In The Elder Scrolls Online players have been able to dive into a virtual world for 10 years. Facebook is trying to achieve the same with the Metaverse, but one developer is skeptical.
What is the Metaverse? The Metaverse is a virtual world from Meta, which also includes Facebook and Instagram. The Metaverse is supposed to allow users to dive into a second world and live a virtual life there. You should also be able to buy houses and properties there, but for real money.
Meta has already invested billions into the virtual world and hopes to achieve the next hit with the Metaverse. A developer from ESO sees this skeptically and compares the game with his project, The Elder Scrolls Online.
Here you can see the trailer for The Elder Scrolls Online – Gold Road.
Metaverse? We have Elder Scrolls Online at home
Is the Metaverse an MMORPG? No, not really, but it is still worth taking a look at the comparison made by ESO creative director Matt Firor. In the Metaverse, you are supposed to build a second life, buy houses, customize your avatar, and interact with other people. All of this has existed in various MMORPGs for years.
Maybe when you first thought of the idea of the Metaverse, you thought, “I can already do that in MMORPGs?” and that’s exactly the thought that ESO’s creative director had as well.
In an interview with Gamesindustry.biz, he says: “[The Metaverse] That was the buzzword of last year, right? This year it’s all about AI, and no one is talking about the Metaverse anymore… My first games were purely text-based, without graphics, and they were very much virtual worlds where people met, chatted, and had fun.”
Was the Metaverse really just a buzzword? Matt Frior has his own opinion on that; according to him, the Metaverse was initially a technical discussion aimed mainly at investors.
I think the important thing is that the Metaverse discussion of last year was very much a technical discussion, which is very important in Silicon Valley when seeking investments. But no one will play a virtual world if there is nothing to do, so it really is a discussion about content and systems. The technology has existed for ages. Maybe AR glasses are new, but we have had the technology to display virtual worlds on screens for decades, and that is the real magic.
Matt Frior in an interview with Gamesindustry.biz
The Elder Scrolls Online celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, and even before that, there were many different MMORPGs that covered what Meta wants with their Metaverse. Whether the Metaverse will ever replace all MMORPGs remains to be seen. Facebook chief Zuckerberg recently showed what his Metaverse could look like: Facebook’s CEO shows his “immersive” Metaverse – gamers fear it could become reality
