1. Inside by Playdead Studio
Remember super Mario Bros? The left to right style of gaming?👨🏻🔧🍄⬆🐢➡️ 🍄🐲🏰👸🏼
Taking this concept, Inside, crafted by Playdead Studio, is a spine chilling game that’s really beautiful. They have more than 50 creators designing every pixel of their games. This particular game’s music was composed and recorded inside a human skull. (They are Playdead Studio after all)
2. The Witness by Jonathan Blow
It took Jonathan Blow, the designer of The Witness, 7 years to finish this game. The entire island, which is not necessarily a big island, is a layered puzzle. Not even the tiniest detail is unconsidered.
3. Fez
“Fez is a 2012 indie puzzle-platform game developed by Polytron Corporation and published by Trapdoor. The player-character Gomez receives a fez that reveals his two-dimensional world to be one of four sides of a three-dimensional world.” With a real sense of craft, a classical music inspired soundtrack, and a (spoiler alert 🚨) remixed synthesized version of Prélude in E minor, Op. 28 №4 by Frédéric Chopin as the ending.
4. Elden Ring
The last-level recommendation after you’re fluent, apparently. Not sure I’ll make it here, or even the other games, but nonetheless, I might watch on YouTube. And where games today tell you everything: how to use the tools, where to go, what your mission is, sometimes just an endless tutorial, Elden Ring apparently tells you nothing. Not where to go, not what to do, not how to do it. It’s a game you need to read online, get on forums, and watch out for trolls. The trolls will give you fake advice leading to your death and pressing the reset button on the progress you’ve made.
So you game, you saw, you conquered.
Now what? Are you Metaverse-ready? 🚦🪐
