We've recently added 18 new virtual worlds to our Metaverse Universe charts, taking the grand total to 138 (live and in development). From a segmentation perspective, the blockchain browser-based VW sector continues to exhibit the highest growth in terms of worlds in development. Here are the runners and riders in that group.
For platforms building on Ethereum, there are 12 active (open beta and live) companies and 17 in development. Non-Ethereum (including Polygon) has 21 (that's a lot!) platforms currently in development and nine active.
All of these companies are building in the browser whereas the next segment of the Universe chart shows platforms being built natively for virtual reality. Typically we rate and rank VR-based virtual worlds slightly higher in our Metaverse Index compared to browser only.
Obviously, there are fewer companies in this segment of the Universe because building for VR requires a different set of development skills compared to browser-based experiences. It's also important to remember that at present the install-base of HMDs is comparatively low. Taking both of these web3 (built on a blockchain) segments above into account, total MAUs currently only account for 0.9% of the total Metaverse population. 99.1% of users/players currently reside in off-chain web2 platforms. Shown below is the browser-based segment of the Universe chart.
It's pretty easy to see who the major players are in this segment. As is the case with web3 platforms, the number of native VR companies is lower than browser-based. This group is shown below.
We distribute our Metaverse Universe charts for free and they can be requested here.
