When real ends and virtual becomes the new thing
At Fluxx we have the pleasure of working with such a diverse range of businesses, we get the opportunity to learn about all types of industries, the people in them and their customers. It’s what makes our jobs so interesting. It’s also what makes us curious about gathering intel and keeping up with trends and insights. Each week, we’ll be focusing on a particular industry topic and look at how this might change during the C-19 crisis.
First up we want to explore gaming culture, the effect gaming has on mental health and whether this has changed during lockdown. We’ve previously worked with GAME to find out what their customers really want, we’ve rubbed shoulders with gamers at conventions and chatted with them for hours so we’re well versed in gaming culture.
So has the role and perception of gaming changed? It seems the World Health Organisation (WHO) have made a U-turn on the topic — last year they classified people without control of gaming habits and labelled ‘Gaming Disorder’ as ‘harmful’ and ‘addictive’, now they’re endorsing the idea of video games as a means to maintain social contact and connect with others safely during lockdown.
It seems lockdown is uniting competitors too. Unexpected partnerships have formed as 18 video game companies; including live streaming platform Twitch have come together to echo the plea of the world to stay at home and social distance, launching the campaign #PlayApartTogether.
Whilst many people are struggling with feelings of loneliness and depression during isolation, social simulation games are offering up much needed opportunities to connect with friends. Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a social simulation game launched in March, set on a dream like desert island sold 5 million copies in its first month of release. Whilst rapper Travis Scott held a concert within the virtual world of Fortnite attracting 27.7 million unique visitors and 45 million views.
The Metaverse. As technology becomes increasingly advanced and tools highly sophisticated, these social simulations are likely to move beyond the world of gaming. The CEO of Fornite certainly has ambitions to evolve beyond just ‘being a game’, with the goal to build a virtual, social world that’s ‘something like the Metaverse’.
We’re interested in the future and what happens when the two worlds, virtual and real, combine. As VR and AR technologies evolve we’ll be able to build truly immersive virtual experiences, creating a world that delivers something far closer to real experience. Welcome Metaverse; a virtual space that becomes, for its inhabitants, almost as real as the real world itself. Perhaps putting into question what it means to truly experience something.
We’re all just gaming. While the tech evolves and with lockdown still in full force, other industries are looking to the virtual world of gaming for inspiration. Sporting events are a great example; cancelled for the foreseeable future, many sports personalities are jumping into simulations to play virtual tournaments with other celebrities for charity. Recently Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka took part in a live streamed ‘Mario Tennis’ tournament with a $1 million charity prize. This could well be the way we watch live sport in the new world.
No-one knows exactly how the world will look post-Covid; but as predictable patterns, models and plans have been thrown into deep uncertainty, at Fluxx we are helping businesses plan for the many versions of the future that could play out. And as consumer needs and priorities change in significant and multifaceted ways, what we do know is that the post-Covid world will certainly be a different place.
So if social distancing stays a ‘thing’, brands will need to build experiences that were once reliant on physical presence and pivot the offering in a new virtual world. This new normal may see us convert to virtual; with virtual concerts, theatre performances live streamed into our living rooms, a rise in popularity for posh takeaways and virtual dinner parties — good news for Pasta Evangelists — and perhaps even the emergence of social simulation holidays (though I’d definitely still prefer a real one!).
Natalia Walters is a consultant at Fluxx. Stay tuned with all that’s Fluxx by following us on LinkedIn or signing up to our WTF Newsletter.
Are you curious as to how Fluxx has helped companies such as Condé Nast, Mars, Thames Water, HSBC, Addison Lee Group and many more? Want to learn the secrets for sustained, repeatable innovation models, from expert practitioners? Get in touch now Natalia.Walters@Fluxx.uk.com. Equally, if you have any thoughts on the piece above, I’d love to hear from you!
