Mobile apps are using the term ‘metaverse’ to attract new users: Report

Metaverse appears to be a popular word that many apps are adding to their description in the hopes of gaining new consumers.

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Meta’s spending is unlikely to subside anytime soon, especially as it is in a full-throttled race against other technology giants to claim ground in the theoretical metaverse. (Image Source: Oculus Facebook page)

Over 552 apps have added the keyword “metaverse” in their description or titles to attract new users, revealed a new report by app analytics firm Sensor Tower. Metaverse is one of the most buzzy terms of the tech industry, thought not a new idea. Science fiction writer Neal Stephenson coined the term in 1992, and the concept is commonplace among video game companies.

The surge in apps using the term metaverse comes after Facebook re-branded itself to Meta last year. According to the data shared by Sensor Tower, over 86 apps added references to the metaverse to their title or description on the App Store and Google Play from November 2021 through January 2022. The change is evidently being done to capture consumer interest.

The report highlights that as soon as Facebook announced that it would be redoubling its efforts on the metaverse on October 28, 2021, the number of apps updating their descriptions or titles to reference the metaverse grew 66 percent month-over-month.

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The firm also analysed whether the apps mentioned “crypto”, “NFTs”, “AR” (augmented reality), or “VR” (virtual reality) keywords. Crypto was seen the most used phrase along with metaverse—approximately 23 per cent of metaverse apps mentioned the term as well. ‘NFTs’ was the second-most mentioned term in conjunction with metaverse, representing 18 per cent of the cohort studied. AR and VR accounted for 11 percent and 9 percent, respectively.

Around 107 apps in the Game category have added ‘metaverse’ as a keyword, which is around 19 per cent of the apps studied. The second-largest category where the term appeared was Finance, accounting for 101 of the “metaverse” apps. Followed by Social (70 apps), Entertainment (57 apps), Books (37 apps), Lifestyle (33 apps), Tools (26 apps), Business (25 apps), Art and Design (13 apps) and Education (11 apps).