Furry Friends in Metaverse: Is it Pawsible to make Profit through Meta-pets?

If real animals aren't for you, consider adopting a CryptoKitty or Metagotchi in the metaverse.

People have already looked after digital pets in games like Tamagotchi, Pokémon GO, which uses augmented reality (AR), or CryptoKitty, based on blockchain on Ethereum. The global pet digital technology market in 2021 totaled $1425.35 million and by 2030 is expected to be worth $8037.85 million, according to InsightAce Analytic's latest market research. Annual growth averages 21.91% with no monopoly from any platform owner. The popularity of digital animals may lead to the creation of a community and speculative investment. Other companies building virtual pets include Florida-based Cominted Labs, Hong Kong-based Matterless, and Oslo-based BitPet. And while some of the business models are as simple as encouraging users to spend cash on in-app purchases to get a cool new pair of shades for your cat, others believe digital pets bring real value to an otherwise unwelcoming virtual space. The metaverse is a hypothetical iteration of the Internet as a single, universal and immersive virtual world that is facilitated by the use of virtual reality and augmented reality headsets. But is Metaverse the place to own a digital pet? And can you make a profit from those virtual creatures?

Several companies have announced their vision for pets in the metaverse, including:

Dapper Labs have created a blockchain game on Ethereum called CryptoKitties that allows players to purchase, collect, breed, and sell virtual cats. It is one of the earliest attempts to deploy blockchain technology for recreation and leisure.

Bogo game aims to bring the digital animal husbandry experience to life with Oculus glasses and virtual reality (VR) technology.

Tiny Rebel Games recently raised a $7m seed round to build Petaverse Network. It designs artificially intelligent cats, which the company promises will work across different metaverses. The idea is that your pet can accompany you wherever you go in the virtual world, joining you in anything from a work meeting to a quest to feel an ancient dragon. She says that, when compared with prior successes like Nintendogs, the metaverse presents one big advantage: these animals aren't prisoners to hardware.

Duro Dogs aims to be both the first game and digital goods platform on the metaverse open to users. Businesses can adopt their digital dogs on other platforms and may be extended to activities such as pet contests and various competitive games.

Metagochi's are the blockchain-based digital creatures that live in your wallet! Powered by $MGCHI, Metagochi is a metaverse incorporating a play-to-earn game inspired by our favorite 90's trends! Each creature has a set of attributes that can be leveled up through training and playing in the Olympic-style GochiGames!

Digital Dogs has raised an undisclosed amount of pre-seed funding from metaverse-specific VC firms like Outlier Ventures and MaxStealth, and angel investor Rafi Gidron. Currently, the company is minting 10k unique NFTs which will be sent out to buyers as embryos in test tubes. They'll then go through a several-week-long "incubation process" in which buyers can play simple games to determine their personality traits before the AI puppies are born.

The company has also filed a patent to make virtual dogs "smarter" by allowing pets to gather data about their owner. That would allow them to then do things like find other dog owners who speak the same language and lead their owners to them, to further help get people talking to one another.

MetaPets introduces the forever friend concept, allowing owners to create their pet as a non-fungible token (NFT) that will survive forever. It is also ready to connect pet owners in a community.

Implications for the future:

• Spending time with pets remains a rewarding experience but it may be modified to fit lifestyles in the virtual world
• Having a virtual pet might be a more convenient option than a real-world animal
• When technology is further developed there might be a debate on whether digital pets are pets or games, raising ethical issues
• Raising animals for emotional benefits requires further study of real and virtual pets
• Research by Sun Joo-Grace Ahn (2015) shows that digital pets can encourage owners to exercise. It will be interesting to see if the creators of virtual pet platforms will focus on designing healthy activities
• Digital animals may reduce real-world pets. Exotic pets that are status symbols will remain popular