But then, as now, one thing was clear: although we didn’t know which companies would shape this new technological evolution, consumers were flocking to it. That’s also what some people thought about the internet during the 1990s. There’s ample skepticism right now from people who think the metaverse is just a flash in the pan. For marketers, the metaverse represents an opportunity to engage consumers in entirely new ways while pushing internal capabilities and brand innovation in new directions. It may realize the promise of vast digital worlds to parallel our physical one. We believe that the metaverse is best characterized as an evolution of today’s internet-it is something we are immersed in instead of something we look at. The metaverse enables people to have virtual identities, presence, and “agency,” including peer-to-peer interactions, transactions, user-generated content, and “world-building.”.The metaverse is powered by a fully functioning virtual economy, often (but not always) built on cryptocurrency and digital goods and assets, including nonfungible tokens (NFTs).

The metaverse spans the virtual and physical worlds, as well as multiple platforms.The metaverse is “always on” and exists in real time.The metaverse encompasses immersive environments, often (but not always) using virtual- or augmented-reality technology.But most descriptions-including this particularly insightful take from venture capitalist Matthew Ball, who recently shared his thoughts on the promise of the metaverse with McKinsey-have some elements in common: What, exactly, is the metaverse? Right now, the interested parties cannot agree on any one definition. The global value creation opportunity from the metaverse could be in the trillions.

In the past 12 months, one company alone-Epic Games, maker of Fortnite-has not only raised $3 billion to fund its long-term vision for the metaverse but also announced a partnership with LEGO to build a metaverse for kids. In 2021, metaverse-related companies reportedly raised upward of $10 billion, more than twice as much as they did in the previous year. It’s not just talk private capital is also rapidly pouring in. This article is a collaborative effort by Eric Hazan, Greg Kelly, Hamza Khan, Dennis Spillecke, and Lareina Yee, representing views from McKinsey’s Growth, Marketing & Sales Practice and McKinsey’s Technology Council.

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