The year when technology was in vogue and Fundeu chose ‘artificial intelligence’ as the key concept for 2022 left doubts in the metaverse. The massive defeat of Meta, which has lost billions of euros this year and announced that more than 11,000 workers will be laid off; and the failure of initiatives such as the virtual reality platform launched by the European Union, as well as alleged low activity on some of the most important servers such as Sandbox and Decentraland, suggest that JP Morgan could be a turning point for the market. He had predicted it would rise in value in February. 1 trillion euros.
Disney, Burberry, Louis Vouitton, Nike, Microsoft, Gucci… As brands take the leap to seize this business opportunity, consumer interest seems to have faded a bit in the past, not just increasing at the same time. an IDC study at the end of the year Worldwide virtual reality glasses sales fell 12.8% Regarding 2021.
“At first we played trumpet with the metaverse, but now I get the feeling we’re all a little cold towards everything about it. And I say more: It will be necessary to see how many of those who have glasses are using them. Antonio Ortiz, creator and analyst of Error500, explains regularly to EL PERIÓDICO DE ESPAÑA from the Prensa Ibérica group.
The technologist describes what has been seen this year as “disappointing”: the “childish” nature of the universe created by him. Aim even your own virtual reality glassescontinues to evolve, but still far from providing a completely satisfying experience.
“It’s been a bad year, but we couldn’t expect anything else. Technologically, we’re still a long way from doing anything really attractive, because what succeeds is, roblox Y Fortnite, two video games with toy graphics quality and no immersion required. “Meta decided to launch without getting everything hooked up, and it results in a silly, obtuse and fearful experience that leaves you cold and not hooked.”
Still others They want time from within the industry for an environment that continues to develop both the necessary technology and the appropriate business model.
“I don’t think the Metaverse has failed this year, there are a lot of people who want to say that. Actually what we’re seeing in 2022 is a great process because it’s clearing the market of those trying to catch it. It’s a fast fish. Now they’re coming out for the legs and we’re doing it as usual”, he said. snaps Edgar Martín-Blas, founder of Virtual Voyagers, a company that develops metadata repositories for Meta.
The problem, he says, is simply looking at what Mark Zuckerberg’s company is doing, because there are “metadata repositories that do so well what was science fiction only two years ago.” However, looking at this year’s figures, it is impossible not to do this.
Meta is a stumbling billionaire in 2022
Meta, the former Facebook, has been the company that has invested the most in the metaverse (20% of their investment went to the division of the company that developed it), and since the name was changed to the metaverse last year, the results have been disastrous.
In July, the company recorded its first ever revenue decline (4%) and a 52% decrease in net income compared to the same quarter of the previous year. A failure that continued beyond the summer, between January and September the company lost €9,000 million. By the end of 2022, its shares had lost 65% of its value compared to 2021, and thousands of layoffs and restructuring announcements were made within the company.
But all this did not deter Meta, who admitted in May 2022, when the downturn began, that they would continue to bet on virtual reality in 2023, and that this “betting on the future” would certainly pay off. they will continue to lose money for at least the next five years.
“They said it was a ten-year investment, but they had a bad year and the rush to drop them has already been released. Everything posted about the meta-universe has become polarized because, like so many things that are rising so fast. Martín, one of the leading experts in the industry in Spain “They had no support behind them, plus a lot of short-term hatred for everything Meta related,” Blas tells EL PERIÓDICO DE.
Failed in AB metaverse as well
Horizon Worlds, the Meta project for different parts of the metastore, isn’t the only thing that didn’t get the expected result. According to DCL, servers like Decentraland, which is now one of the most important in the world, have barely had 6,925 unique users in the last 30 days.
Moreover, private enterprise is not the only one that failed in the past 2022. At the end of the year, the European Union presented the Global Gateway, a shared virtual reality space where any citizen can join.
After nearly 400,000 euros were spent on the project, only six people attended the presentation, which took place in mid-October, including members of the press, who noted the unnatural movements of the avatars and the appeal of the experience.