MACAU BUSINESS
“Without NFT, it is hard to encourage you to stay there [in the metaverse] and truly benefit or enjoy that experience. Without NFT, it [the metaverse] would just be like a big VR game or a big VR zoom,” he indicates. “So I think NFT is quite core to the metaverse.”
What gives rise to the metaverse? How big can the market be?
Mindfulness Capital has invested in more than 30 projects linked to the metaverse since 2019, and a few of them have become “unicorns”, referring to privately-held startups valued at over US$1 billion each. One of them is The Sandbox, a leading decentralised and community-driven gaming platform based on blockchain technology, and comprises programmes for users to create NFT assets, trade those assets, and build their own game experiences without coding. HSBC, one of the largest global banking providers, and sportswear conglomerate Adidas have announced in recent months partnerships with The Sandbox to dive into opportunities arising from the metaverse, for instance, the sports brand has bought a virtual land plot and launched NFTs on the platform. “No one knew for sure a few years ago about the prospect of
the metaverse, but we saw it coming and voted with our capital,” Mr. Ao says, adding the rise of this concept in the past year and more is also likely due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has brought physical restrictions to our reality and made us yearn for interactions in the virtual world. In Mainland China, the frenzy has particularly started after the name change of Facebook to Meta in last October, according to a news report by China Daily. Not only have companies from large corporations to small firms expressed interests in this virtual world, so have been the local administrations across the border. Shanghai was the first city and province in the mainland to include the metaverse in last December in its 14th five-year blueprint for the electronic information industry covering the 2021-2025 period; a month later, some other local administrations in the mainland, such as Hefei, capital of Anhui province, and Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, also talked about the development of the metaverse in their annual working reports. In April 2022, the Huangpu District of Guangzhou in nearby Guangdong province even unveiled a proposal for support measures to “accelerate the innovation and development of the metaverse”, the first place in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay to provide official assistance dedicated to the
metaverse development. The measures include a housing purchase subsidy of up to RMB5 million (US$756,601/MOP6.12 million) for talents in the metaverse-related aspects, and a subsidy of up to RMB5 million for projects that boast iconic metaverse scenes with the characteristics of Haungpu. Investment bank Morgan Stanley remarked in a research note in April that the value of this nascent virtual space could reach US$8 trillion (MOP64 trillion) in the Chinese market alone in the future, while another brokerage Goldman Sachs has put out a more subdued forecast, envisioning the valuation of US$8 trillion is only possible for the global metaverse market. Technological research and consulting firm Gartner has also predicted 25 per cent of people would spend at least one hour a day in the metaverse for work, shopping, education, social interactions and/or entertainment by 2026, when 30 per cent of the organizations in the world would have products and services ready for the metaverse.
How has Macau been prepared for the metaverse?
In view of the possible business and development opportunities, as well as the rising trend in the region, Macau has stepped in this uncharted water in the recent months. Local electronic gaming equipment supplier Asia Pioneer Entertainment Holdings Ltd founded a new subsidiary this year, APE Digital Creations Limited, focusing on the “development of the metaverse and related businesses”, which plans to launch a metaverse version of Macau, “Mini Macau” in the Sandbox, aside from a collection of Asia-themed NFTs designed by Portuguese artist Pedro Lourenço in June. APE’s metaverse version of Macau will recreate renowned
tourist attractions of Macau, including Macau Tower, Senado Square and Ruins of St. Paul’s, as well as entertainment venues, branded retail shops and nightclubs in the city. “As the worldwide backdrop has changed, preventing many travellers from travelling to Asia, our vision is to build Asia travel destinations on the metaverse. Digital travellers can virtually explore amazing Macau tourist attractions,” the company said of Mini Macau in its website. “Mini Macau will be launched with additional games in The Sandbox in the near future.” The Macau Self-Improved Cultural and Creative Think Tank (MSCCTT) — a local association co-established by the prominent Association of Chinese Enterprises in Macau, the Institute for Cultural Creativity Tsinghua University, and the Macau Cultural and Creative Enterprise Federation — also
JULY 2022 19
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60
