What Is The 'Metaverse'? CEO Of Boston-Based Gaming Company Laying Groundwork For Immersive Digital World

BOSTON (CBS) -- If you haven't heard about it yet, you will. The metaverse. Experts say it's a major shift in the way the tech world wants us to think about the internet.

Jon Radoff, the CEO of the gaming creation platform company called "Beamable," says the movement to a more immersive digital world has been happening for some time.

"Today now, we have several generations of people who have grown up with the internet with their digital identity online," Radoff said. "Millions of people are beginning to find that their online identity is more important than their physical identity."

Radoff is among those laying the groundwork for the metaverse. He says it all begins with video games.

"Players are going to be creating content. They'll be crafting experiences. They'll be dungeon masters leading adventures."

Many of us grew up battling 8-bit beats and collecting coins on games like "Super Mario Brothers" and "The Legend of Zelda." But now, blockchain-based games like "Axie Infinity" could allow players to get a real pay day.

"It's kind of like Pokemon," says Radoff. "Where you buy a character and you can make your characters more powerful, breeding your characters. And they can make money by participating in the economy of that game."

You can also buy land next to rapper Snoop Dogg in the "Sandbox Game" in the metaverse. It looks a lot like his own home in California.

"You'll be adding art to the game," Radoff adds. "You'll be a crafter to the game. You'll make worlds. You'll make fashions."

And those fashions could be digital assets called NFTs or Non-Fungible Tokens.

"The economy is left to the players to trade with each other and retain them if they want or sell them to another player who values it more."

Jon believes the metaverse will also open up the global economy.

"It's going to allow people all over the world to access markets that they don't have access to right now and find new ways to earn money."

And he expects most of the metaverse to be decentralized, meaning banks are out and financial equality is in.

"You don't have to be blessed by a gatekeeper anymore."