Metaverse is a new trend promising to set the bar for conventional games and business practices higher. Approximately 26% of adults in the US regard the metaverse as the future of technology and the next major milestone.
It’s interesting that the term “metaverse” was used for the first time by the American writer Neal Town Stephenson back in 1992. In his novel “Snow Crash,” Neal detailed how computer-powered lasers form 3D images of virtual environments. This concept became the prototype for modern-day metaverses.
Let’s find out how to create a metaverse, what advantages it can bring for your business, and how much it costs.
What Is a Metaverse and How Does It Work?
A metaverse is a network of 2D/3D environments in which users can interact in multiple ways through their social avatars. Virtual environments (VR) are accessed via VR headsets or more conventional devices such as computers or mobile phones. It enables users to navigate the metaverse using eye movements, feedback controllers, touch screens, and keywords complemented with mouse controllers. Dynamic VR spaces can be used for entertainment, work, meetings, social interactions, etc.
Apart from VR, the metaverse has another integral part — the blockchain. This technology enables the protection of digital assets in VR. Blockchain integration also supports the incorporation of NFTs, cryptocurrencies, and other niche-specific features into a metaverse app or game.3д
How to Create a Metaverse: Step-by-Step Process
Building a metaverse requires technical expertise, creativity, and robust planning. If you’re wondering how to create a metaverse or how to build in the metaverse, follow these steps:
Step 0: Pre-Production
Pre-production is where the foundation of your metaverse is laid. This phase involves the following tasks:
- Concept Development: Clearly define the purpose of your metaverse—whether it’s a VR game, social hub, or virtual workspace. Articulate the core goals and functionality.
- Technical Documentation: Outline the architecture, including the use of frameworks like Unity, Unreal Engine, or custom-built solutions. Specify server-side requirements, blockchain protocols, and data security measures.
- UX/UI Wireframing: Plan intuitive user interactions, navigation flows, and visual aesthetics that align with the theme of your metaverse. Tools like Figma or Adobe XD are ideal for early-stage design.
- Tech Stack Planning: Choose programming languages (e.g., C#, Python, or JavaScript), SDKs for VR and AR devices, and APIs for blockchain integration.
Step 1: Select a Metaverse Platform
Selecting a platform depends on the scale and purpose of your metaverse:
- Existing Platforms: Leverage platforms like Facebook Meta for quick deployment and access to a pre-existing audience.
- Custom Platforms: Build a platform from scratch using game engines like Unity or Unreal Engine for full control over features, integrations, and scalability. This is often the best option for VR metaverse games or highly customized environments.
Considerations:
- Blockchain Protocols: Select compatible blockchain technologies like Ethereum, Polygon, or Binance Smart Chain for asset ownership and cryptocurrency transactions.
- Cloud Infrastructure: Use services like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud for hosting and scalability.
Step 2: Design the Metaspace
The metaspace is the digital environment where users interact. Developing it involves:
- 3D Asset Creation: Design characters, landscapes, and objects using software like Blender, Maya, or ZBrush. Incorporate PBR (Physically Based Rendering) for realistic textures and lighting.
- Procedural Generation: Use procedural tools for scalable environments, especially for large metaspaces like virtual cities.
- Dynamic Environments: Incorporate real-time weather changes, lighting adjustments, and interactive elements to keep the space engaging.
Ensure the metaspace reflects user goals, whether it's for immersive gameplay, virtual shopping, or collaborative workspaces.
Step 3: Build the Interaction Layer
The interaction layer defines how users engage with the metaverse. Critical components include:
- Navigation Systems: Develop intuitive controls for movement. For VR, incorporate head tracking and motion controllers. For 2D environments, implement smooth keyboard and mouse navigation.
- Communication Features: Integrate APIs like Zoom, Discord, or Twilio for voice, video, and text communication. Use WebRTC for low-latency real-time interactions.
- Device Integration: Use SDKs for popular VR headsets (e.g., Oculus, HTC Vive) and AR devices (e.g., Microsoft HoloLens). Ensure compatibility across platforms and devices for broader accessibility.
- Haptic Feedback: Add tactile feedback for VR users through devices like gloves or vests to enhance immersion.
