For decades, gaming has been a significant aspect of our culture, creativity, and connection. Some of today’s most forward-looking executives grew up in crowded mall arcades, fantasized of being trapped in a film like Tron, and faced off around the family computer or console of choice, from the Atari 2600 to Xbox, and everything in-between.
Fast-forward, and gaming now incorporates online, mobile, social, cloud, augmented reality, virtual reality, and the metaverse—a business that is on course to cross $200 billion in 2023.
For over 20 years people have cooperated in games like The Sims and Second Life and most recently Fortnite, Roblox, Minecraft, Pokémon Go, and more.
These are more than simply games; they are shared virtual play places meant to meet up, develop worlds, fight on, purchase virtual items, dance off, and rock out.
But what does this trend indicate for the future of work? Surprisingly, quite a bunch.
The Hybrid Future of Work
It’s easier than ever for businesses to adopt new approaches to “work” that help employees feel more connected to their workplace and each other, and that encourage a more collaborative, innovative, and productive atmosphere.
As a matter of fact, people who want the most original, varied, and remarkable workers must be adept at working together and using technology to accommodate a wide variety of working situations and arrangements.
In a world where 73% of teams will employ remote workers by 2028, striking a balance between demands and interests has taken on new significance. To combat issues such as those listed in the most recent State of Remote Work report—poor communication/collaboration (17%), loneliness (19%), and difficulty staying motivated (12%)—it’s all about accessibility, flexibility, and continuous feedback loops to enhance experiences and enable productivity.
In cities with a high concentration of team members, businesses will start establishing coworking areas, giving workers a physical location away from their homes from which to do company business.
Companies will need to make provisions for a more diverse and integrated workforce by providing areas where employees may feel secure while also allowing management to establish and enforce policies.
A Gamified Workforce
A recent research by Deloitte found that almost all members of Generation Z (87%), Millennials (83%), and Generation X (79%), regularly engage in video game play on their own personal and family-owned devices.
Although many people have the impression that the Fortnite community is comprised of kids, the vast majority of players are really adults (60+%).
More than half of those in a recent study of people in Generation Z said they want to be company owners within the next decade.
This cohort is naturally adept in online participation, cooperation, community-building, problem-solving, and the purchase of virtual goods or power-ups for mobile games.
It’s no secret that the worlds of gaming and play are inspiring novel approaches to business and reshaping the way people will be paid and organized in the future.
Adding virtual reality to the mix of remote and in-office collaboration may create a new, dynamic workplace that provides organizations the best of both worlds as hybrid work evolves.
For the purpose of bringing a brand’s values and ideas to life in a virtual entity that may appear in real time across all channels, several companies are investigating the possibility of creating their own virtual identities.
New employees’ preferences will continue to influence product development and brand transformations.
We are already seeing businesses reorganize to accommodate new positions like director of metaverse engineering, head of Web3, avatar creator, virtual architect, builder, and real estate agent.
Mixed-Merged Worlds
In other words, we are on the cusp of entering the metaverse. Comparing the metaverse to the early days of the internet is apt, since both have immense potential but no predetermined playbook.
Every day, we’re forging the workplace of tomorrow. As of late, there have been a plethora of new collaboration platforms released, all with its own unique taste and set of capabilities. There are virtual reality (VR) only, augmented reality (AR) only, event-only, throwback-gaming-inspired, and even regular office-style simulations.
Team onboarding, virtual showrooms, virtual test laboratories, gamified meetings, workplace celebrations, and more are all possible with immersive platforms, and they can be accessed from nearly any device, whether it a desktop computer, a mobile phone, or a virtual reality headset.
Since more and more people are now working remotely, businesses are trying to find innovative approaches to teamwork and communication. The feeling of belonging to a community that exists in the metaverse is no longer exclusive to the gaming industry. Workers will increasingly use the metaverse for work-related communication, creation, and collaboration as the workplace of the future.
When it comes to the future of work, the metaverse will be a key factor in preserving the feeling of belonging and community that we as humans have always craved, while simultaneously allowing for the adaptability and harmony that have been hallmarks of our workplaces.