Reports of the metaverse’s death may well be premature, a new report from Bain & Co. shows. Indeed, despite recent headlines that “metaverse-hype” is dying down, Bain’s new research shows the immersive technology could become a $900 billion market by the end of this decade —though it may remain in the seed funding stage for at least another five years. (The metaverse is a virtual reality space in which users can interact with a computer-generated environment via a VR headset, though users can access it in other ways without such specialized equipment.)

“As the metaverse quickly evolves, we’ve already seen these types of technologies take hold within different industries,” said Chris Johnson, a partner in Bain’s Technology practice. “A good example of this is immersive gaming platforms, which are already boasting hundreds of millions of monthly active users.

“And while it’s not immediately clear how the metaverse landscape will shift, our research shows there are five competitive battlegrounds that executives should be considering if they wish to get ahead and eventually scale. This is an ongoing journey toward more immersive and collaborative experiences, enabled by rapid improvements in the underlying technology.”

As reported in VMSD magazine’s 2023 forecast issue, several retailers (including Forever 21, and, according to other published reports, such chains as Nike, Charlotte Tilbury and Dior) have been dipping their toes in the metaverse to explore how such technology can be a part of their omnichannel selling efforts.

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