Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JUN 2022年6月 亞博匯 66 METAVERSES FOR THE CHINA MARKET Geographical differences in the development of these new metaverses have become apparent and pose a key consideration for businesses located in Macau, China and Hong Kong in determining their metaverse entry strategy. In China, a separate range of metaverses is under construction for the China market, with the leading technology companies – Tencent, Alibaba, Bytedance, NetEase and Baidu – all investing in development of their own metaverse platforms. There are conspicuous differences in the features of the Chinese metaverses compared with metaverse platforms that are created by Hong Kong, European and US developers. A decisive influence on the development of metaverses for the China market is regulation. Following the directive of the Chinese financial authorities, it is evident that the metaverses in China will not support cryptocurrencies, nor issue their own in-world token currencies, nor permit speculative trading of digital assets, such as NFTs, including virtual land plots. Additionally, a Metaverse Industry Committee was established under the China Mobile and Communications Association in October 2021 which will be a lynchpin in directing the development of metaverse platforms in China going forward. The Metaverse Industry Committee is tasked with strengthening integration ALL-IN DIGITAL