AMD’s Omar Fakhri

what the Metaverse is and how it’s creating better connections. In the words of Niantic’s John Hanke, “Let’s build a better reality.”

Venture Capitalist and Essayist, Matthew Ball’s defines the Metaverse as “an expansive network of persistent, real-time rendered 3D worlds and simulations that support continuity of identity, objects, data, and entitlements, and can be experienced synchronously by an effectively unlimited number of users, each with an individual sense of presence.”

In an interview with GameMakers, Tim Sweeney, CEO and Co-Founder of Epic Games notes, “the Metaverse is going to be some sort of real time 3D social medium where instead of sending messages and pictures to each other asynchronously, you’re together with them and in a virtual world and interacting and having fun experiences which might span anything from purely games to purely social experiences. The other critical element of the Metaverse is it’s not just built by one mega corporation, right? It’s gonna be the work, the creative work of millions of people who can each add their own elements to it through content creation and programming and design. And the other way of adding value.”

During the Epic vs. Apple case this year Epic stated that “Fortnite is not a game, it’s a metaverse.” Epic also secured $1 billion in funding to support their vision and growth of the metaverse.

According to Strategy & Analytics Inc, the Metaverse Market is anticipated to grow 509% from $46 billion in 2020 to $280 billion by 2025 resulting in more connections mixing and merging worlds. More than Child’s Play While some might think that Fortnite is child’s play, over 60% of the Fortnite community is ages 18-24, those currently in the workforce or getting started.

So it’s no surprise that gaming and play are informing new business models and creating more meaningful, connected consumer experiences and shaping the future of work.

There have been several virtual event and collaboration platforms that have rolled out, every platform has its own flavour and feature. Some are VR only, some are events only, some have a retrogaming look and feel and most replicate the formica tables and water coolers like a traditional office suite.

HeadOffice.Space, is breaking boundaries beyond the break room (and water cooler) by providing the ability for remote teams to have a space for connection with virtual headquarters, collaborative community clubhouses, virtual events, concerts, summits, gamified gatherings and virtual classrooms in “Moon Valley.”

Unlike other platforms, HeadOffice is a persistent 3D world with a continuous existence and evolution, built on the Unreal Engine, the real-time 3D creation tool that powers Fortnite, in a space-like

setting on “Moon Valley.” Companies can scale from a single room or build an entire campus or planet and host as many people as they like. HeadOffice.Space is interoperable so people can join from PC, Mac, VR, mobile with accessibility to almost every web platform possible. Participants are astronaut avatars with the ability to create their own custom avatars through HeadOffice.Space’s partnership with Ready Player Me as a premium “With the rise in feature. remote work, companies are HeadOffice.Space ensures industry looking for new ways to collaborate, leading privacy and security, so advanced, a publicly traded cyber and create a better-connected culture; security company is transitioning we continue to see significant growth in their entire workforce to the remote events, collaboration platforms and the Metaverse. The joy that people feel playing a new HeadOffice.Space metaverse. With flexible plans, HeadOffice.Space provides affordable and accessible game, downloading the latest skin or watching experiences to individuals, startups the latest virtual event is now possible not only in Fortnite, but also Roblox, Pokemon Go, Animal and innovative global brands. Companies are now empowered to embrace remote work in a way

