Does meta fail because of the metaverse?

Hardly any company in the world is as dedicated to the implementation of the metaverse as Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Group. The umbrella organization, which includes Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram, even chose its name as a reference to the digital world that Silicon Valley has been dreaming of creating for years. Zuckerberg even forced his management-level employees to read the sci-fi novel Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson. In this book, published in Germany in 1992, the author describes for the first time a digital, all-connecting alternative world, which he called Metaverse.

Mockery and derision for Mark Zuckerberg

However, the real metaverse is still in its infancy. There is still no technology and moreover no reliable and sustainable power source to create an immersive, barrier-free world available to all. We describe the exact hurdles in detail in our whitepaper on Metaverse and therefore exclude them from this article. You can download the complete whitepaper for free via this link.

However, it is not the technical hurdles that are worth mentioning, but that even the great meta corporation could fail because of them. So far, Zuckerberg has pumped billions of US dollars into the project and still has very little to show for it. Apart from promotional videos. Now, however, the CEO of Meta presented a screenshot of his current Metaverse "Horizon Worlds" on Facebook and celebrated the fact that the program is now also available in Spain and France. And earned ridicule and scorn for it.

Especially the graphic quality of the Metaverse touted by Zuckerberg makes many people think of earlier times, when video games learned to walk. For example, one commentator wrote that the image reminded him of the game "Animal Crossing", only in this version you are chased through the game world by Zuckerberg's avatar. Others said that they were afraid of the lifeless image of the meta-boss and that the graphics of "Horizon Worlds" were a joke. And still others complained on Twitter that they had made jokes about Meta's Metaverse on Facebook and were banned from the platform for it.

Playstation 1 would certainly be proud

Soberly considered, there is certainly a lot of frustration among the commentators when they are confronted with a reality that is surpassed by free mobile games in many respects after many full-bodied promises and elaborate videos. For example, the avatars in Horizon Worlds are so far only flying hulls, without legs. The world is empty and consists of a polygon density that last caused cheers on the Playstation 1.

In addition, Meta already started monetizing Horizon Worlds in April, even though the VR game is only available as a beta so far. Players can already create objects in the digital world and sell them for real money - Zuckerberg and his Meta Group earn money with every transaction.

The rules of the Metaverse

This also pisses off many fans of a metaverse. Because Zuckerberg and his Meta Group are violating several of the rules that Tony Parisi established. The developer, who is considered to be the father of 3D technology, described seven cornerstones for a metaverse several years ago.

• There is only one metaverse

• The Metaverse belongs to all
• No one controls the metaverse
• The metaverse is free
• The Metaverse is independent of specific hardware
• The Metaverse is a network
• The metaverse is the Internet

With the self-contained Horizon Worlds, which is currently only available to a very small user group, and a monetization that is already starting today, Zuckerberg's Meta Group gives many people the impression that it is corrupting and betraying the ideals of a metaverse. The ratings for the Meta Group's game are correspondingly poor. Overall, only just over 50 percent of all users rate the VR game positively.

Does meta fail because of the metaverse?

Meta thus faces a major risk. Namely, that of failing with its own vision of a Metaverse. If the company does not succeed and does not attract a large user base to the platform, the vision of the metaverse will probably be in danger for everyone else as well. Then there is the threat of a distribution battle among various offerings that users will have to choose from. And no matter what results from this, by definition it cannot be the Metaverse.

So far, neither Mark Zuckerberg nor his Meta Group have covered themselves with glory. But the metaverse itself remains a big dream. We have already put together a quiz for you today to test their level of knowledge. Are you a true metaverse pro? Find out!