The future of the Metaverse is in trouble, at least according to data analysts. Following the stumbles of Facebook parent company Meta, analytics company Canalyst believes most Metaverse businesses will close in a few years.
On one side, the concept of the Metaverse will live on as a niche social platform. On the other hand, it won’t be the huge technological advancement investors are hoping it’ll be.
Will Metaverse Businesses survive?
Facebook parent company Meta has been at the forefront of Metaverse development for the past two years. Backed by ex-Oculus VR studio Reality Labs, the controversial virtual world has lost tens of billions of dollars.
On the other hand, Meta is not the only company aiming to create “The Metaverse”. Alongside crypto-backed “Metaverses” such as Sandbox and Decentraland, the creator of the Metaverse, Neil Stephenson, has started development of his own immersive virtual world.
Furthermore, police and militaries are even looking to the virtual world. For example, Interpol has recently founded its own version; the American military has also invested heavily in its virtual world.
However, it’s the Metaverse businesses that are expected to take the brunt of the fallout from the public’s disinterest. Via The Register, Canalyst claims that the ongoing cost of living crisis and worldwide inflation will be the Metaverse’s downfall.
Chief Analyst Matthew Ball claimed that the virtual world will suffer in the business sector. Without disposable income, the majority of the world will not be tempted to purchase the virtual assets needed to support a Metaverse.
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There’s hope in one sector…
Despite overwhelmingly negative beliefs of the future of Metaverse businesses, Ball explained that it’s not all going to fail. In fact, the analyst claimed that it will survive in one key area: “adult entertainment”.
Similar to all technology, pornography may be the saving grace of Metaverse projects. As said in the hit 2010 movie Tropic Thunder: what it comes down to is a combination of gamers and porn. Even then, Ball isn’t convinced it’ll be the next-big-thing.
"I'm led to believe there's a target audience for adult entertainment, perhaps,” the data analyst said.
While social platforms like VR Chat worlds are popular, they’re only popular due their gaming nature. Without gaming, or “explicit content”, is there any success for The Metaverse?