Crossing but also for the next generation of that builds a sense of belonging, innovators with moonshot moments and access to connections, community and fosters a culture of connection, community, creativity, and productivity while saving money on physical offices. tools to accelerate innovation for According to the 2021 State of tomorrow.” Remote Work by Buffer, current challenges with remote work include communication/ collaboration (17%), loneliness (19%) and staying motivated (12%). 73% of teams will have remote workers by 2028 (Upwork). Remote work would save businesses over $700 billion a year in real estate, electricity, absenteeism, and turnover and productivity (Global Workplace Analytics). “People have been collaborating remotely in games like The Sims and Second Life for almost 20 years and most recently with Fortnite and Roblox among others. Remote collaboration has enabled strangers from different parts of the world to fight wars, build cities and accomplish incredible quests working together, forming friendships, teams, “clans” and entire communities ever since,” said Marco Carvalho, CEO of HeadOffice.Space. “We noticed that not only do people communicate better in these environments but they are able to stay for longer periods of time without feeling fatigued, they make more friends and develop a deeper sense of belonging and community compared to standard video conferencing platforms. We took these incredible tools and “workified” them, making them persistent, secure, and integrated with the most important business and communication tools, for the optimal headquarters. Making Moonshots According to a recent report by EY Ripples and JA Worldwide Gen Z, participants born between 1997 and 2007, 53% hope to run their own business within the next ten years. That proportion increases to 65% for those who have already entered the workforce. The Co-Founders of HeadOffice.Space are currently inviting

startups in select accelerators and incubators to apply to the “Moonshot Lab” program. The goal of the program is to ignite and inspire the innovators of the near future.

Participants receive a secured, virtual office space on “Moon Valley,” along with weekly mentorship sessions and exclusive perks and invites to “Future Forward,” currently an invite-only futurefocused virtual clubhouse with interviews, performances and mentorship sessions. Select sessions are due to stream on Twitch and the Discord community.

With the rise in remote work, companies are looking for new ways to collaborate, and create a better-connected culture; we continue to see significant growth in remote events, collaboration platforms and the Metaverse. The joy that people feel playing a new game, downloading the latest skin or watching the latest virtual event is now possible not only in Fortnite, but also Roblox, Pokemon Go, Animal Crossing but also for the next generation of innovators with moonshot moments and access to connections, community and tools to accelerate innovation for tomorrow.

HeadOffice.Space is currently inviting select companies to participate in their ”Moonshot Lab,” program. Visit https://www.headoffice.space/ to find out more.

“The Co-Founders of HeadOffice.Space are currently inviting startups in select accelerators and incubators to apply to the “Moonshot Lab” program. The goal of the program is to ignite and inspire the innovators of the near future.”

Out of the BOX

Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, BOX is a leading UK e-tailer of tech products. Michelle Winny, PCR’s Editor spoke with Mike Hart, Marketing and Content Manager at BOX to find out more about living life out of BOX.

Tech specialist BOX recently celebrated its 25th anniversary. The company sells an extensive range of technology and computing products, including laptops, desktop PCs, phones and tablets, components, monitors and printers. The business was founded by Mark Jordan in 1996 and today it is a leading UK technology e-commerce business, employing over 100 people. Here’s what Mike Hart, Marketing and Content Manager had to say.

Can you tell us a bit more about the background of BOX and what the company has achieved over its past 25 years in business and how it has evolved?

Over the course of 25 years BOX has grown significantly to become one of the UK’s leading online retailers of tech goods, stocking thousands of products from 4K TVs, laptops, fridge freezers, washing machines, 3D printers to projectors and custombuilt PCs.

Originally, the company was formed as XENEX in 1996 from a room in student accommodation by current MD Mark Jordan, specialising in computers, parts and software.

In 2005 Box launched its 1st online website simplyacer.com, a year later the company achieved a turnover of 15m, while in 2010 Box received recognition from Virgin’s Fast Track 100 awards, coming in at number 48 for Revenue Growth.

Between 2011 and 2016 Box launched numerous specialist websites, moving away from the XENEX brand. During this time the company’s turnover reached £30m.

In 2018 Box.co.uk was launched and all of our specialist websites were closed and redirected. A decision was made to consolidate our efforts and expertise into one brand that we could build to become a household name among tech. A rebrand would follow, shaping Box.co.uk’s iconic identity with a bold mix of black, white and icon inspired additional imagery. This rebrand coincided with a website refresh, ensuring continuity between branding and user experience.

The rebrand led into 2019 and proved a very successful year, with Revenue up 9% year on year. 2020 through to 2021 was a period like no other, with unimaginable obstacles and difficulties. Despite this, Box’s growth skyrocketed, increasing turnover to 100m and growing the workforce to over 130 employees.

