(Yicai Global) Oct. 29 -- Shares in Chinese video game publishers that have embraced the metaverse trend, including ZQGame and Jinke Culture Industry, surged today after Facebook said it will change its name to Meta as the US social networking service turns to focus on building a ‘metaverse’ of augmented and virtual reality software that will blend with the real world.

ZQGame’s share price [SHE:300052] jumped by the exchange-imposed limit of 20 percent to close at CNY21.46 (USD3.35), Jinke Culture [SHE:300459] leapt 14.84 percent to end the day at CNY4.41 (USD0.70), Kaiser China Culture [SHE:002425] gained 9.95 percent to CNY7.07 and Hangzhou Shunwang Technology [SHE:300113] advanced 8.31 percent to CNY14.08.

The metaverse, a 3D world that players explore as avatars, is becoming a new buzzword among internet firms. California-based Facebook is the most radical among global tech giants about the metaverse concept, Essence Securities said. It is exploring four directions, namely hardware, under-the-hood technologies, artificial intelligence and content.

ZQGame caused a sensation back in September when it said that it was launching a new product with the metaverse concept. In its wine-making game, ZQGame is cooperating with a real winery so that players actually get to taste the wine they make in the virtual world. The Shenzhen-based firm’s shares rocketed 20 percent on the news then fell, even prompting the Shenzhen bourse to ask it to explain its strategy and if it is involved in market manipulation.

The concept of the metaverse was first created by American science fiction writer Neal Stephenson in his 1992 novel Snow Crash, describing a future in which people communicate with each other in the form of virtual avatars in an immersive digital world.

Editor: Kim Taylor