The game is the prototype of metaverse, which will integrate art, culture and technology to form the tide of exploring metaverse civilization. The game will certainly assume the role of pioneer and leader, pulling the upstream industry, driving the related industries, and entering the metaverse era one by one.

It is necessary for the development of traditional industries to draw on the ideas of games, and the digital transformation of traditional industries must incorporate the elements of games. This is also the way to enter the meta-universe.

The meta-universe is the next form of Internet development, and all industries will be affected. Games breed the meta-universe, and any big era change has phenomenal industry development, forming a demonstration effect. As the prototype of the meta-universe, large games generally have the following five characteristics.

(1) Basic economic system: An economic system similar to the real world is established in the game, users’ virtual rights and interests are protected, and virtual assets created by users can circulate in the game.

(2) Strong virtual identity: the virtual identity in the game has the characteristics of consistency and strong sense of immersion, and users can carry out virtual activities with their virtual identity in the game. The game generally relies on customized virtual image and figurative skin, as well as the unique characteristics of the image to give users a sense of uniqueness and immersion.

(3) Strong sociality: large games have built-in social networks, so players can communicate in time, both with text and voice, and even video.

(4) Open and free creation: the game world is all-encompassing, which cannot be separated from the innovative creation of a large number of users. Such a huge content project needs to be led by open user creation.

(5) Immersive experience: games, as interactive, information-rich and immersive content display, will serve as the most important content and content carrier of the meta-universe. At the same time, the game is one of the best application scenarios for VR virtual reality devices and so on. With VR technology, games can bring sensory immersion experience to users.

The basic features of the meta-universe are wonderfully displayed and interpreted in the game world, but no game can fully achieve the ideal state of the meta-universe. From this point of view, the game is but a prototype of the meta-universe, but from the game perspective, we can fully understand the meta-universe.

Although, the game is but a prototype of the meta-universe, the development of the game has comprehensively driven the technology base and economic system necessary for the meta-universe. The spillover of these technologies, and even the spillover of production relations embodied by games, will cause a series of changes in related industries.

Games and 5G
Video is to 4G what games are to 5G; they complement each other and promote each other. Gaming has become an important choice for 5G applications. With the maturity of 5G technology, the most critical network problem of cloud gaming is solved. Cloud gaming is a kind of online gaming technology based on cloud computing and streaming technology, whose game logic and rendering operations are done in the cloud. Cloud gaming supports users to enjoy the ultimate experience of 3A-level game masterpieces anytime and anywhere with mobile devices, and breaks the terminal barrier of large games. Cloud gaming has five core technologies: GPU server, virtualization, audio and video technology, real-time network transmission and edge computing. At present, all the core technologies have become mature.

Games and digital currency
From the economic point of view, every game is “experience + consumption”, and games that meet the characteristics of the meta-universe, the word “creation” should be added. Creation and consumption also contribute to the underlying value cycle. Further, all modern games are a “virtual economy”, and in the virtual world created by the game, all need to spend the prevailing currency. “Krypton” as a buzzword on the Internet, in the game, refers to the act of recharging the game, in fact, the game with “krypton” is an independent economy.

Games with metaverse characteristics naturally form the application scenario for digital currencies. This is an area that traditional monetary systems cannot support. As the metaverse explodes, the total volume of digital currency transactions skyrockets. Ether is the underlying digital currency that can become the currency of passage for the metaverse. The meta-universe provides the application scenario for the Ether currency, and the Ether currency can further contribute to the explosion of the meta-universe.

In every era, there is an explosive growth of a pioneer industry, which drives the development of other elements, and other elements further promote the development of related industries, thus forming positive feedback, and society then accelerates progress. Games, like dreaming, traveling, artistic activities, etc., are means for us to transcend reality, and perhaps this is the real meaning of games for human beings.