It is generally accepted that Meta (formerly Facebook) has been the flagship in the development of the metaverse since the giant’s rebranding in 2021. Even the updated name suggests that the creator of one of the largest social networks in the world aims to become a household name for the powerful trend of the metaverse.
It is also worth noting here that not all projects are the same in terms of the fundamental reasons for their emergence. This is what the new structural approach to creating a product universe Holiverse shows us. However, first, it is worth taking a short dive into Meta.
To advance the new reality, Meta has chosen to segment its business and outsource this task to its subsidiary Reality Labs (formerly Oculus VR). It is a division of Meta Platforms which is engaged in the production of hardware and software for virtual and augmented reality, including a VR headset, as well as the Horizon Worlds metaverse platform itself.
Looking at the financial reports of Reality Labs, you can see the colossal losses that the company is incurring on the development of its version of the metaverse. For the second quarter of 2024 alone, they amount to about $4.5 billion. And the projected expenses for the whole of 2024 will amount to about $96 billion, “For Reality Labs, we expect operating losses to increase significantly in 2024 relative to the previous year due to ongoing product development and investments in expanding the ecosystem”.
Why the metaverse
If you are wondering why Meta is so persistent in burning money, it is worth considering the huge trend movements of public interest. It is unlikely that anyone will be surprised by a new memecoin, blockchain or protocol, the interest in which is so short-lived that it hardly makes sense to spend tens of billions and the same number of years on development.
To assess powerful global trends, we will use the tool that the analytical company Gartner uses to visualize the so-called hype cycles. To clarity, let’s define this organization:
Gartner is a research and consulting company operating since 1979 and specializing in information technology. The analytical organization includes more than 1,800 analysts and consultants. The client base is located in more than 90 countries around the world.
Source
Source: Gartner
Above is an analytical report on 2024 trends in Web-3 and blockchain technologies. Gartner’s S-shaped curve shows the standard life cycle that each new technology goes through on the way to general adoption.
The fact is that all the innovations of recent years have already passed their peak of popularity, smoothly starting to move towards the valley and then to the plateau of acceptance. However, if you look closely, the metaverses are just approaching their first and most important peak. Such a long rise is explained by the complexity of developing such solutions, which takes more than ten years.
Those who understand this thorny process in terms of assessing the opportunities that this trend brings may find themselves at the forefront of the technological revolution.
“The metaverse is not just a trendy word, it is a reality that we are creating right now! Holiverse opens up incredible opportunities: from owning virtual land to exchanging digital goods for real prototypes. This is a revolution in the world of business and entertainment!”, wrote Lado Okhotnikov, the founder of Holiverse.
Different approaches: Meta vs Holiverse
While giants like Meta are trying to enter from the side of breakthrough graphics and visualization, which is generally determined by the size of the company itself, there is a more flexible approach in management called “grassroots” management.
If we briefly describe this term, it is based on an inverted power structure, where the needs and decisions are projected by people themselves from the bottom up, from the needs to the product, instead of the rules dictated by monopolies and managers.
The success of this model was perfectly demonstrated by Bitcoin, born from the need of people to create a censorship-resistant system, which led to the emergence and prosperity of the trillion-dollar cryptocurrency market. In this context, the term is best known as a decentralized community or project.
From this point of view, the Holiverse metaverse is a product of “inverted” power structure, coming from the need of people to build economic and social relationships based on a gamified process. Before embarking on the path of active development of the visual shell of the metaverse, Holiverse managed to gather two million loyal user base in dozens of countries around the world.
Plus, the project initially laid down fundamental elements of security through the implementation of blockchain solutions on each stage of interaction between users. As a result, we see a ready-made set of products, marketing tools and algorithms for creating business chains protected by blockchain technology that are already in demand.
Although these two main approaches use the general trend of creating a metaverse, they follow a completely different scenario in development. Which of these products is more in demand will, of course, be decided by the user.