The past two years have given birth to many noteworthy trends in society. People who had no choice but to be locked inside their homes started getting into a lot of stuff. With the rise of cryptocurrency and investing in stock markets and shares, people began consuming many media, many more turning to video games for entertainment, anime, etc. This entire phase is nothing new. It has been quite natural for human beings to seek comfort in things that would distract them from the harshness of the everyday world. Around this time, you might have heard about a buzzword everywhere, from newspapers to your neighbor saying “Metaverse is the next big thing”. Rightly so, it sure is the next big thing, cause Facebook’s (now “Meta”) founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg are clearly onto the idea. Still, the question here is What is the Metaverse, and how can we ascertain to test out its environment for quality in general.
To explain in simple terms, Metaverse is a virtual world. Yes, a virtual world like the ones you had seen in films and might have read in Ernest Cline’s 2011 debut dystopian thriller “Ready Player One.” The word was coined by Neal Stephenson in his sci-fi book “Snow Crash,” but it has gained quite the notoriety over the years and is currently the buzzword associated with our imminent future. Basically, in the Metaverse, you live virtual, alternate lives. You could be an average guy in the real world, but in the Metaverse, you can be anything. In the metaverse, you have jobs and an economy. Giant MNCs, real estate you can buy and sell, basically everything you might have only witnessed in video games and TV shows. You can socialize with other citizens, build states, manufacture countries, endless continents, and make out with others. In short, it’s like real life but in a virtual, alternate world that can be accessed easily using your computer, a VR headset or even your mobile.
Talking about the virtual world, I forgot to mention the currency of the metaverse. In short, that green ten bucks of yours is of no use in the virtual world. Instead, you’ve got decentralized cryptocurrency through which you can buy land, NFTs, etc. Now, what’s a cryptocurrency, you may ask? Well, it’s a virtual currency, secured through cryptography, and there is zero involvement from any central authority in its distribution. Cryptocurrency transactions cannot be reversed. They are recorded on a blockchain, and while you might have heard claims of it being anonymous, nobody is 100% sure of that. In simple terms, it’s just your V-Bucks, but with actual appropriate market value. Many variants exist on the market, including Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Ethereum, etc. It is not only limited to virtual land; instead, through cryptocurrency, you can also buy most of the items and essentials. A lot of companies have started accepting cryptocurrency as a source of payment. The virtual land will be registered under your name, wherein you can set up your house, camp, trailer, etc. Cryptocurrency can also be used to buy NFTs. NFTs are Non-Fungible Tokens; they are basically like cryptocurrency, but unlike them, they can’t be traded/exchanged, and the buyer gets his name minted on them. They are like the trophy you cannot hold in your palms but display. NFTs currently are advertised as the future, since it’s an alternate mix between future technology and banking. NFTs have a lot of value, and we have witnessed them getting sold in millions. Use of fungible and nonfungible items in the games industry is a different and more technical topic of discussion and we’ll talk on that in one of my upcoming articles.
The Metaverse is nothing new; many concepts can be seen in games, indie projects, etc. It has gotten serious attention since it is marketed by current tech giants as the next big thing in the ever-forward moving technological world. It is described as the successor to the internet as a whole. While the claims are pretty bold and only time will tell us if they were right or not, today I want to talk about testing the Metaverse games and apps for quality. There have been many apps and games on the market claiming to be Metaverse ready, and in a sense, Metaverse is no different than the virtual worlds that have existed for so many years in video games. QA is always essential, and it ensures that shovelware doesn’t end up on the market. It is more important for a developing space like Metaverse that quality checks are in place so that buggy and malfunctioning software does not ruin this promising space.
Metaverse Quality Testing can be divided broadly into UX testing, functionality testing, performance testing and immersive testing. Most of these testing types in Metaverse will work in similar terms with traditional video game testing. Developers must focus on multiple tests of their games and apps, stressing audio and video testing, performance aspects to deal with the heavy load of concurrently involved end-users, bugs fixes, security checks, hardware requirements, etc. Metaverse apps need to go through rigorous tests. It should be noted that the app can perform as proposed in extreme conditions. These include running the app in a virtual private simulation and testing out the features, running rigid audiovisual tests, and checking on the system’s overall security. Is the virtual world or scene running well? What tweaks can be implemented to make the virtual world/metaverse appear better? Such questions can be tackled and answered by professional testing.
In immersive testing, Metaverse games and apps are scattered across PC, mobile, AR, and VR technologies so that skilled professionals can test them only through physical platforms and solutions. It shouldn’t be too over the top nor too shallow. Although the latest technologies are reducing motion sickness in VR, special care should be taken for users of this platform to avoid headaches and dizziness in the Metaverse. Immersive testers can only estimate the ideal amount through multiple tests. You need suitable equipment and a professional team to carry out these tests. That’s where the experience of testing virtual worlds, social life simulation games, MMO, and game validation plays an important role. A professional service provider like GameCloud Technologies Private Ltd can ensure that your metaverse experience is away from any issues and unwanted effects when launched publicly. Let’s meet to discuss this during some event in the virtual world, if not in the real one!
