Philippines Loves metaverse
TL; DR
The Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia have high adoption rates of play-to-earn games and the metaverse.
The Filipinos are interested in the metaverse because they spend much of their time on social media platforms.
Many Filipinos rely on play-to-earn games such as Axie Infinity to supplement their income.
Introduction
Gartner, a leading research firm, predicts that 25% of the people will spend at least one hour using the metaverse by 2026. This is because the metaverse has the potential to change the way people interact on a day-to-day basis. The results of a research carried out by Coin Kickoff supports that premise since many people from selected countries such as Philippines, Indonesia, Nigeria, USA and Vietnam spend much time using the metaverse.
Understanding the metaverse
The metaverse is an immersive virtual space that mimics the real world scenario, created using advanced technologies that include virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality. With the metaverse, people can easily trade various digital assets as well as interact closely with each other. For example, they can buy or sell digital assets like land NFTs and virtual offices.
Interestingly, many people around the world participate in metaverse games such as Decentraland, Fortnite, Minecraft and Roblox where players can attend events and socialize. The image below shows some of the trending web 3 gaming platforms.
Popular metaverse games-Coinkickoff
As you note in the diagram, Decentraland, Voxels and The Sandboxs are some of the leading metaverse games. Of course, we cannot forget Axie Infinity which has attracted millions of gamers from around the world.
Notably, these play-to-earn games enable players to acquire and own digital assets which they can sell in real-life and earn income, the way many Filipinos do.
The Philippines most interested in metaverse
The 2023 Global Digital Report shows that 95.8% of Filipino internet users, between 16 and 64 years old, play video games, some with the aim of earning income from that. As expected, the larger population of Filipinos play metaverse games. The table below summarizes the results of the research.
Countries with the largest search for web3 games- Coinkickoff
However the metaverse in the Philippines is not only used for gaming purposes. The same research has concluded that 89% of professionals are willing to use the metaverse to improve productivity and create an employee friendly environment.
The research was based on an analysis of the web search activities of people in193 countries. It was an analysis of metaverse related words the citizens searched on the web.
According to the results, the people in the Philippines are most interested in the metaverse since they conducted 2,421 searches per 1,000 people.
Also, the Philippines is the country most interested in developing the metaverse. For instance, its tech sector has emerged as the continent’s leaders in establishing web3 gaming and other related projects. In May 2022, the Philippines hosted the largest conference on metaverse in Manilla.
The interest among the tech community in the metaverse is a reflection of the enthusiasm the Filipino community has in the immersive virtual world.
There are, however, other countries that show keen interest in the metaverse. For example, the second country on the list is Grenada with 1,472 searches per 1,000 persons, while Peru was third with an average of 1,375 per every 1,000 citizens. The other countries interested in the metaverse are Sri Lanka, Turkey, Singapore, Nigeria, Ukraine, Portugal andTaiwan.
The other blockchain initiatives
The reason why the metaverse is flourishing in the Philippines is its tech-savvy population. Many individuals and institutions in the country are willing to take the metaverse to the next level.
At the same time, the government is making essential initiatives to adopt the metaverse technology. For instance, the government has made it possible for people and institutions to store and share their credentials using the blockchain.
In fact, they use their e-wallets to share the credentials that exist on the blockchain. As an example, the Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific (MAAP) allows the Filipinos to use the above method of sharing documents.
Secondly, the government has formed a Blockchain Council responsible for creating and maintaining a state run distributed ledger. Likewise, the UnionBank has launched a plan to fund small-to-medium enterprises that use the blockchain technology.
Why the Philippines is interested in metaverse technology
Definitely, the government initiatives, discussed above, help the country to adopt the blockchain technology in most sectors of the economy. Also, the fact that the Filipinos widely use social media platforms and have the highest engagement rate shows their affiliation to modern technology. This makes it easier for them to encompass the metaverse technology.
According to Sortlist, a Brussels-based firm, on average the Filipanos spend around 10 hours on social media within a day. In fact, they mostly communicate using social media channels like Twitter, Facebook, TikTok and Instagram.
There is also an economic motive for the Filipanos to use the metaverse. Basically, in the Philippines there is a big economic gap between the rich and the poor. This is one factor that forces the Filipinos to be creative on how they generate additional income. The online means of earning money becomes an additional way of supplementing their income.
This is the reason why the Filipinos participate actively in play-to-earn games such as Axie Infinity. In fact, Axie Infinity is a web gaming platform that has a large following in the Philippines. According to the report, about 35% of Axie Infinity traffic comes from the Philippines. Also, about 2.5 million of its active users are from the Philippines.
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Vietnam and Indonesia among the top three countries using the metaverse
Apart from the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam are the other countries that mostly use metaverse. According to Coin Kickoff, 56.8% of the tweets from Vietnam show that its citizens love the metaverse. Generally, most East Asian countries are interested in the metaverse. The diagram below shows the ranking and percentages which indicate the citizens’ interest in the metaverse.
Countries with the most interest in the metaverse- CoinKickoff
As you note in the image above, the greatest interest in the metaverse is from Vietnam, Philippines, Ukraine, Nigeria, Indonesia and Taiwan.
Tech communities in Metaverse Philippines
In the past Zoom was among the best platforms to host virtual conferences and meetings for companies and individuals. This is because it helps to create a virtual presence of people in a way similar to what they do when they meet face-to-face.
However, the metaverse creates an even more immersive environment than the way people do when holding conferences using web2 platforms such as Zoom, Skype and Telegram, to name a few. Now, teams can hold 3D virtual meetings using the metaverse.
Tech companies and other brands use the metaverse for their virtual meetings. Performing artists such as musicians also host concerts on the metaverse, making the experiences as real as physical interactions.
The metaverse is a source of income for many Filipanos
The Philippines metaverse benefits the Filipinos in several ways. Apart from using it as part of entertainment, they also generate income from it.
The Filipinos started earning from web3 games during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic. This is because during that period most companies down-sized their operations resulting in high unemployment levels in the country. As a result, the citizens turned to play-to-earn games to generate additional income.
Mainly, the Filipinos participate in the Axie Infinity game where they earn digital assets such as SLP which they convert to cash. In fact, on average they earn between P20, 000 and P40, 000 per month which enables them to purchase basic commodities.
Conclusion
The Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam are among the top countries that use the metaverse. For instance, many Filipinos play Axie Infinity, the play-to-earn game, where they generate income. Since there are many tech-savvy individuals and government support for the blockchain sector, the Philippines has a high adoption rate of the metaverse.
FAQS about Philippines Loves Metaverse
Is metaverse available in the Philippines?
The Philippines is one of the countries where most citizens use the metaverse for long periods. Most Filipinos enjoy earning additional income from playing metaverse games such as Axie Infinity and Decentraland which use the play-to-earn gaming model.
What is Globe metaverse?
Globe metaverse is a digital solutions platform that combines elements of the digital world with that of the physical world to produce an immersive environment where people interact with each other. Also, Globe metaverse is the first digital platform to bring the metaverse to the Philippines.
Which country is leading in the metaverse?
A recent research, conducted by Coin Kickoff, shows that the Philippines is the country that is leading in the metaverse. The reason is that most Filipinos use social media platforms to communicate with each other. Therefore, they have easily embraced the metaverse.
