The Lonely Digital User No More: Metaverse As a Means of Connection

When local multiplayer was still around, video games were social: You went over to a friend’s house and joined them for a session of the latest first-person shooter or racing game. Online play has changed things. Now gaming could be quite isolating: Gamers stayed at home and played with one another remotely.

It should come as no surprise that studies have linked gaming to feelings of anxiety and even loneliness. While gaming has shifted in this direction, another monumental shift can bring it back in the other direction: the metaverse.

This technology has been widely publicised by games such as Ronin’s Axie Infinity, but the metaverse is actually much bigger and more encompassing than just a stand-alone title. True metaverses are more akin to Second Life: They are entire spheres for people to connect with one another.

Although these incarnations may have fallen short of user expectations, the metaverse remains the biggest potential outlet for people to regain the connection that they have lost in other areas of their lives. There are several ways the metaverse can help on this front.

• Encourage going outdoors — Modern games encourage people to stay inside, binge on playing, and minimise participation in the physical world. Metaverses will also require some screen time, but they will not stop there. Because metaverses will bridge the digital and real world, they will ultimately drive people outdoors and into our communities. For example, Changi Airport Group has launched ChangiVerse, a metaverse of the Changi Airport on Roblox that rewards users with round-trip tickets for earning high scores. Other metaverses will similarly encourage users to travel, dine, shop, enjoy, and more.
• Facilitate face-to-face interaction — In addition to getting digital users out from our caves, the metaverse can also help with the in-person interaction we so frequently lack. Instead of messaging from one another behind a screen, people can finally interact with one another in-person. This trend was already witnessed during the heyday of Pokemon Go, when people would adventure with their friends in search of the eponymous monsters. With the augmented reality (AR) aspect of the metaverse now more evolved, people will have even more incentive to interact with one another, as the world is now seeing in the rise of weddings held in the metaverse (now there is no more excuse for not attending!).
• Push people to explore the world — When was the last time you did something for the first time? That is a commonly asked question aimed at getting people to try new things, a message which is especially relevant to gamers, who may often be stuck in an endless cycle of mindless playing. The metaverse can help here, too. Because businesses may run campaigns with the aid of the metaverse — for example, a destination can offer in-game incentives for visiting their location — it will encourage gamers to not only visit new places, but also try new things. As an example, musician Robbie Williams launched his 25th anniversary show in the metaverse platform, LightCycle. Inspired by this novel concept, many users visited the in-person preview at the AsianWorld Expo. The metaverse can pique our curiosity and quite literally bring us places.
• Strike new friendships — Meta is interested in the metaverse partly because it has so much in common with social media. Like social media, the metaverse will give people another avenue for connecting. This applies to not only our existing relationships, but new ones as well. Through the metaverse, people can make connections through playing with other players, joining real world events based on these games, and visiting related locations. This effect is doubly enhanced by the fact players are connecting with like-minded people: They share a common bond in a passion for forward-thinking technology. People interested in fashion, for example, could connect at Nike’s launch of virtual sneakers or the virtual hub jointly made by Emperia and Tommy Hilfiger. The metaverse makes it even easier than social media for people to find their tribe.

These are just some of the ways that the metaverse will ultimately improve well-being in gamers, enhance community among players, and drive the sense of connection currently lacking in the space. From this perspective, the metaverse is ultimately not a separate world, but one that will improve how we communicate, connect, and live (in both meanings of the term) in our present one.

Affyn is building a blockchain-powered Multiverse of interoperable games and metaverses. Together with a global community of co-creators, we are forging a sustainable economy converging the virtual and real worlds. Affyn is based in Singapore.