Step 4: Add an Interoperability Layer
Interoperability is essential for a metaverse game system that connects multiple environments and users. Key tasks include:
- Data Portability: Enable avatars, NFTs, and assets to move seamlessly between virtual spaces. Use protocols like IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) for decentralized data storage.
- Cross-Platform Compatibility: Ensure users can access the metaverse across devices—PCs, consoles, VR headsets, and mobile phones.
- Smart Contracts: Implement smart contracts to govern asset transfers, in-game purchases, and marketplace transactions securely.
Step 5: Set Standards and Protocols
Standards and protocols are critical for a scalable and interoperable metaverse. Implement the following:
- Identity Standards: Use decentralized identity systems (e.g., DID, OAuth) for secure authentication.
- Currency Protocols: Support popular cryptocurrencies and fiat gateways for in-metaverse transactions.
- Data Interoperability: Adopt standards like USD (Universal Scene Description) for 3D asset sharing and GLTF for lightweight 3D file transmission.
- Programming Protocols: Leverage WebXR for cross-browser VR compatibility and WebAssembly for enhanced performance.
Since the concept is still in its nascent stage, these protocols are currently being developed — a Metaverse Standards Forum has been recently launched for this exact purpose.
Step 6: Populate Your Metaverse
Content creation is the most dynamic phase of metaverse game development. Populate the space with engaging assets and experiences:
- Interactive Assets: Develop activities like mini-games, quests, or training simulations.
- NFT Integration: Allow users to own and trade digital assets. For example, integrate NFTs into the economy for in-game items, skins, or real estate.
- Events and Activities: Host events such as virtual concerts, live auctions, or gaming tournaments to drive engagement.
Collaborating with a metaverse development studio can streamline this process, ensuring a seamless user experience.
Metaverse Development for Various Industries
Contrary to popular belief, metaverse solutions are not limited to the gaming and crypto industries. Here are the niches metaverse game studios serve:
- Entertainment. In the metaverse, you can visit virtual concerts or exhibitions, interact with AI-driven avatars, participate in competitions, and more.
- Gaming industry. Metaverse gaming is a well-established niche offering immersive experiences for thousands of players.
- Real estate. Metaverse projects like The Sandbox offer virtual real estate options that can be bought and sold just like their real counterparts.
- Corporate. Virtual environments offer advanced training and collaboration opportunities.
- Social interaction. Metaverse offers new ways of communication and socialization without the need for physical presence.
- Education. Similar to employee training, virtual environments offer new learning approaches and immersive online activities.
- Economy. Digital assets can serve as a real means of exchange, impacting the global economy directly.
Metaverse developers are greatly needed for businesses in these and many other industries.
Advantages of Metaverse Business
Metaverse development can significantly advance any business toward engaging more users and, as a result, willing buyers. Here are some of the business advantages of the metaverse:
- AR/VR environments, virtual goods, and gaming experiences will give you a competitive edge and help reach your target audience more successfully.
- A virtual conference or live show in the metaverse will turn a boring Zoom video into an immersive VR experience, which can mean lots of impressed investors, partners, and clients. Concert halls, galleries, and museums can also benefit from this option, offering live concerts and showcasing art pieces in the virtual world.
- With various real estate options available in the metaverse, you can open virtual stores, display your products there, and have your customers check them out using VR technology.
- Metaverse will allow you to enhance your advertising activities by transforming storytelling into “storyliving,” where your audience will act as participants as opposed to listeners.
- The metaverse and cryptocurrencies are closely connected, and your business can benefit from the transparency and affordability of crypto transactions.
Basically, a business with a metaverse is already a few steps ahead of its competitors.
Metaverse Gaming Statistics Growth Expectations
The gaming industry has gradually increased in its market size over the years. The tendency remains unchanged, but the contribution of the Metaverse to it becomes more and more meaningful.
The market size equaled solid $274 billion as of 2020 and is expected to exceed $400 billion in 2024 already. The statistics show that in-game sales and ads combined together make up roughly 70% of the current market. Consequentially, the virtual realm is likely to constitute 50% of the entertainment business or $200 billion roughly, emphasizing the importance of metaverse development.
