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The metaverse is growing and attracting the attention of many companies who believe it has great potential. Big-name brands such as Samsung, which recently opened up a metaverse store, are all jumping in to get a slice of the cake. International gaming giant, Nintendo, looks to be the next big name to lay its stake in the Metaverse.
Nintendo may explore Metaverse and NFTs
Non-fungible tokens have proven to be a sticky topic in the gaming industry. There have been several developers that have attempted to add NFTs to their games only to receive harsh criticism from players. Other developers that planned to add NFTs to their games have backtracked on this as a result. Nintendo’s statement that the company is interested in NFTs and the Metaverse has sparked great interest in both the gaming and crypto worlds.
While Nintendo has not revealed anything specific about the direction they will take, they have stated that they have an interest in the area of NFTs and metaverse and feel that there is a lot of potential in this area. However, according to the company, they are not sure about what fun they would be able to provide gamers with by delving into this area.
Why investors are watching Nintendo
While Nintendo still remains hesitant to make its entry into the metaverse, investors are already getting excited with the gaming giant’s interest in the virtual reality world. Nintendo’s Switch has an audience of more than 100 million gamers. This is much higher than companies such as Microsoft and Sony have been able to attract with their PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles, respectively. The Switch can be converted into a virtual reality headset using the Labo Kit which costs $80. If Nintendo were to make a move into the metaverse, they would bring their massive existing user base along with them. This would be huge for the metaverse.
Nintendo has already developed and released a game that many consider a type of metaverse. Animal Crossing: New Horizons, its popular online game, is a virtual world in which players explore an island, socialize with other players, and even complete tasks to earn in-game currency. This is similar to what the metaverse is all about. Nintendo has already shipped about 35 million copies of Animal Crossing. This suggests that the game has a large ecosystem and following.
Nintendo is currently developing Super Nintendo World in collaboration with NBCUniversal. Super Nintendo World offers a virtual reality experience of Universal Studios theme parks. The first location in Japan was opened in 2021. Therefore, the gaming giant already has the capabilities to create great virtual and alternate reality experiences. Nintendo is set to provide a great experience no matter how they intend to enter the metaverse.
With many other brands making strides to set up a base in the metaverse, investors have many options. The metaverse holds a lot of potential for companies. It is, therefore, more than likely that Nintendo will make its move into the virtual reality world. The only question is when?