Winners of forced digitization – the dawn of social virtual reality
The world took a turn in 2020 due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic, which accelerated the transition to online solutions. These have become ordinary, and online space will continue to play a significant role even after the epidemic subsides. However, the pandemic has also caused a grave economic crisis, which is why states provide subsidies and loans to restore the economy. This money will be condensed primarily in the corporate sector, in companies that can respond to this change.
Winners of forced digitization
These include technology and/or startup companies that focus on new sectors or niche markets, such as online shopping and social communication/media. The video game industry is now considered as an outstanding player of the new era, in 2020 even being larger than the global film industry. Internet-based communication providers like Zoom took their slice of the cake as well. The owner of Zoom, Eric Yuan made a big step ahead on the list of billionaires.
Social virtual reality – game or business?
In 2021 the sales revenue of the gaming industry has surpassed that of the global film industry. According to Statista, the number of players in the world was 2.7 billion in 2020, which is quite a tremendous figure, but what is even more remarkable is that the sector employs more than 220,000 people in the United States alone. Nearly 20% of gamers play more than 12 hours a week. Approximately 15% of the total gamer base prefers games where they play with or against the community. The trend is that the market share of such “multiplayer” games within the gaming industry is growing year by year.
According to a survey, the average number of hours spent gaming per week is 6 hours and 20 minutes, and if we also think about the growing number of gamers year by year, we can conclude that gaming and related virtuality get large attention from people globally. Developers of multiplayer games have a situational advantage, as they can provide not only a gaming experience but also a social experience to their users, thus diverting their acquired attention to each other and the service provider. The two best-selling games of 2020 were two Call of Duty games, which belong to the Activision Blizzard development company. Would it be a coincidence that Activision Blizzard forces in both games the creation of an Activision user account so that players can easily communicate with each other? Has Activision also discovered that control over social communication also means control over the community?
It’s an interesting ambition from a game development company to create their own community and social media, even if it’s smaller in number and functionality than those from the social media giants. On the other hand, now-classic social media providers like Facebook want to break into the gaming industry. It is not a new trend, as Facebook’s most successful game, Farmville had already more than 70 million active users per month in 2018. So this is how like becomes game, and shooting games become social media.
Winners of forced digitization – the dawn of social virtual reality
Our portfolio company, German software developer AYCode GmbH, also discovered the convergence of the gaming industry and social media well before the market did. After 5 years of market research and 3 years of development, they created the prototype of ANATA, a universal 3D framework where real player controlled avatars build a living and breathing world together. It is worth watching the report on the company in the TV program TV2 INNOVATOR.
Reaching a massive audience is a notorious prerequisite of efficiency, which is why ANATA combines the fun and professional possibilities of virtual reality with the rich content of social media. It is a 3D social platform, where the focus is not on virtual reality, but on the satisfaction of the users’ well-known needs in a new, spectacular environment. While other platforms are developing VR experiences, AYCode has voted in favor of useful tools, which are displayed by the ANATA virtual reality environment.
In the next chapter of our article series, we will write in detail about the basic technological assumptions and requirements of social virtual reality.
Why should you invest in 2021?
As we wrote in our previous post, the history of FOX / MIA showed us that we live in extraordinary times: To solve the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, states are providing money, loans, and subsidies to the economy so that it does not collapse. This money will be condensed primarily in the corporate sector. At what kind of companies?
- technological companies that are focusing on the new sectors,
- startup companies that can recognize new market niches and enter an area with their rapid adaptation,
- technological startup companies: the mix of the above mentioned,
- companies going public in the stock market that can show high value because of the above mentioned,
- large technology companies that are already listed, that can gather customers with their capital and brand.
Investors should now take advantage of the market’s changes, establishing their portfolio for 5-10 years!