Unveiling the strategic opportunity map for the metaverse technological development process

The metaverse is emerging as a key driver of digital transformation, offering companies unprecedented opportunities to reshape business practices and customer interactions. Contemporary corporate investments - from tech giants to global brands - demonstrate their rapid adoption across industries. Despite growing interest, the metaverse research field remains fragmented, with limited clarity of its development, business implications and strategic potential. This study addresses this gap by providing an integrated analysis of the current metaverse landscape, combining a systematic literature review with bibliometric and science mapping analysis. We identify the main characteristics of metaverse research and highlight the thematic areas explored by scholars and their temporal evolution. In this study, we identify and discuss the emerging dimensions of the Metaverse - namely, industries, technologies and sustainability - providing a comprehensive framework to understand its current development and strategic business potential. Therefore, by applying Rogers' innovation diffusion theory and the metaverse technology development process, this study proposes a strategic opportunity map for the technological development process of the metaverse. By doing so, the study offers both theoretical and managerial insights and sets a foundation for future research and practice in the evolving metaverse ecosystem.