Can you explain a bit more about the company’s ecommerce strategy and how this has revolutionised the traditional high street store?

Our success has come through employing passionate industry experts to build on our existing ranges and to develop new

categories into our portfolio, while being supported by our vast infrastructure and logistics to provide products consumers want with a service that’s second to none.

On top of ensuring our range meets the needs and demands of savvy consumers, our commitment to competitive pricing and flexible payment offerings have helped sustain our tremendous growth.

Our agility afforded to us by virtue of being online only, allows us greater flexibility when compared with traditional bricks and mortar stores. Providing us with opportunities to quickly launch new ranges in minutes and adapt prices in-line with the market in order to stay competitive.

Box.co.uk has an exciting future ahead, with focus to pursue new and existing categories to grown even further, all while building brand awareness through innovative campaigns like the Box Hunt.

What are your gaming customers currently looking for in regards to the latest trends and hottest tech? How have gaming laptops evolved to meet the demands of gamers?

Smarter batteries have allowed for greater battery life away from charge, faster SSDs have provided accelerated load times, while advancements in cooling have enabled gaming laptop manufacturers to deliver high-end PC comparable components within their laptops for exceptional gaming on the go.

What are the latest advances in gaming peripherals?

We’ve seen lots of advancements in the console & PC Gaming peripheral space in the last 6 to 12 months. While all the hype around has surrounded the next gen consoles & latest GPU’s, peripherals supporting these new gaming experiences have come thick and fast, from flight and racing simulation accessories to compatible headsets and controllers.

Gaming customers are some of the most knowledgeable customers in the market. They’re well researched in terms of what products they want and know exactly how much the items cost and where to find the best deals.

We saw a significant uplift in gaming PCs, consoles and gaming peripherals over the course of 2020 with many looking to beat the lockdown boredom. The Nintendo Switch was immensely popular and we’re sure the new OLED model will be just as popular over Black Friday and Christmas with its release scheduled for early October.

The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X continue to be in constraint, with demand far outweighing supply.

Where do you see the future of gaming headed, what can we expect to see more of?

The Future of gaming very much lies within Virtual & Augmented reality just how near in the future this will be is the unknown. These technologies take gaming from the physically controlled worlds to a partially or virtually controlled immersive environment. Cloud gaming & 5G are another two key elements to the future of gaming, with the likes of Netflix potentially entering the gaming space. Keep your eyes peeled for further advancements in the simulation, VR & AR space.

Which is the best RTX 3080 gaming laptop?

How has the gaming landscape evolved over the past 25 years in the company’s experience?

The developments in this area never fail to amaze us. Hardware continues to be refreshed and upgraded in a traditional manner, but the advancement in online capabilities within consoles has allowed hours of extra gameplay with friends, DLC content to be delivered and the popularity of micro-transactions have really proved the biggest changes within the last 25 years, changing how content is delivered and consumed significantly.

What is the current state of the gaming industry?

The gaming industry is still immensely strong and looks set to continue that way for a long time to come. The demand seen for the Nintendo Switch over lockdown, plus the incredibly popular launches of both the PS5 and Xbox Series X with both consoles still extremely difficult to obtain nearly a year after release. Not to mention the huge demand seen for recent graphics card releases from NVIDIA and AMD further proving how popular the gaming industry still is with the UK public.

There are many great options available when it comes to RTX 3080 gaming laptops, however two of our most popular models with our customers have been the ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 inch and the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 inch.

What advances in gaming components are you seeing?

Gaming components continue to be refined and improved, but some of the biggest developments recently have been the release of lite hash rate graphics cards that can deliver the same exceptional gameplay without the mining capabilities, thus making them easier to obtain and less expensive for gamers. We’re also incredibly excited by future component releases that include DDR5 RAM expected to be available in 2022, as well as Intel’s upcoming graphics card range set to rival both AMD and NVIDIA.