In this video, I will be talking about the metaverse, what it is, what it could mean for the future, and how it will evolve. You can find the video below.
What is the metaverse?
The definition of the metaverse is very vague but I discuss seven core attributes in the video. Some companies are already building out the metaverse. Epic Games' Fortnite, Microsoft's Minecraft, Facebook's Horizon, and many more are contributions. Tim Sweeney, Epic Games CEO, has said many times that the company is working toward creating its side of the metaverse. A mix between what is real and what is virtual. A place where people can come and create, work, and spend time together.
One of the crucial points of the metaverse is for it to be an open economy and not controlled by one company. Today, many companies purposefully create products and services that aren't compatible with any of their competitors' products. For example, today you won't see a DC character in a Marvel movie. You aren't able to play a Nintendo game on an Xbox or Playstation. That will need to change in the metaverse. Fortnite is again a great example here. The metaverse will be a place where all IPs are able to live together.
Zuckerberg's metaverse
More recently Mark Zuckerberg laid out his vision to transform Facebook from a social media network into a "metaverse company" in the next five years. He believes the metaverse will be the successor to the mobile internet, and creating this product group is the next step in Facebook's journey. He describes it as "an embodied internet where instead of just viewing content -- you are in it." Facebook has invested heavily in virtual reality, spending $2 billion on acquiring Oculus, which develops its VR products and continues spending billions each year in R&D.
You can find the full insights in the video below.
*Stock prices used were the closing prices of July 26, 2021. The video was published on July 27, 2021.
