It seems like it was only yesterday when we all dreamed of playing our favorite video game characters, mimicking their movements, carrying their weapons, driving their vehicles, and essentially living in their world.
The sci-fi movies and the video game commercials showed young gamers a future that seemed so distant yet so cool. But as we’re knee-deep in 2022, the Metaverse has started to show us that dreams do come into reality,
Joystick believes that the metaverse is absolutely the future of virtual reality in online gaming! What was once a fever dream has started to become something you can now quickly purchase off mall shelves.
But how is the metaverse really changing the landscape of virtual reality as we know it? Before we find out, let’s talk about what the metaverse actually is.
The virtual space of the metaverse
You probably heard of the metaverse because of a certain Mark Zuckerberg, aka the CEO of the massive tech company Facebook. It was only last October 2021 when Zuckerberg announced their company would be renaming itself to Meta, symbolizing their all-out push for the development of the metaverse.
But what is the metaverse exactly?
According to Meta, the metaverse is a hybrid of online social experiences that allow people to share immersive experiences with each other, despite not being in the same room. In essence, the metaverse is a virtual world. But not just any virtual world, but basically a world that has almost everything the real world has. Be it games, shops, casinos, music concerts, people – you name it – it can be part of the metaverse.
What makes the metaverse different from all other virtual universes is two-fold: one is how it utilizes both augmented and virtual reality technology (AR and VR, respectively) to immerse the players in the world; two is its use of crypto technology like the blockchain, which allows for meta users to own currency that’s appropriate for the digital world.
The next evolution of VR
Now, virtual reality in gaming is not at all a novel concept. There have been attempts at VR that go as far back as the 90s, and the technology has seen leaps and bounds in terms of innovation over the last few years.
We have seen VR headsets such as the Oculus Quest or the Meta Quest, the PlayStation VR, the HTC Vive Pro 2, and many others. All of which have shown that VR gaming has started to mature in ways we may not have expected, as each VR headset/machine is now more than capable of providing a fun and non-gimmicky gaming experience.
The question is – how does the Metaverse play into such a budding technological change?
It’s simple. The metaverse will not only make VR games more immersive, but it will also make VR online games a better avenue for digital connection amongst both gamers and non-gamers alike.
Because the metaverse essentially serves as a virtual version of our physical reality, VR gamers will now not be confined to just interacting with people who are playing the same game. They will now be able to interact with anyone who is in the multiverse, regardless if they’re in the same game or not!
This opens up numerous possibilities such as having a live virtual audience for certain VR games, a more robust VR online marketplace for game items, a more competitive and open e-sports community because of the broad reach of the metaverse, and many more. The best part of it is that we’ve only really touched the tip of the iceberg with how this technology will greatly enhance VR games as a whole.
VR games will cease to be a niche genre of gaming and may very well be the standard for how games are played in the very near future. It is not out of the realm of possibility that VR headsets and motion controls will become the norm; while conventional controllers and or our trusty mouse and keyboard will become the exception.
One thing is for certain though: wherever VR gaming is going, the metaverse is definitely and absolutely part of its future.