It’s a brand new year, let’s see what exciting things are in store for the metaverse in 2024. The popular fictional metaverse, Ready Player One will soon become a reality. Walmart expands its ecommerce functionality, and Fortnite decides to embrace cozy gaming! Let’s dive in:
A Ready Player One Metaverse
Ready Player One was a massively successful book and movie in the 2010s, introducing the idea of the metaverse to a global audience. Now the developer, Futureverse, along with Warner Brothers Discovery, are taking it out of 2D and making your virtual dreams a reality! With the backing of a major studio behind it, the possibilities for IP integration are endless. The Readyverse won’t be available until later this year so details are sparse, but fingers crossed it comes with a Delorean!
You Can Buy From Walmart Anywhere
You’ll soon be able to shop for real physical items from Walmart in over 20 games and platforms! This is a groundbreaking development in ecommerce because it’ll allow people to make purchases within the immersive experience without having to leave. In partnership with game engine maker Unity, developers will be able to integrate the shopping tool with their future projects. So far Walmart has tested this functionality in three games: House Flip, Avakin Life and Zepeto. Players were able to order items for pickup or delivery within the game ecosystem.
Fortnite Ventures Into Cozy Gaming
Fortnite continues to expand its platform with games like Fortnite Festival, Rocket Racing and Lego Fortnite! In a TechCrunch interview with Saxs Persson, the VP of Epic Games, he alluded to branching out even more to offer experiences for every player out there. This includes stepping out of its Battle Royale stereotype to cozy games like Animal Crossing or Stardew Valley. With the advent of UEFN, we may see more user-generated content in that vein as well. It seems Fortnite is ready to dominate the gaming space by fitting every genre and play experience possible.
Conclusion: Already, it’s shaping up to be an exciting, boundary breaking year for the metaverse. With Ready Player One taking its fictional metaverse into the real virtual world, players have another platform to look forward to exploring. Walmart’s new ecommerce integration opens up the possibility for brands outside of Walmart to sell physical merchandise virtually. Lastly, Fortnite is expanding its universe by stretching its platform to fit numerous types of games and playstyles. It will be interesting to see how these platforms look by the end of the year. Come back next week for another installment of Metaburst!
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