"Games to Expand into Metaverse Platforms... NFT to Boost Economic Systems"

"Metaverse Trend Blows into Gaming Too"

On the 16th, visitors at the 'K-Metaverse Expo 2021' held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, are experiencing metaverse content prepared by KT. The photo and article content are unrelated. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Myunghwan Lee] The securities industry has predicted that games will expand into platforms combined with the metaverse. Along with this, there is also a forecast that non-fungible tokens (NFTs) will promote the metaverse economic system.

In a report published on the 7th, Hi Investment & Securities stated, "Game elements will play the most important role in expanding metaverse platforms."

It was first suggested that connectivity with the real world is necessary for the metaverse revolution. Lee Sangheon, a researcher at Hi Investment & Securities, emphasized the connection with the real world, saying, "The metaverse must have an environment where it is real-time and continuously accessible, and the character itself must have an identity that represents me," and "All experiences must be immersive enough to forget the sense of reality." The core elements of the metaverse were listed as ▲users ▲content that can satisfy users' motivations and purposes ▲technology that users can experience.

Based on this, Hi Investment & Securities predicted that games will expand into metaverse platforms. Since games have all the core elements, there is a high possibility of expanding into metaverse platforms.

Regarding users, one of the elements of the metaverse, game elements were pointed out as attractive factors. Popular games have large-scale users worldwide, maximizing the crowd-gathering effect. The researcher said, "For the metaverse to expand its user base, it must have an element of compulsion that makes participation interesting or mandatory," and explained, "Game-based metaverses can combine implicit participation compulsion through interest and strengthening of the economic ecosystem, making it advantageous to expand into metaverse platforms in the future." This is an analysis that game elements will play an important role in expanding metaverse platforms.

There was also an analysis that games are suitable for the metaverse's economic system. It connects the real world's cash converted into game currency with the virtual world's economic system and the real world's economic system. The researcher pointed out the similarity between games and the metaverse, saying, "The metaverse where avatars operate is very similar to games that implement various characters in the virtual world, and items equipped to characters can be purchased with game currency or traded with other users."

Hi Investment & Securities predicted that NFTs will support the economic system in metaverse platforms. NFTs support virtual digital asset transactions and virtual environment businesses. The researcher predicted, "There has been much debate about what the real economy business model of coins called cryptocurrencies is so far," and "With the combination of NFTs and the metaverse ecosystem, a new digital economy and industrial ecosystem will emerge in the virtual world."

Promising game stocks related to the metaverse revolution were suggested as Kakao Games, Com2uS Holdings, Neowiz Holdings, Neptune, and Joycity.