When Mark Zuckerberg announced the metaverse in 2021, there was a huge amount of hype around the concept. The founder and CEO of Meta himself had grand plans for it and initially stated that he believed one billion people would be using it by 2030.
In the years since the announcement, however, talk of this virtual reality world has died down, and it seems now that Meta is pivoting away from its original idea. The metaverse may still happen, but it could be further in the future than originally anticipated.
Meta Seems to Have Pivoted Away from the Metaverse
Meta has invested heavily in Reality Labs in the last few years, as it believes that immersive virtual worlds are the future of social interaction. VR has long been predicted as a disruptive technology and one that could be set to take the world by storm at some point, but artificial intelligence has stolen the limelight since its adoption rapidly accelerated in 2023.
Meta has shifted towards AI and practical creator technologies, and a lot of this has been to do with commercial pressure. With many of its main rivals also putting increased resources into AI development, Meta has had to do the same. Metaverse development requires long timelines and expensive hardware adoption, which is something that’s often difficult to justify to shareholders who want near-term returns.
When the metaverse was first conceived, there may have been plans to go all-in on the project. But because of developments in other technology, it may now be a case of building it gradually. Immersive elements will most likely seep into everyday use, rather than appear all at once. The metaverse could still be on the horizon, but it may be much longer until it becomes fully realised.
Current Entertainment Industry May Be Too Strong to Disrupt
Another problem for an idea as drastically innovative as the metaverse is that the current entertainment industry is incredibly strong as it is. People often don’t want change if the things that they can currently get are sufficient.
Major providers like Netflix are doing everything they can to keep people interested in the existing model, by constantly adding new ways to enjoy their platforms. The original streaming service has added games to its offerings, along with various live events that have generated a lot of hype. For instance, Skyscraper Live was the latest event, with millions of people watching Alex Honnold climb Taipei 101 in real time.
The same can be seen in the online casino industry, where new inventions are regularly added to keep interest high. The casino online UK market is now packed full of slots with new features, and even includes multiplayer games now such as 4 Cash Planes. Players are familiar with the format, and can easily find the games they want to play.
If the metaverse were to come along and shake everything up, there would be a new learning curve for people. They would need to master new ways to find the content they want to watch or play, which could lead to frustration.
The metaverse could still be on the way, but its introduction may be different to what was originally planned. It makes more sense for elements of the metaverse to be introduced steadily over time, rather than in one fell swoop. That’s the approach that Meta seems to be taking now.