Study Says Filipinos are the World's Most Interested People in the Metaverse
It’s a buzzword that’s becoming embedded more and more in our lexicon. The metaverse, immersive virtual world, was the stuff of science fiction but has now become very, very real. Well, so to speak.
The world’s biggest and most valuable companies are racing to become the first to harness the powers and possibilities of the metaverse and bring it from the fringes of science and technology and into the mainstream. A report from McKinsey said that about $120 billion has so far been raised for emerging technology dedicated to the metaverse, with the hopes that it would generate value of as much as $5 trillion by 2030.
But just how interested are people in the metaverse? And would we all be willing to…jump into it?
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A study by Coin Kickoff determined the level of support and interest in the metaverse, analyzing 1.6 million tweets and 19 of the most popular metaverses as well. The study also parsed through Google search volumes for metaverse-related keywords in 192 countries, as well as a visual comparison of metaverse worlds such as Decentraland to real-life places.
The result? It seems that people in the Philippines are most the interested in the metaverse worldwide, with 2,421 Google searches for it per 1000 people. There was even a business survey that found 89 percent of professionals in the country would be willing to use the metaverse to enhance their work. Half of those surveyed also believe it would lead to a more positive and collaborative environment.
For context, Filipinos seem to be some of most enthusiastic when it comes to the metaverse’s development. The country hosted Asia’s largest metaverse conference in Manila in May 2022, and the tech community is also emerging as one of the continent’s leaders in the space. The local startup community is also extremely supportive of the technology and is working to bring the metaverse to more people through gaming.
But it’s not just us Filipinos. Apparently, support for the metaverse is highest in our neck of the woods, with five of the 10 countries that feel most positively about the metaverse in Southeast Asia.
Vietnam, in particular, is one area that has a major opportunity to drive innovation in the metaverse, according to the study. The study shows that people in Vietnam are most enthusiastic about the metaverse, with 56.1 percent of Twitter posts about it containing positive messaging.
While Axie Infinity has lost its once white popularity in the Philippines, it’s still one of Vietnam’s most popular metaverse games, with a player base there of at least 2.5 million at the start of 2022.
Other interesting findings from the study: people in Florida are most keen to explore the metaverse, with 670 searches per 1,000 people; while those in Ireland are the most skeptical about it, with 14.4 percent of tweets containing negativity towards the metaverse.
“Global interest in the metaverse is growing all the time as new opportunities develop to explore its full potential,” the study says. “It is closely linked to the emergence of cryptocurrency, and the two will rely on each other heavily as both concepts continue to develop.”
Data for the Coin Kickoff study was collected in September 2022.
