The metaverse: you may or may not be familiar with this concept in the adult industry. As a current buzzword in mainstream tech, it is a concept that is still somewhat vague and broad. The basic definition of a metaverse is: a network of virtual worlds that connect together, something straight out of science fiction. This is also hypothesized to be the future of the internet: one large, interconnected virtual space that may use virtual reality or augmented reality hardware to navigate it more immersively, similar to the movie “Ready Player One.” However, many existing companies already claim to offer a “metaverse” of their own, with video games like “Second Life,” “World of Warcraft” and “Fortnite” all sometimes described as such. So what, in 2022, is actually a metaverse?
I see the technologies closest to enabling a true metaverse as being in the blockchain and decentralized finance spaces, with platforms like Decentraland or Sandbox each offering virtual worlds with a decentralized connection to blockchain technology in their assets, which gives them the ability to interact with an endless range of other external companies, projects and individuals independent of the original developers. While these spaces are not yet adult-friendly, within the next year or two there will certainly be adult-friendly metaverse capabilities that webmasters, companies and adult creators alike will be able to take advantage of. I am aware of some already being built currently.
Ultimately, the main reason to think about the metaverse in 2022, even if the digital infrastructure for this next-gen internet isn’t exactly right around the corner, is timing.
So, how can the adult industry take advantage of this technology? To start, it is compatible with all aspects of the business, such as camming, content and parasocial interactions akin to OnlyFans, but with a new twist in the form of unique revenue opportunities. Primarily, metaverse-capable platforms can tap into the buying and selling of digital products or services via the blockchain, a digital ledger of transactions that powers crypto assets and the popular one-of-a-kind online collectibles known as non-fungible tokens or NFTs. As well, essentially anything that can be thought of for a video game can be sold for actual money in the metaverse — rather than for virtual money not worth anything — similar to how microtransactions power the sales of cosmetic items in video games. So you can have a virtual strip club, virtual lounge, virtual peep show, etc. and monetize them all independently through the blockchain. Individual creators can create virtual avatars that can provide products and services as well, and this gives independent creators another layer of anonymity, similar to VTubing now.
To go deeper on this, whereas in existing video games it is rare or impossible to sell products and assets independently and for actual money, at least player-to-player, this can be done more easily via the blockchain-based metaverse. The goal of an adult-friendly metaverse will be to have a full ecosystem of companies, creators and users in a virtual environment, able to transfer their assets from one realm to the next based on the record of their purchases on the blockchain.
There are also levels to what is possible; it is possible to build your own full virtual world, to build a virtual world contained within another virtual world, to build just a single 3D asset in a virtual world or to just create an avatar that looks like the user. Over time, all of these various metaverse assets being built by various companies and projects will become more and more interconnected, so if your asset is built into a particular virtual world, it will likely become compatible with more and more virtual worlds as the infrastructure for this burgeoning industry innovates and evolves over the next few years.
Ultimately, the main reason to think about the metaverse in 2022, even if the digital infrastructure for this next-gen internet isn’t exactly right around the corner, is timing. Before 2017, you would have been considered an early adopter of cryptocurrency; before 2020, you would have been considered early on NFTs; now 2022 offers an early entry point for the metaverse. Whoever gets in on building assets and projects in this space within the course of this year will likely be able to produce and sell digital products that will massively gain in value as the metaverse industry takes hold.
For blockchain-based virtual worlds, metaverse projects have only existed in a state of public alpha testing. Once these projects — and many more unannounced or not public yet — launch fully, this will likely become a multibillion-dollar industry, along with many other blockchain-adjacent industries, and the people who get in on this technology early, from the adult industry or elsewhere, will be the ones to reap the rewards.
A few adult industry companies have talked publicly about making metaverse assets, most notably Playboy. Like others who get in on this technology in 2022, these companies will almost certainly become major players in a new, massive technological space that is currently not monopolized by large tech companies. It’s a fantastic opportunity for the bold, and one I plan to partake in.
Ben Fraden is a co-owner of xxxNifty/The Pleasure Network, an adult blockchain project consisting of an internally-used cryptocurrency, an NFT marketplace, a future adult social media website and a future adult metaverse-ready virtual world. He has experience as CBDO of the platform and previously worked in the market research industry before crossing over into the cryptocurrency and adult business.