Open Metaverse (wooooh) > Closed Metaverse (booooo)
This is going to sound weird, but hear us out.
Imagine if you had to pay a toll every time you chose to draw or paint something.
Making a birthday card for your mom? Toll.
Painting the side of your house? Toll.
Signing the cheque at a restaurant? Double toll.
The idea of a single entity being able to own and license out 'the right to create', using a medium like painting or drawing is absurd.
The freedom to create in the tech world? It's a little murky.
Sure, you can code and create in whatever language you choose - but if you want it to work with the product or platform that everyone uses, you're probably going to have to pay some sort of toll.
(E.g. Apple/Android each take a 30% cut of all revenue generated by apps on their platforms).
The internet dodged this bullet, by using an open rule set, that anyone can use - free of charge - know as the TCP/IP.
Companies popped up and used the network to generate income through services (e.g. Shopify for online stores, Google for search), but none of them actually owned the internet.
Right now, there's a silent battle being fought to push the metaverse down the same path as the internet.
This month, The Metaverse Summit will take place in Paris, with the aim of accelerating the advent of 'the open metaverse.'
Here's why this concept is so important:
An open metaverse will be one that is built using decentralized blockchain technology, meaning:
Anyone can access and build on it, without requiring permission from (or payment to) a third party.
No single entity has majority control over it (just like the internet).
Users will own all of their own data.
On the flip side, a closed metaverse may still operate using blockchain technology - but it wouldn't be decentralized; meaning:
A single entity (e.g. Facebook/Meta) would own the network and its data - ultimately controlling who is allowed to access it and how much creators are allowed to profit from it.
If you need an analogy to drive this home:
Imagine if a Facebook account was required to access the internet.
No thank you.
And if you're thinking...
'Obviously everyone would prefer an open metaverse, how is there even a risk of a closed metaverse winning out?'
Here's the catch:
To win out, the framework for the open metaverse has to be theorized, agreed upon, created and widely adopted before private companies can do the same with their own closed metaverses.
Because, once mass-adoption is achieved by one - the battle is essentially over.
And to add insult to injury, there's a whole lot more money to be made (for a select few individuals) in creating a closed metaverse, so a disproportionate amount of money and brain power is being thrown at it.
God's speed to the builders of the open metaverse.
