Digital Twins, Simulations, Edge & Cloud Computing, and Professional Services Drive Metaverse Market Value to US$66.7 Billion by 2030

The metaverse has had many definitions, all of which have been too vague and misunderstood by the public. One general definition is “a persistent virtual environment that allows access to and interoperability of multiple individual virtual realities.” Global technology intelligence firm ABI Research takes a more granular definition of the metaverse, focusing on digital twins, simulations, edge and cloud computing, and professional services to define it. With this granular approach, ABI Research has valued the current metaverse at US$36 billion, forecasting the market to reach US$66.7 billion by 2030, with a CAGR of 9.7%.

“Clearly defining the metaverse and its potential is essential for its adoption. Often the metaverse has been seen as a gaming and social realm, with Roblox and Epic Games taking the lead. Yet its applications reach much further into the enterprise domain. This new landscape, driven by digital twins, simulations, and computing technologies, is gaining equal relevance and attention as the ‘consumer’ metaverse,” explains Matilda Beinat, Augmented and Virtual Reality Research Analyst at ABI Research.

While Meta’s rebrand made the metaverse more well-known and vertically inclusive, enterprises have identified and leveraged metaverse value for the past few years. Recently, Siemens has partnered with NVIDIA to build an industrial metaverse by increasing AI-driven digital twin uses that can help upgrade the industrial automation ecosystem. Companies like IBM, Microsoft, Ansys, Cisco, AWS, Accenture, Qualcomm, and a myriad more have been contributing to the creation and the usage of the metaverse for tangible results within enterprises—3D and spatially aware simulation and visualization, robust remote worker support, and enhanced user devices through cloud compute all deliver enterprise value.

Although challenges remain, especially regarding security and privacy, opportunities in different verticals, such as healthcare, manufacturing, education, and automotive, are more present daily.  “Companies that have been integrating these metaverse technologies are seeing significant returns on investment, improving customer satisfaction, and a boost in overall company performance,” Beinat concludes.

These findings are from ABI Research’s Metaverse State of the Market report. This report is part of the company’s Augmented and Virtual Reality research service, which includes research, data, and ABI Insights.