Thirty years ago, Neal Stephenson published Snow Crash, a sci-fi novel that featured a pizza delivery driver named Hiro Protagonist, who discovers a “linguistic virus”. In 2021, this book inspired a name change at a $500bn company.
The term “metaverse” was first used in Snow Crash and gained popularity in the tech sector. Developers of Second Life were among those who embraced the concept. However, it wasn’t until Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook would change its name to Meta that the word gained widespread attention.
Since then, the metaverse has become a hot topic in various industries, including the gambling sector. Many companies are exploring its potential and investing heavily in disruptive technologies.
Estimates suggest that the metaverse could be worth $800bn by 2024, possibly even reaching $8tn. However, there is still uncertainty surrounding its definition. Different individuals have varying interpretations of what the metaverse truly is. Some consider it a digital world, while others argue that it is simply an extension of existing video game environments.
What sets the current metaverse apart is its built-in
