- The metaverse could grow to be a $900 billion business by 2030, but may remain in an early stage of development for at the least one other five to 10 years, in keeping with a recent report by Bain & Company.
- Virtual experiences are forecast to be about 65% of the metaverse market in 2030, ahead of app stores and operating systems (10%), devices (10%), computing and infrastructure (10%) and content-creation tools (5%).
- The metaverse could still eventually be a force to reckon with, even as hype across the virtual worlds and their supporting technology has died down considerably now that tech firms and the marketing world have rushed to embrace generative AI, per the report.
While Bain’s report, “Taking the Hyperbole Out of the Metaverse,” forecasts a possible market size of $900 billion by the following decade, it also sees the sector remaining in seed stage for the following five to 10 years — an extended runway than seemingly promised when buzz across the metaverse was highest, as recently as a 12 months ago.
“As the metaverse quickly evolves, we have already seen most of these technologies take hold inside different industries,” said Chris Johnson, a partner in Bain’s Technology practice, in a press release. “This is an ongoing journey toward more immersive and collaborative experiences, enabled by rapid improvements within the underlying technology.”
The metaverse is unlikely to be one platform, but a mix of platforms with large user bases today that will grow to be increasingly immersive and smaller environments that attract more users, per the report. The platforms are more likely to remain siloed as firms look to leverage underlying data to drive revenue.
The best battleground for metaverse market share is more likely to be virtual experiences. While gaming on platforms like Roblox and Fortnite is currently the leading consumer application of metaverse-like technology, fitness and entertainment could grow within the medium term.
For businesses, the metaverse could be used for collaboration and productivity and in digital marketing, worker training, education and healthcare. The remaining 35% of market share is forecast to be split between the underlying technology that could make metaverse experiences truly immersive.
While the metaverse looked as if it would take successful earlier this 12 months as tech firms faced a tricky economic climate, marketers have continued to experiment with activations on platforms that could be a part of the eventual metaverse. Nike in June built on a multiyear partnership with Epic Games to create “Airphoria,” an internet gaming experience inside Fortnite, while Fenty Beauty and H&M have created experiences on Roblox.
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