Disney Is Creating a Metaverse (and the Seoul Government Is too)

I'm not kidding. After Epic, Microsoft and Roblox made the jump, and after Facebook straight up took metaverse as its name, Disney is now about to get meta. Funny how a couple of weeks ago, no one even really knew what a metaverse is, and now everyone is all about it. Seriously, even the Seoul government is planning to go all metaverse by 2026, which probably just means 'hey, let's meet virtually rather than in person', that plus I like to imagine the government folks using avatars, but... back to Disney:

Disney Is Joining the Metaverse

Actually, I shouldn't say they are joining the Metaverse, because there isn't the one Metaverse (yet). But, before I give you my meta-take on it, let's hear from the CEO Bob Chapek first:

[We have a ] long track record as an early adopter in the use of technology to enhance the entertainment experience. Suffice it to say, our efforts today are merely a prologue to a time when we'll be able to connect the physical and digital worlds even more closely, allowing for storytelling without boundaries in our own Disney metaverse. We look forward to creating unparalelled opportunities for consumers to experience everything Disney has to offer across our product and platforms wherever the consumer may be.As we look ahead to this next frontier, given our unique combination of brands, franchises, physical and digital experiences, and global reach, we see limitless potential, and that makes us as excited as ever about the Walt Disney Company's next 100 years.

I yawned. Did you yawn? Anyway, the metaverse trend is kind of reminiscent of when everybody jumped on every trend ever, except that this time it makes a lot of sense: I think no one would argue that the future of humanity lies within virtual reality, and at this point it's an arms race to who can build the coziest house. Fortnite and Epic Games is coming at it from a gaming angle, Facebook is taking the social route, while Disney is throwing its money and properties like Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, 20th Century and more into the ring.

Of course, defining what a metaverse really is, is hard to do at this point, nor do we know if it will be a shared space or if each of us will sign on to various metaverses like subscription services. Likely, the latter will be the case, and platforms like Facebook, Netflix, or any multiplayer game will turn into virtual-reality-hubs that bring people together for all kinds of activities, with each provider focusing more on the gaming, the movies, or the chatting. It's all guesswork at this point, but Disney joining the trend shows that this future is more or less now.