Metaverse isn’t quite dead in the enterprise but patience is required

Enterprise adoption of the metaverse is not expected to reach mainstream levels for at least another five to 10 years but businesses that commit early are expected to be rewarded.

According to Bain & Company findings, the metaverse industry could reach up to $900 billion by 2030 yet based on current market conditions and boardroom priorities, may remain in the seed stage until the next decade.

In the report – Taking the Hyperbole Out of the Metaverse – analysts advised that the metaverse poses “real and growing” economic opportunities for businesses with organisations that engage in the early stages of development expected to become market winners.

“As the metaverse quickly evolves, we’ve already seen these types of technologies take hold within different industries,” said Chris Johnson, Partner at Bain. “A good example of this is immersive gaming platforms, which are already boasting hundreds of millions of monthly active users.”

For Johnson, the metaverse is – and will be – plural.

Justification for this analysis is centred on consumer and enterprise applications becoming increasingly immersive and collaborative. As a result, Bain reported that it’s unlikely that the metaverse will emerge as one singular platform.

“Instead, platforms with large user bases today may take steps to become increasingly immersive and engaging, while smaller, metaverse-like environments will try to attract bigger user bases,” he noted.

“These virtual worlds are likely to remain independent silos as private companies seek to recoup their investments by leveraging the value of the underlying data sets.”

Johnson said industries that have since exhibited the use of metaverse-type technologies include but are not limited to: entertainment, manufacturing, healthcare, education and employee training.

“And while it’s not immediately clear how the metaverse landscape will shift, our research shows there are five competitive battlegrounds that executives should be considering if they wish to get ahead and eventually scale,” Johnson added.

“This is an ongoing journey toward more immersive and collaborative experiences, enabled by rapid improvements in the underlying technology.”

According to Bain, five key competitive battlegrounds that executives should consider to gain market share in the metaverse include:

• Virtual experiences: This is forecast by Bain to be about 65% of metaverse projected market size in 2030. Although gaming is currently the leading consumer metaverse application, immersive fitness and entertainment could also be compelling in the medium term. On the enterprise side, innovative use cases are emerging, primarily in collaboration and productivity, but also in digital marketing, employee training, education and healthcare.

• Content-creation tools: Expected to represent roughly 5% of metaverse market size in 2030. There’s a growing field of software tools that provide the building blocks, editing platforms and interfaces for creating metaverse worlds and experiences. These features make it easy for users to generate content, added Johnson.

• App stores and operating systems: Forecast to total approximately 10% of metaverse market size in 2030. Johnson said the app store role will be crucial during the metaverse’s seed stage, providing users with curated, high-quality experiences to keep them engaged with the platform and headset they use to access the metaverse.

• Devices: Predicted to account for about 10% of metaverse market size in 2030. Significant technological barriers must be overcome before the arrival of comfortable, stand-alone devices that allow for truly immersive experiences. To achieve mass adoption, Johnson said metaverse content will need to work across all types of devices- including, for the foreseeable future, personal computers, gaming consoles and smartphones.

• Computing and infrastructure: Forecast to total about 10% of metaverse market size in 2030. Hardware companies will face pressure to develop higher-performing chips, servers and networking technologies to render high-quality graphics and reduce latency, added Johnson.