METAVERSE: TRANSFORMATIONAL TECHNOLOGY GAINS TRACTION

 As transformative as the arrivals of the internet and smartphone have been for humanity, they were mere warm-ups for what is coming next—The Metaverse, says Xsolla founder Shurick Agapitov. This virtual, immersive experience will revolutionize how people live, work, connect and see the world.”What’s so important about this Metaverse? It’s not just about 3D graphics or online speed. It is a transformational technology that will change how businesses operate, how consumers work and play, and how humans tell stories,” Agapitov writes in his new book, Once Upon Tomorrow: Harnessing the New Opportunities the Metaverse Creates (Forefront Books; March 5, 2024).

 Agapitov envisions a future where every consumer-facing industry, from fashion to healthcare to entertainment, is transformed. If you are   an entrepreneur and you are  kicking yourself because you didn’t grab the opportunities that existed during the rise of e-commerce and the mobile internet, the opportunities that exist today in the Metaverse are even greater. In his book, Agapitov shares the tools that will give you a second chance.

 Just a few years away from widescale adoption, the digital revolution of the Metaverse will be more powerful than the internet or mobile phones and will not be dominated by big Silicon Valley companies. But today’s early adopters—anyone with a brand to sell or a story to tell—can use the Metaverse to build a hugely successful business.

Since its start in 2015, Los Angeles-based Xsolla has been the gaming industry’s leading platform. Today it is worth as much as $3 billion, according to Goldman Sachs and Bank of America. It operates in more than  two hundred  countries and territories in more than twenty  languages. Agapitov has accelerated the company’s growth with innovation after innovation. His latest innovation is X.LA, which leverages blockchain and Web3 technologies to create better economic opportunities for creators around the world, with the goal of ensuring that the concepts of Web3 are within everyone’s reach. Shurick is a visionary, creating frontiers for investors and entrepreneurs and showing how, in the Metaverse, everyone can create their own.

 In the book, Agapitov delineates how in  the Metaverse, we will immerse ourselves in a growing global community that will change forever how we work, play, shop and explore, and engage brands, and how we interact and literally live our lives.  Large companies such as Nike, Adidas and Gucci are already creating their digital footprints across the Metaverse, but as technology costs shrink, anyone can get into the game and create his or her own mega brand.  The opportunity to own  ‘real estate’  today in the Metaverse is like finding and buying a nearly empty beach, developing it, and then watching a massive community build around you.

About the  author

Shurick Agapitov grew up in Perm, Russia, where, at age fifteen, he started an online currency exchange service, transitioning to digital gaming and aggregation. He studied mathematics and computer science at the University of Perm. Moving to the United States with his wife, Yana, in 2009, he did post-graduate work at Harvard Business School, Wharton and UCLA Anderson School of Management.

 About Xsolla

Xsolla is a global video game commerce company with a robust and powerful set of tools and services designed specifically for the video game industry. Since its founding in 2005, Xsolla has helped thousands of game developers and publishers of all sizes fund, market, launch and monetize their games globally and across multiple platforms. As an innovative leader in game commerce, Xsolla’s mission is to solve the inherent complexities of global distribution, marketing and monetization to help our partners reach more geographies, generate more revenue and create relationships with gamers worldwide. Headquartered and incorporated in Los Angeles, California, with offices in Berlin, Seoul, Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo and cities around the world, Xsolla supports major gaming titles like Valve, Twitch, Roblox, Epic Games, Take-Two, KRAFTON, Nexters, NetEase, Playstudios, Playrix  and   miHoYo.