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The Metaverse Is Already Here – It’s Minecraft
We saw a glimpse of Zuckerberg’s vision for the metaverse recently which is basically a demo of an Augmented/Virtual Reality future. In short, he expects people to adopt his metaverse, wearing VR goggles to attend meetings, social gatherings in virtually created spaces. Monday’s ONE THING has covered the potential direction for Meta’s Metaverse, but what if I told you the metaverse already exists? It’s called Minecraft. Here’s why Minecraft is a good metaverse: 👇👇
1) It’s Decentralised
Anyone can create a multiplayer Minecraft world.
Anyone on your local wi-fi can join or host/rent a server for people from all over the world. It’s still incredibly popular with 126 million players monthly.
Unlike Meta’s singular locked-in community where everybody logs in to the same metaverse, Minecraft allows users to create their own metaverses.
You set your own rules of engagement, property rights, economic systems etc.
2) It’s Immersive
Meta assumes digital reality is only immersive with VR Goggles.
However, being a 10-year-old game, Minecraft’s low-tech blocky aesthetic is surprisingly immersive.
Parents will know that their young kids basically “live” a virtual life in the game environment, despite the non-realistic setting.
Plus, we’re not at the point of widespread VR Goggle adoption yet, with many users feeling nauseous if worn for long hours.
Minecraft doesn’t require expensive hardware and is acceptable to a wide age group.
3) It’s Purposefully Creative
Minecraft is a game after all, it’s essentially unplayable if you don’t create things.
It serves a purpose for people to be there, to play and create things with friends.
Corporate metaverses however see creativity as a second-order concern.
Meta meetings will feel novel at first but then feel like a gimmick after. There’s no strong incentive to be present in Meta’s metaverse constantly.
These are some of the reasons why Minecraft (and many others like Roblox & Fortnite) is arguably a more successful model for metaverses. Boomers adopted the Internet Age whereas Millennials are born in it. Similarly, Gen Zs are now born in the metaverse age of immersive digital environments, growing up together with games like Minecraft proves that it’s what works.
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