There was a time before ChatGPT in which the world of technology was talking about something completely different.
Remember the metaverse? For a time it dominated tech news. A virtual reality world that would be so immersive, so attractive, that we would want to spend part of our lives in it.
Mark Zuckerberg drove this narrative. The tech billionaire was so committed that in October 2021 he changed the name of Facebook a Meta.
“The defining quality of the metaverse will be a sense of presence,” the Meta boss said when announcing the change.
“Feeling truly present with another person is the ultimate dream of social technology. That is why we are focused on building this,” Zuckerberg said then.
“In the metaverse you can do almost anything you can imagine,” he added. No one could accuse him of lacking ambition. But almost two years later, Zuckerberg’s vision of the metaverse is in trouble. In April he was forced to deny that he is now scrapping the idea.
“A narrative has developed that we are somehow moving away from focusing on the metaverse,” he told investors. “So I just want to say clearly that that doesn’t fit reality.”
A virtual reality that is not profitable
This Wednesday, the company is holding its annual virtual reality event called Meta Connect.
Perhaps it’s an opportunity for Zuckerberg to explain again his reasoning for taking an extremely profitable social media company and diverting his attention to an extremely unprofitable virtual reality company.
How unprofitable? Well, the most recent figures from Meta are tear-jerking.
Reality Labswhich as its name suggests is the virtual and augmented reality arm of Meta, has lost a staggering $21 billion since last year.
Part of the losses reflect long-term investments.
Meta did not expect short-term returns, but what is worrying for the company is that, so far, There is very little evidence that this huge move works..
Horizon Worldsa game published by Meta, is the closest the company has come to creating a metaverse.
Users can access different environments (cafes, comedy clubs, nightclubs, basketball courts) to hang out and play games.
Meta claims that it has 300,000 monthly users, a small number compared to the billions of people on Facebook and Instagram.
And at certain times far fewer people actually play the game.
Users complain about empty worlds and say there simply aren’t enough people to make it fun. Or, if there are people, they are usually children.
But the biggest criticism is that it looks a bit poor, similar to the graphics of the 2006 Nintendo Wii rather than the luxurious virtual reality experience that Zuckerberg promised.
Quest Helmets
As for Meta’s virtual reality headsets, it’s hard to see how current technology comes close to the vision the company’s boss has articulated.
Meta has sold more than 20 million units, according to an article in Verge from the beginning of this year. That’s not bad, and quest 2 helmets They received positive reviews.
But in numbers, there are many video game consoles that have fared better. Sony claims that its PlayStation 5 It has sold 40 million units, for example.
And remember that Zuckerberg doesn’t compare success to a video game console: he wants to revolutionize the way we all live, work and, as he would say, “connect.”
To put it bluntly, virtual reality is still marginal. It’s not the way most people play and it’s definitely not the way most people choose to spend their time. Real life is stubbornly attractive.
In July, on a call with investors, someone asked Zuckerberg why he spent all that money. “Help us understand,” they asked.
Zuckerberg said he understood the frustration, admitting: “I can’t guarantee you that I’m going to be right on this bet. I think this is the direction the world is going.”
And so, this Wednesday we will hear from Zuckerberg as he tries to breathe life into a concept that desperately needs oxygen.
We’ll probably hear a lot more about Meta’s new helmets, the Quest 3and how Horizon Worlds is moving to mobile and desktop devices (so you don’t have to wear headphones to play).
We’ll also hear a variety of new artificial intelligence announcements.
We will also no doubt hear again that the metaverse is a long-term project, that we have not yet seen the real metaverse.
Surely Zuckerberg still believes in it, as he expresses it through Meta’s checkbook. In July he said that Reality Labs is expected to post even bigger losses next year.
The metaverse, then, is still very much alive in Meta, but most of the rest of the tech world seems to have turned the page.
