This year, Noël C-Bit belongs to the meta-universe

Where does everyone go at Christmas? They're all going to play in the meta world.

The annual Christmas break is here as planned. However, this year the rapid spread of the omecheron mutant and the Ultra-Korean waves that suddenly swept across the West Coast forced many to temporarily abandon their plans. Family activities have shifted from shopping to vaccinations, and hospitality from relatives and friends has shifted from “Merry Christmas” to “Goodbye”. I have to say that this Christmas is a bit "cool" this year.

But unlike cold restaurants, malls, and real-world tourist destinations, this is a party vibe in its own right in the world. Fun games, phone conversations, company meetings every year, everything has changed to the virtual world, and everyone is using a variety of new tricks, resulting in the sale of virtual reality equipment and software.

No, the meta, which changed the all-in-one name in the Metaverse, also takes its first win this Christmas.Oculus, the virtual reality app, achieved the first business expansion of its kind, taking the # 1 spot in the US, the free Apple app and Google Store to pull out for Christmas.

The lists are free to download from the App Store for Christmas

In this fiery atmosphere this year, we can find a model. Virtual reality, which was demoted to yellow blossoms yesterday, appears to be leading to "second spring" by reactivating and injecting new blood. metaverse.

｜ Oculus, the most popular gift, meta first tastes the sweetness of the meta world

Building on this year's explosion of meta-universe themes, the Quest series of Meta VR headsets put “Sweet Potato” and “Dark Horse Player” on the gift list. On Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday this year, Quest headsets were short. The turmoil continued into the Christmas season, when Silicon Stars saw that Costco, BestBuy, and several other retailers had placed their Quest Series helmets in their most important position.

Oculus Quest for sale in the Cotsoc store, video courtesy of the Internet

According to a new announcement released by KeyBanc Capital Markets on December 26, Oculus Quest 2 took the # 1 spot for the most popular Christmas gifts. Quest's popularity also affects the number of downloads of related software.On Christmas Day, it was the number one download on the Apple App Store in the US, and it was always the Google Store downloads victory that day. It peaked at No.5 in withdrawals in 14 countries excluding the United States during the Christmas holidays.

Based on data from the Security Sensor Tower analysis application,Always availableFrom December 21 to 27, Oculus achieved 1.3 million downloads worldwide in two major markets, Apple and Android, with new downloads increasing 363% per week.In the five years since the launch of the Oculus app, Sensor Tower has reached 13 million downloads, which means 10% of Oculus downloads were in the last week.

US Apple Store Oculus withdraws, image source is Quartz

Meta announced the first virtual reality store, Oculus Store, in 2016.The functionality of this store is initially similar to that of Apple's App Store and Google Play, except that it focuses on virtual reality apps.The goal is to help more developers build VR apps directly for the whole process by creating commercial products to run and offering them channel launches.

There are now over 200 VR games available for download from the Oculus Store, and since 2019 the creators and versions of VR games have started to increase year on year, and there are still minor cracks like the music. Beat Saber, the Star Wars VR series and more. Last month, Meta launched Horizon Worlds, its own large-scale meta-universe, aimed at US and Canadian users.

Many integrations blocked by transmission are also found in the virtual world. Some companies have small conferences at Horizon Worlds, others wear VR headsets to personalize their virtual avatars, others chat, sing and do shows, send wine to their employees. by clinking glasses.

Relatives and friends who were unable to reunite for Christmas, due to the temporary cancellation of their travel plans due to the contagion, also met at Horizon World, which has traveled thousands of miles, chatting , shop, play and participate in activities together. When you're in the mood, you can lift your wrist, take a "click" selfie, record it, and even cut videos of everyone you play with on the Metaverse into your own Vlog. .

Selfies of Horizon World friends, video source: CNN

Affected by the volatile performance of the virtual reality market over the Christmas period, Metaverse commodity prices rose by up to 3% after the start of the holiday season, closing at an all time high since the Metaverse transition. Metaverse cream.

Other gaming platforms are also hotter. Roblox, the platformer called 'Meta Universe First Unit', was a regular in pre-releases around the world, in the United States and Europe over Christmas.

With the popularity of VR and meta-world games, there is a difference that many mobile games and websites have moved to VR and meta-world.For example, Ouranus, a popular game in the past, released a new VR version and landed on Quest earlier this month.Put it on the headphones and let it hear the excitement of the "line" below.

｜ VR equipment may cause transmission. Buy Meta against Apple?

Compared to the immediate appearance of Oculus and Roblox, the number of visits to Amazon and Google sites during Christmas appears to have declined, and it goes without saying that Metaverse is the biggest winner of the year no. Although Oculus is only in the # 1 spot on the 25th, the metaverse difference in dealing with the entire VR industry is pretty clear.

Although the entire hardware industry has been severely affected by the product shortage this year,However, according to statistics from industry analyst IDC, global shipments of virtual reality headsets in the first quarter of 2021 are still up 52.4% year-on-year.Headsets deliveries are expected to reach 7.15 million units by 2021.Additionally, user recognition for VR and AR has increased dramatically. In December, 58.9 million and 93.3 million US users accessed virtual reality and augmented reality at least once a month, or 17.7% and 28.1% of Americans, an increase of 'about 14% compared to the same period. . Last year.

Now, Meta has a strong advantage in the field of VR headset equipment and its integration has grown rapidly. Oculus shipments accounted for 34% of global shipments in Q1 2020, up from 75% this year.It can be said that Meta is in full swing to expand the virtual reality market through its own efforts.

Share of large global VR / AR companies, image source: statista

However, given the small size of the entire XR market, a temporary advance in the current meta does not mean that it will continue in the future as well.

Recent news has reported that Apple has successfully hired Andrea Schubert, head of communications and public relations for its virtual reality, Meta Group, for The Outside World Believes Apple is secretly trying to create its first true hybrid face. These devices will be available early next year.

Indeed, rumors have been circulating for a long time that Apple is launching a virtual headset. At every Apple development conference for the past year or two, a group of fans have tried to find a line of these devices in invites and announcements, but always failed. Looking at all the hardware devices, it has been a long time since changes in the product market surprised the public as much as the iPhone, and this time the reliability of Apple's MR device is high. .

Now, some media reports suggest that Apple devices can not only be used for VR, but can also switch between AR and VR, and heavier than head-mounted devices. . Affected by this news, Apple stock prices have recently risen and large companies have raised their expectations of Apple.

Image concept of Apple MR glasses, video by MacRumors

When Apple announces that they have joined the battle, they will rewrite the current rules of the game and will certainly be Meta's best competitor.The question then arises as to whether the meta will retain its current position as market leader.

However, as more leaders join the battle, more and more people begin to step in and maintain this virtual interaction, and the transition will be unlikely. You have the opportunity to shine from dream to reality.