To enlighten investors on the impact of the breakthroughs and opportunities they should embark on, ARK Invest began publishing Big Ideas in 2017. The annual research reports seek to highlight the latest development in innovation and offer some of ARK's most provocative research conclusions for the year.
The topic for this blog is one of Ark Invest Prediction mentioned in the research paper, i.e. The Virtual World. The Virtual World mention in this blog signifies the world of video games, augmented reality and virtual reality systems.
A virtual world could also be defined as a computer-simulated environment that can be easily assessed by anyone, anytime. Today, this world is in its early stage, but sooner, society may find itself interacting daily with it that might become an essential need.
Ark's research suggests that the virtual world's revenue will compound by 17%, from $180 billion today to over $390 billion by 2025. Also, they predict the virtual world could become interoperable in the future, as to what futurist belief to culminate to 'The Metaverse.' But, at present, they are independent of each other.
Video Game Monetization Models Are Shifting
Video games are ever-evolving with their business models and activity. Ark research forecast that the revenue could increase from 25% to 95% by 2025.
Increase in Monetization of Gaming
With the rise of in-game purchases, the economic power is transferring from developers to gamers. With lower entry barriers, many gamers have become developers, leading to increased monetization of video games. In the next five years, the cost per hour of playing video games is likely to increase by 20%, which is still a bargain compared to other sources of entertainment and information.
Virtual Reality Could Approach Reality By 2030
Based on Ark's proprietary scoring system (UVI1), best-in-class VR headsets today achieve 10% of human visual immersion. And if the consumer VR is limited to the console gaming market, Ark believes VR headsets will not scale to human immersion capabilities for the mass market. And basing it on Wright's Law, two complete visual immersion at a price-point comparable to that of a PC will require VR headsets to follow the adoption curve of smartphones until 2030.
The Revenue From Virtual Worlds Could Approach $400 Billion By 2025.
Based on Ark's research, the global gaming market will increase at a 16% compound annual rate during the next five years, from $173 billion to $365 billion by 2025. The AR and VR market will grow at a 59% compound annual rate during the next five years, from $3 billion to $28 billion in 2025.
Read the complete research HERE
