More Firms Embracing the Metaverse and Gaming Stocks Have Already Benefited, Morgan Stanley Says

The metaverse is important because it can “fundamentally change the medium through which we socialize with others, watch music performances, engage with fashion brands, learn and/or speculate on digital assets such as [non-fungible tokens] or in-game skins,” Morgan Stanley said in a research note.

• The metaverse does exist but not yet in its “purest form,” equity strategist Edward Stanley said in the report published Thursday.
• Companies such as Roblox, Facebook and Naver are all currently building metaverses on their own company platforms, but a “true metaverse” would allow for “interoperability between experiences” across all these companies’ platforms. However, it will take some time and “cross-company collaboration to allow users to seamlessly move across millions of experiences,” the report said.
• South Korea is seen as an important hub because its over 400 technology companies could deliver interoperability between metaverses in the future, the report noted.
• The report described the metaverse as a “virtual world for immersive co-experiences that is persistently available and where users can explore vast numbers of experiences concurrently,” and “within these experiences, people across the world can meet, play, watch, trade and learn across millions of experiences.”
• The target audience for the metaverse at present is young gamers, observed the report, but noted the average age is rising, and it can be accessed over phone or PC gaming platforms.
• The metaverse is already moving the share prices for gaming stocks such as Roblox, the bank said. More companies are embracing the concept, it added.
• Facebook said in October that it was planning to hire 10,000 people in the European Union to develop its metaverse. The social media company also changed its corporate name to Meta at that time.

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