Much criticism has been handed in the way of The Metaverse, including from developers at Meta. In a new interview, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has slammed the concept of the virtual world as a bad video game.
Meta is not alone in the sphere of Metaverse development. In fact, Xbox parent company Microsoft has also invested into the technology, but Xbox is completely detached.
Phil Spencer on The Metaverse
Speaking at The Wall Street Journal Tech Conference, Spencer described the idea of a Metaverse as a “bad video game”. While companies like Meta try to force the public to engage in VR worlds for work, Spencer doesn’t see that working out.
The Xbox head explained that the brilliance of virtual worlds are wasted in creating use cases for VR. After all, who wants to strap on a headset to go to the office?
“Video game creators have the amazing ability to build compelling worlds that we want to go spend time in,” Phil Spencer told the conference. “For me, building a metaverse that looks like a meeting room... I just find that’s not where I want to spend most of my time.”
Spencer’s comments were echoed by other tech executives at the conference. For example, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, a long battler of The Metaverse, doubled down on the Xbox head’s comments.
“The last thing I want to do when I get home from work at the end of a long day is live inside a computer,” he told the conference.
Read More: Meta’s profits plummet 50% amid Metaverse woes
Only Meta wants The Metaverse
Spencer and Spiegel’s comments were even further bolstered by support from Apple and Disney. Both companies’ executives stated that they would never use the term “metaverse”.
Nevertheless, there is some hypocrisy on display. Firstly, Xbox parent company Microsoft is still investing in Metaverse development at some level. Furthermore, Apple’s ongoing mixed-reality research is posed to steal the virtual thunder from underneath Meta.
However, neither of these companies wish to embrace the term Metaverse, only push mixed-reality tech forward. Technologies such as Microsoft HoloLens or Snap Smart Glasses could be part of “The Metaverse”, but are instead individual products.
With the public’s negative perception of the virtual world, it’s clear that many tech giants are already attempting to keep distance from it. Is that for the best?