In the pursuit of the technological shift towards the metaverse, China is rumored to have begun to take the first steps led by large local companies.
It is understood that the value of the metaverse market in the country will probably reach 52 trillion yuan or around $ 8 trillion (equivalent to RM33,550,400,000)!
Managing partner at CloudTree Ventures, Winston Ma explained metaverse is the social network of the future: “Inevitably, China’s big tech companies need to accept its presence and be tied to the younger generation of internet users. This relationship is very critical when products related to smartphones and mobile internet have reached maturity. ”
Among the companies that have drawn up plans to engage with the metaverse include: Tencent.
Meanwhile, ByteDance (TikTok company) has been exploring gaming-related metaverse since last year. For the record, in August - the company has made the purchase of virtual reality (VR) headset manufacturer, Pico.
If one looks at the vibrancy of this business, ByteDance already has a foundation in VR, social media, and gaming.
At the same time, Alibaba admits they will launch augmented reality (AR) glasses for virtual encounters this year.
Not only that, they have also introduced a virtual influencer known as Dong Dong for the purpose of promoting the Winter Olympics in Beijing through an online shopping platform, Taobao.
NetEase and Baidu have been focusing on metaverse application development since last year. Baidu, for example, has already launched a metaverse application, XiRang and is said to be able to accommodate up to 100,000 users simultaneously.
However, Baidu vice president Ma Jie explained they need at least another 6 years for the full launch of XiRang.
However, the country also implements strict legislation to ensure that the industry is under controlled supervision.
The proof is, they enforce anti-monopoly laws and ban online video games for children under 18 years old.
While China is jokingly blocking the crypto industry, through its approach and response to the metaverse, it can be concluded the country actually chose to be vigilant and scrutinize their need to engage in this phenomenon.
Will China once again lead this race, as it won the central bank’s digital currency (CBDC) introduction race?
Stay tuned.
