Minicast: How the gaming industry is paving the way for the metaverse

As significant amounts of capital has been deployed into the development of the metaverse, gaming is emerging as a crucial testing ground.

According to Clayton Larcombe, chief investment officer at PAC Capital, gaming has been the backbone of the metaverse from the beginning.

"It's all about people having a connection, through a device. And then it's evolved into going deeper and having worlds and being able to interact in a synthetic environment."

Larcombe believes that the fundamental goal of gaming is to create a connection between players. As a result, many companies are looking at how to create networks in virtual environments and develop payment mechanisms that reward players.

"If they're starting a business, [companies] are trying to work out how do I make money in this company? And how can people be rewarded and have payment mechanisms and a lot of different avenues," he said.

As for start-ups looking to enter the metaverse space, Larcombe suggests that they focus on key areas such as networking, virtual platforms, and hardware.

"How do you solve for virtual platforms such as payments or trade? How do you transact in that world?" he asked.

"Are there VR headsets or how do you get into these virtual worlds? Are they through PC platforms or is it cloud gaming or mobile?"

Whilst large tech companies such as Meta and Roblox are building out their own metaverses, a decentralised Web3 metaverse is also being built out by crypto developers. Digital crypto assets such as tokens and NFTs are a key feature of the decentralised metaverse.

In the words of Larcombe, "I think that they're the main things if I was a start-up looking at getting into building a metaverse company, I'd look at hardware, networking, virtual platforms. I'd look at all those sorts of verticals before I even jump in."