Multiverse vs. Metaverse: Exploring the Key Differences

• Metaverse is areplica of the real world.
• Multiverse is a collection of many worlds.

Currently, technology is revolutionising every aspect of our lives, from the way we entertain ourselves to the way we work.  Although all these changes we have been witnessing were taking place in our real world, it is anticipated that soon technology will create its own world where nothing will be real. 

This world will be called the metaverse. The building of the metaverse has already started, with many companies putting efforts into creating this virtual world. For example, Meta has even started developing its own metaverse, and  has already funded theproject with millions of dollars. 

The multiverse is a different concept than the metaverse, yet they share many similarities which is why many users get confused between the two. Therefore, in this article we will explain in detail what the metaverse and multiverse are and highlight the key differences between the two.

What is Metaverse?

Metaverse is not a new term; it was coined in 1993 by an American author, Neal Stephenson, in one of his science fiction novels – Snow Crash. At that time, the term metaverse was not commonly used and very few people knew about it. However, as technological advancements started taking place, people began adopting technology more and more. Due to these advancements, a term that was once fictional had started taking shape, and many companies started building a real metaverse. Virtual reality even fueled this growth.

Basically, the metaverse is a virtual space where users can interact with each other virtually, using VR headsets. The metaverse enables users to do things which they cannot do in reality. For example, currently, the metaverse is heavily being used in the educational industry, where students are learning with real simulations so that they can practically understand things by seeing rather than rote learning the concepts.

What is Multiverse?

You must have played a game in which many users come together in the same virtual world. This is also the case with metaverse. However, what makes multiverse different from metaverse is that in the multiverse, users can only do one thing. For example, if you interact with your friend in a shooting game, then the only thing you could do is to shoot the opponents. On the other hand, in the metaverse, you are free to do anything you want to do and there are no restrictions. It is essentially a clone of the real world. By now, it should be clear to you what the multiverse is. Now, let’s move to our main topic – What are the differences between the two?

Difference Between Metaverse and Multiverse

Number of Ecosystems 

In the metaverse, users are allowed to move endlessly between different platforms of the metaverse and they can do whatever they want. For example, not only can they ride cars but also go to a bar and attend parties. In the multiverse, you will also find many activities to do, but you will need to switch between different worlds again and again to perform those activities.

Property 

Users can own property in the metaverse and they can even rent their property to other users to earn money with it.  Many metaverses offer property for sale; for instance, Sandbox offers 166,464 plots at different locations that users can buy, while Decentraland metaverse offers 90,601 land plots. On the other hand, in the multiverse, users cannot own land.

Connection

Since the metaverse is areplica of the real world, it is highly connected and information flows smoothly throughout the metaverse. Even every activity of one user is visible to others if they want to see. This is not the case with the multiverse where information does not flow between different worlds. 

This was a brief difference between the metaverse and multiverse.