What influenced the Metaverse and its current popularity？Here are the top 3 sources

2022-03-18, 04:34

[TL;DR]

The concept of the metaverse was created by a sci-fi author in 1992: Snow Crash author Neal Stephenson coined the term in 1992, describing a virtual reality where users are represented in avatars and able to attend social events, trade goods and even purchase virtual lands.

Second Life was the first metaverse project: Released in 2003, Second Life allowed users to use avatars, attend social events, create buildings and even trade through the platform’s private-economy coin called L$ (not crypto). Although it lost popularity more than a decade ago, its creator is making a comeback as CEO in 2022 to take over the project once again and implement NFT technology into Second Life.

Fortnite played a massive role in metaverse adoption: Although Fornite is not a metaverse project, it branched out what online gaming can make possible by blurring the line between the real world and different companies. With virtual concerts, events from companies like Marvel Studios and avatars to purchase related to popular shows, games or movies, Fortnite amassed 350 million active users who are now more accustomed to the idea of virtual worlds that have similar qualities to our physical life.

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If you have used a computer or mobile phone to access news and social media over the past few months, you have definitely stumbled upon a very unique word lately: metaverse. Gaining massive popularity since 2021, the interest around metaverse projects and investments has grown exponentially as cryptocurrency markets amassed more users - especially since Facebook decided to change its name to “Meta” back in October of 2021.

Most people by now have discussed the term at least once amongst friends, family members, coworkers and more. Although some seem to understand it quite well while others are still grasping the concepts, little is said about the history of the metaverse.

After all, what is the metaverse, where did the term come from and what are its influences? In this article, we explore the not-so-recent history behind the concept and how different events made this unique Web3 concept into what it is today.

The concept of the Metaverse was actually created by a science fiction author in 1992

Concept art of Snow Crash’s protagonist entering “The Street” metaverse. Source: Medium.

In Neal Stephenson’s 1992 sci-fi novel “Snow Crash,” we follow hacker/delivery driver Hiro Protagonist (yes, that’s his name) who lives in a dystopian cyberpunk Los Angeles plagued by the falls of previous governments and the rise of hyper-capitalistic corporate States. In this world, Hiro is split between exploring the dense and neon-filled streets of LA and stepping into the Metaverse: a digital world where people use Virtual Reality goggles to explore.

The similarities between the Snow Crash novel and what we now see in crypto metaverse projects are so big that it is borderline prophetic. In the novel, people interact with one another through avatars, which can be customized and purchased like any other commodity in the real world. Clothes, accessories, hairstyles, nothing is beyond action330h. The Metaverse in Snow Crash is known as “The Street,” an area filled with clubs, shopping malls, theme parks and expensive digital properties. Yes, not only did Neal Stephenson predict the use of digital goods for avatars and accessories, he accurately described digital real estate.

Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon author Neal Stephenson. Source: Business Insider.

When questioned about how he feels about the Metaverse and his predictions 30 full years ago, the author states that the digital world as he envisioned is still a few years away from being realized, He’s also “unimpressed” with Mark Zuckerberg’s attempt to create his own.

Neal Stephenson is no stranger to accurate predictions. In his 1999 novel “Cryptonomicon,” Stephenson describes a world powered by cryptography where people use, you guessed it, cryptocurrencies. However, Stephenson strongly denies any claim that he somehow has any connection to the creation of Bitcoin.

Second Life was the first metaverse project, released in 2003

Sony’s official building, in Second Life. Source: The New York Times.

That might come as quite a shocker to a lot of people, but the current crypto metaverse projects that we see use and see in the crypto media are not the founding projects of the metaverse ecosystem - in fact, they’re not even close.

Created by Philip Rosedale under Linden Labs, Second Life certainly lead the trend for metaverse projects, which would come more than a decade and a half later. The functionalities are quite similar to what is currently available, with users of the platform being able to shop for accessories, real estate, interact in events and create their own personalized avatars. The project gained a lot of media attention up to 2007, when it was being used by millions of people worldwide and even gained adoption from companies like Sony, which purchased its own building within Second Life to display different experiences and products of the corporation.

However, as time went on, Second Life slowly faded away from mainstream attention. The founder stepped down as CEO in 2008 and from that moment forward, fewer and fewer users were populating the servers. The influences over current platforms such as Decentraland and Sandbox are very clear, and Second Life even introduced an early form of closed-economy currencies with the Linden Dollar (L$), which was used to purchase assets in the virtual world. But L$ was in no way a cryptocurrency, and could only be used and accessed within the Second Life software.

Even though Second Life’s most popular years are behind them, the project is still active and looking to make a comeback. In January of this year, Philip Rosedale announced that he has returned to the project to expand it under the newly-found potential of NFTs. Although no further details were provided since, it’s bound to be something interesting and to keep an eye out for.

Fortnite played a massive role in catapulting metaverse interest and adoption

Marshmello’s concert, watched live in-game by over 10 million users. Source: Billboard.

When thinking about the concept of a Metaverse, very few would connect it to Fortnite instead of crypto metaverse projects and Meta as of recently. But what the major gaming sensation managed to accomplish over the past five years since its creation is one of the main reasons why the idea of virtual worlds has gone so mainstream.

Founded in 2017 by Epic Games, Fortnite was initially seen as another online shooter game that would gain a lot of popularity before quickly fading away, as was the trend of online gaming at the time. But what Fortnite managed to accomplish went far beyond its “battle royale” setup for the third-person shooter.

With several events every year that completely disrupt the Fortnite land and provides new experiences to players, to partnerships like Marvel Studios, music artists and thousands of virtual assets, Fortnite managed to blurr the limits between the physical world and virtual world. Artists like Marshmello and Travis Scott perform in live events for the avatar-based audience, while new characters from several movies, videogames and TV shows entered the games in unique campaigns, powers and options to purchase from. Now amassing over 350 million active users, Fortnite surpassed what was previously considered possible in online gaming, and its community paved the way for actual metaverse technology to become more digestible and easier to engage for upcoming users.

Author: Gate.io Researcher: Victor Bastos
* This article represents only the views of the researcher and does not constitute any investment suggestions.
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