Besides, 3D VR contributes to the Gaming industry in several other ways. As such, it is expected to multiply the market of AR/VR hardware by nearly nine times, to $40.6 billion from $4.7 billion, by the year 2024. In-game ads, game hardware, and software & services markets also experienced positive growth due to metaverse impact.
Cost of Creating a Metaverse Virtual World
Metaverse and NFT development pricing is formed based on the standard metrics — the rates of developers involved multiplied by the number of hours spent. From a development perspective, a metaverse project is similar to a game or app. It requires a designer, a backend programmer, VR developers, cloud engineers, blockchain and marketing specialists, etc.
If the metaverse virtual world is a DIY project, it may cost a few thousand dollars you will spend on different licenses, blockchain integration, etc. If you need to hire a development team, it may cost anywhere from $30,000 to as much as $1-2 million.
While a metaverse project may seem to be costly, some real-life examples show that it is totally worth the trouble. A world-famous metaverse — The Sandbox — already sold 70% of its 155,000 parcels of land. In 2022, the total sales of digital properly on the market reached $500 million, which is quite impressive.
Why You Should Outsource Metaverse Solutions
Here are the reasons why outsourcing is the way to go in metaverse development:
- Reduction of upfront costs. By outsourcing, you eliminate expenditures on hiring specialists, equipping a studio, and many others.
- Reduction of licensing costs. Since the work is not done by your in-house team, you’re subject to no software licensing expenses.
- Saving time. By requesting services from a trusted provider, you receive a complete team controlled professionally by their project managers. You do not have to perform management tasks yourself.
- Flexibility. You do not have to hire a full-time team: you can pay only for the time of specific specialists that you need for your exact number of tasks. You also do not have to worry about losing one of your specialists in the middle of the project.
- Niche-specific expertise. Once you decide to outsource your project, you may choose among multiple providers offering metaverse services. This way, you can find one with substantial experience specifically in your niche.
Outsourcing your metaverse project may be the right call for you if your goal is cost- and time-efficient development with high-quality outcomes.
Learn more about the Top 10 metaverse development companies.
iLogos Metaverse Development: Company Benefits
iLogos is a market-leading game development and metaverse studio that excels in the creation of metaverse solutions. Here are some of the benefits you can take full advantage of by requesting our services:
- Product expertise. We offer solutions that no one else does due to our vast experience in game development. We do not just complete Jira tasks — we proactively generate and bring the best ideas to life together with our analysts and game designers.
- Extensive knowledge base. Over the course of our existence, which is more than 14 years of successful operation on the market, we have worked with multiple development pipelines and can always offer a perfect-fit solution to our clients.
- Not just a head count. We do not just offer human resources — we offer complete solutions based on our unique expertise.
- Strict quality assurance in place. Among all European game vendors, we feature the most scrutinized approach to testing our digital solutions.
And let us showcase several of our successful projects in metaverse development:
- Tiny colony. It is an expansive pixelated metaverse and a simulation game developed for the Solana blockchain. This NFT game development project required the work of our complete team, including producers, game designers, level designers, animators, front-end and back-end developers, QA engineers, and more. The metaverse is still under development but already showing promising results.
- The Rumble Kong League. It’s an NFT collection comprising more than 10,000 unique tokens falling under the trends of CryptoPunks, Bored Ape Yacht Club, and others. Collectibles, avatars, algorithmic gameplay, and other blockchain and gaming features were incorporated into this project.
- BitBrawl. It’s a skill-based, online PVP game based on the Solana blockchain. This NFT project offers competition with real players and P2E rewards.
Allow a trusted metaverse development company like iLogos to create just the virtual space you need.
FAQ
Why Do You Need a Metaverse?
It’s a brand new way of showcasing and selling products and service lines, which is proving highly effective. Moreover, it is a new way of building social relationships that do not depend on a user’s physical presence. Developing or using a metaverse project can be beneficial for any user or company.
How Long Does It Take to Create a Metaverse?
The answer heavily depends on project requirements, its innovativeness, the tech stack involved, the number of developers, the amount of content needed, and many more factors. The creation of a working prototype may take from several months to up to 2-3 years.
How to Create a Metaverse Mini-Game?
You should choose a metaverse platform, create a virtual room, add third-party tools, add means of data exchange and sharing, and fill your game with the content by using a gaming framework.
