Meta (formerly Facebook) foresees that personalised environments to retreat to will serve as central portals into the wider metaverse for shopping, socialising and play. Start-ups designing spaces where consumers can present themselves through displaying their personal taste are amassing hundreds of thousands of waitlist sign-ups. This signals the value of branded concepts that provide tools for self-actualisation.

Born of the success of pandemic audience sensations like Travis Scott in Fortnite and Lil Nas X in Roblox (see Key Stats), virtual-first live events are transcending gaming, enticing wider mainstream audiences. New technologies are rewriting the experiential space of online performances, with sensory immersion and audience integration turning passive broadcasts into opportunities for fan communion.

Following the success of immersive one-off live events (see above), permanent digital destinations are vying to become always-on hubs for artists and cultural collectives. Astute brands are following suit, setting up dedicated virtual clubhouse locations where their customers can interact with each other. See also Placemaking in the Metaverse in Retail's Metamanoeuvres.

Platforms with non-fungible token (NFT) backed real estate, including The Sandbox and Decentraland (tokenisation means property can be bought, sold and traded), have seen high interest (see Key Stats). As brands, artists and celebrities secure their virtual territory, these metaverse spaces are starting to mirror real-world real estate, indicating a potential shift from leaping into single games to creative neighbourhoods and districts.

Globally, virtual influencers' engagement rates on Instagram are nearly three times higher than those of human influencers (Hype Auditor, 2021), signalling the affinity with synth beings. From customer service and mental health mentors to animal avatar companions, AI-powered virtual beings will fill the metaverse's vast virtual spaces with sparks of life. We spotlight some of the most noteworthy developments.