The differentiation of metaverse games accelerates—what can be seen from the bright and dark sides of 2025

The metaverse industry is clearly diverging around 2025, with rapid growth continuing in specific areas such as metaverse gaming, while other sectors are experiencing stagnation and restructuring. As the previous metaverse boom wanes, the question of what will survive and what will be淘汰される—be淘汰される—be淘汰される—be淘汰される—be淘汰される—be淘汰される—be淘汰される—be淘汰される—be淘汰される—be淘汰される—be淘汰される—be淘汰される—be淘汰される—be淘汰される—be淘汰される—be淘汰される—be淘汰される—be淘汰される—be淘汰される—be淘汰される—be淘汰される—be淘汰される—be淘汰される—be淘汰される—be淘汰される—be淘汰される—be淘汰される—be淘汰される—その構図はより鮮明になっています。

Immersive Game Platforms: Metaverse Games as the Unique Success Story

The core of metaverse gaming—immersive game platforms—are currently the most mature and vibrant sectors within the metaverse overall. Roblox reached 151.5 million daily active users in Q3 2025, recording an astonishing 70% year-over-year growth. Quarterly revenue hit $1.36 billion, demonstrating that the integrated model of game, social, and creator ecosystems remains highly sticky.

Fortnite also maintains hundreds of millions of monthly active users, forming a dual pillar of metaverse gaming. Epic Games announced a partnership with Unity in November 2025, aiming to build an open digital ecosystem with interoperability. CEO Tim Sweeney stated that 40% of Fortnite gameplay time is spent on third-party content, indicating that its functions as a metaverse game are already well established.

Interestingly, these success stories do not actively promote the label “metaverse.” Instead, they prioritize expressions like “global gaming market” and “platform economy,” reflecting that the concept of “metaverse” itself is becoming outdated for consumers.

Meanwhile, Minecraft, once a symbol of metaverse gaming, ended VR/MR support after March 2025. This strategic retreat from hardware dependence suggests a diversification of forms within the metaverse gaming market.

Integration with Music & Entertainment: Creating New Value in Metaverse Gaming

In 2025, metaverse game platforms accelerated full integration with the entertainment industry. Fortnite collaborated with international artists such as Sabrina Carpenter, Bruno Mars, and BLACKPINK’s Lisa. Hatsune Miku also performed in-game, providing millions of users with virtual music festival experiences.

Roblox hosted concerts at the official music venue “The Block” with artists like Laufey and aespa. These are not just in-game events but examples demonstrating the potential of metaverse games as a “third place” in the digital age.

XR Hardware: Establishing a “Hot at Both Ends, Cold in the Middle” Market Structure

The XR hardware market in 2025 showed a clear bifurcation. The high-end segment was led by Apple Vision Pro ($3,499), which drew attention for its innovation, though sales were limited. Meta Quest 3 continued strong sales during the 2024-2025 holiday seasons, with Meta’s AR/VR share reaching 60.6% in the first half of 2025.

The rise of smart glasses was also prominent. Ray-Ban Meta (second generation) gained popularity among urban youth, and global shipments of AR/VR headsets and smart glasses are expected to reach 14.3 million units (up 39.2% YoY).

Sony’s PlayStation VR2, due to lower-than-expected initial sales, was heavily discounted to $399.99 in March 2025. Total sales are estimated to approach 3 million units, but it has yet to challenge Meta Quest’s dominance.

Digital Avatar Space: Flashing and Platform Integration

ZEPETO (NAVER Z) maintains growth with over 400 million registered users and more than 20 million monthly active users. Collaborations with luxury brands like Gucci and Dior, as well as virtual fan meetings with K-pop idols, have revitalized the platform.

The acquisition of Ready Player Me by Netflix in late 2025 marked a new turning point in the industry. The potential for cross-platform compatible avatars attracted the interest of major media companies. RPM will end standalone offerings in early 2026 and shift focus to integration within Netflix.

Snapchat and Meta are also accelerating investments in AI-powered avatar systems. They are enhancing features like Codec Avatars and Bitmoji, aiming to monopolize their respective platforms.

Industry Metaverse: The Only “Practical Value” Domain

Unlike consumer metaverse, industry metaverse has established itself as the most realistic and rapidly growing sector. Market size is projected to reach approximately $48.2 billion in 2025 and $600 billion by 2032.

NVIDIA Omniverse is used for digital twin construction by manufacturing giants like Toyota, TSMC, and Foxconn. Siemens has formalized its push for “Industrial Metaverse,” with 81% of global companies already adopting, testing, or planning to adopt.

Specific examples include BMW reducing product launch times by 30% through virtual factories, Boeing decreasing complex aircraft part design errors by 40%, and VR therapy aiding patient recovery. In nuclear power plants, VR training has reduced new employee accident rates by over 20%.

However, many projects remain in proof-of-concept stages due to lack of vendor interoperability and data security concerns.

Social Metaverse: Returning to Content Quality

Meta Horizon Worlds has fewer than 200,000 monthly active users, a stark contrast to Facebook’s hundreds of millions. Meta CTO acknowledged the need to achieve “sufficient user retention and profitability,” and indicated plans to expand AI-generated content and NPC investments.

In contrast, VRChat surpassed 130,000 concurrent users in January 2025, with a 30% YoY increase. Rec Room faces growth bottlenecks, cutting over 50% of staff in August 2025, with acceleration toward plateauing.

The key to survival for social metaverse is now clearly identified as “high-quality content” and “integration with real-world social.”

Cryptocurrency & NFT Metaverse: The Difficult Road to Trust Recovery

According to DappRadar, the total NFT trading volume of metaverse projects in Q3 2025 was about $17 million. Decentraland and The Sandbox support a small community through DAOs and events.

The only successful case is Yuga Labs’ “Otherside.” When launched on the web in November 2025, thousands of players flooded the new area “Koda Nexus” on the first day. Integration of AI world generation tools expanded user-generated content possibilities.

However, overall, this domain faces severe trust deficits due to past speculative bubbles, making mainstream adoption in the short term difficult.

Outlook for 2026: The Metaverse Will Be Integrated into Gaming Platforms

Looking back at the entire metaverse industry in 2025, the core is less about “uneven development across sectors” and more about “integration into the winner—metaverse gaming.” Success stories in immersive gaming, XR hardware, and digital avatars are accumulating, while social and crypto asset metaverse sectors are entering stages questioning their very existence.

Emerging trends like AI×XR and industry-standardization (such as the proliferation of OpenXR) are reinforcing established metaverse gaming platforms. The momentum of “gamification” will likely accelerate further in 2026.