Value of the Metaverse could be up to US$5-trillion by 2030 - McKinsey

“The Metaverse represents a strategic inflection point for companies and it presents a significant opportunity to influence the way we live, connect, learn, innovate and collaborate,” said Eric Hazan, Senior Partner at the consultancy. 

“Our ambition is to help leaders of both consumer and B2B companies better understand its power and potential, identify strategic imperatives, and act as a force for its evolution.”

Already this year, companies, venture capital and private equity firms have invested more than $120-billion in the metaverse—more than double the $57-billion invested in all of last year.

The study says multiple factors are driving this investor enthusiasm:

• Ongoing technological advances across the infrastructure required to power the metaverse.
• Demographic tailwinds.
• Increasingly consumer-led brand marketing and engagement.
• Increasing marketplace readiness as users explore today’s version of the Metaverse, which is largely driven by gaming, while applications emerge in socialising, fitness, commerce, virtual learning and other uses.

Now it’s all becoming real as people spend real money

“While the idea of connecting virtually has been decades in the making, it is now increasingly real – meaning real people are using it and spending real money. And companies are betting big,” said Lareina Yee, another Senior Partner at McKinsey. 

“Yet this booming interest has made it difficult to separate hype from reality. It’s worth remembering that while the bust of the first dot-com boom resulted in the disappearance of scores of companies, the internet itself went from strength to strength, giving rise to new entrants.”

Consumers are already there. McKinsey’s research shows consumers are excited about transitioning life into the Metaverse, with almost six in 10 (59%) consumers preferring at least one Metaverse experience over its physical alternative.

Among those consumers, certain types of activities stand out for being most preferred in the immersive world:

• Shopping—purchasing physical or virtual goods (79%).
• Attending virtual social events or playing social games (78%).
• Exercising using virtual reality (76%).

The report says business leaders see the Metaverse’s potential to drive impact and margin growth. Ninety-five percent of leaders say they expect the Metaverse to have a positive impact on their industry within five to 10 years, with 31 percent saying the Metaverse will fundamentally change the way their industry operates. 

Perhaps more significantly, a quarter of leaders expect the Metaverse technology to drive more than 15 percent of their organisation’s total margin growth in the next five years.