Here comes the World Cup again! Want to join 1.7 million fans in the futuristic Lusail Stadium and say goodbye to Messi and Ronaldo for their last showdown, but can’t bear the heat? Not a problem. You can now experience it in the metaverse. With FIFA and Roblox’s ground-breaking partnership, football fans around the world now have free-to-play access to FIFA World—a virtual environment that celebrates the power of football and the rich history of its pinnacle events. In this virtual space, the World Cup glory of Messi and Ronaldo lasts forever!
What enables this immersive experience is 5G. By providing faster speed, lower latency and higher reliability, 5G can effectively process huge amounts of data and have more devices connected. As a result, the digital worlds can function at scale. Moreover, 5G is key to metaverse technologies such as AR/VR, which rely heavily on powerful computing ability.
While most applications for AR/VR are aimed at the gaming industry today, the future looks to include the workplace. The enterprise market for AR/VR is expected to grow from $18.9 billion in 2021 to $364.9 billion by 2030 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 39.2%. Meta’s newly released high-end Quest Pro allows you to create your own workspace and tune out all the distractions. You can pop into a virtual meeting room and discuss a project with your teammates anywhere, any time. With three virtual large monitors, you might be able to move spreadsheets around like Tom Cruise using gesture technology in “Minority Report”.
As Christmas approaches, next-generation mixed-reality headsets like Meta Quest Pro look like an ideal gift for your workaholic boss, but if your boss has the same gift idea for you, don’t panic. At least, you can still use it to experience the World Cup or enjoy BTS Jungkook’s new song for the World Cup, Dreamers.
Roblox
Roblox is an online game platform that allows users to create and play games made by other users. Established in 2006, Roblox is one of the best known metaverses/virtual platforms, with 40m games and 200m monthly active users around the world that come together to play.
Roblox has become advertisers’ preferred choice to engage the MZ generation, and understandably so with 67% of users below the age of 16 and daily active users spending an average 2.6 hours per day on the platform. A virtual space where users adopt avatar form, Roblox serves as a community that brings people together to create, share experiences with friends and essentially be anything they want. Users are free to roam around the virtual world, either hanging out, chatting, attending concerts or buying virtual items like sneakers to decorate their avatars. Major brands are fans of the immersive and interactive experience, and are pumping up their presence. Gucci sold a digital-only bag for $4,000 (more than the cost of a real bag) during its pop-up Gucci Garden exhibition. The luxury brand was inspired to create a permanent Gucci-Town, a lush and captivating digital villa, where users can play mini-games, hang in a café, and, of course, purchase virtual Gucci gear. Givenchy also landed the first Beauty House on Roblox, while Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Vans, Forever 21 all brought their exclusive collections.
Recently, FIFA partnered with Roblox to create FIFA WORLD, an online immersive experience for football fans, ahead of the World Cup. Users can play a variety of games with friends, including adventure football, footbowling and an obstacle course. Along with virtual stickers and prizes to be won, FIFA World offers exclusive video content with Spain star Pedri and German female footballer Lena Oberdorf as hosts in the virtual world to add to excitement. Roblox has more than 50m daily active users and 44% of experiences are played with friends. High engagement levels and access to a new fan base has motivated the NFL, Wimbledon Tennis, Nike and Dick’s Sporting Goods to launch virtual worlds on Roblox as well, and we see a bright future as the launch of 3D immersive ads next year creates new revenue streams for the interactive social network.
