As part of the BSV Blockchain 4 Gaming conference in Warsaw in June 2022, we spoke to Piotr Zielonka, Senior Equity Researcher for Santander Poland. Responsible for investments for Santander Bank, Zielonka is well-versed in newer technologies and has a good understanding of the Metaverse. During the event, he held a presentation in Polish on current trends in the technology sector covering Metaverse, blockchain and web3.

Defining the Metaverse

As a rough definition, Zielonka describes the Metaverse as a platform where consumers spend their free time. Theoretically, this includes all kinds of activities and is not limited to gaming.

The Santander representative describes that the backbone of the Metaverse’s business model is to get consumers to spend as much time as possible on the platform. According to Zielonka, the goal of making the platform as engaging as possible for the user as a stand-alone experience is the top priority. Only after this goal is achieved, the actual goal of monetisation in various forms can be achieved.

Zielonka identifies a few key players that are shaping the Metaverse. Aside from various game developing companies, he mainly sees Microsoft, Facebook or Meta as well as Google and Nvidia as key players. To keep these companies in mind is important when talking about the Metaverse, as they are shaping it in ways that fit to their wider strategy as a business model.

You can find more information on this in our eBook ‘Your introduction to the Metaverse’.

Identifying Metaverse trends

For Zielonka, the concrete goals and plans of the players are still opaque. Many tech companies are keeping a low profile when it comes to publishing concrete details. As a Senior Equity Researcher for Santander, Zielonka’s approach is therefore to analyse whether the plans of the tech players fit the general trends that are emerging in the tech sector in general.

Zielonka identifies what he calls the ‘corporate Metaverse’ as one of the trends that could define the sector. In this scenario, the Metaverse would be used for work applications that rely or even work on digital objects. One scenario could be a simple business meeting in a virtual room. Other use cases would be the presentation of digital models of a product or for example a digital twin of a building that architectures would work on.

More insights – introduction to the Metaverse

Unfortunately, Zielonka gave his presentation during the Blockchain 4 Gaming conference in Warsaw in Polish only. Therefore, in our interview, he could give us only a very brief insight on how he sees and evaluates the Metaverse. If you still want to have a detailed insight into the Metaverse, we recommend our eBook ‘Your introduction to the Metaverse‘.

This eBook investigates the opportunities of the Metaverse:

• The potential of an immersive world for big tech, multimedia software, gaming, art, entertainment, communications, advertising and (insert your industry + vertical)
• What enterprise leaders should know and do about the Metaverse
• What government officials should know and do about the Metaverse?
• What developers should know and do about the Metaverse