Tim Sweeney, the billionaire and CEO of Epic Games, recently tweeted that the metaverse isn’t dead, contrary to what some reports have indicated. Furthermore, he humorously invited 600 million monthly users of popular virtual world video games to an “online wake” for the platform. This post has recently garnered attention online with over 2,600 likes and over 400,000 views.
Epic Games is a testament to Sweeney’s belief in the metaverse, having raised two billion dollars from Sony and investment firm KIRKBI, the holding company behind the LEGOGroup, to “advance the company’s vision to build the metaverse” in April of last year. He was supported in this view by Sandbox CEO Sebastien Borget, who called on the players of virtual world games to share a picture of themselves in the “so called ‘dead Metaverse'”.
On the other hand, Bill Gates has been more tepid in his outlook on the Web3 and the metaverse, yet he still thinks AI will be “revolutionary”. Mark Zuckerberg has been a stalwart supporter of the metaverse, recently reminding investors at a company call that “we’re not moving away from focusing on the metaverse vision.” To prove further its staying power, a study commission by Meta showed that the metaverse could contribute 2.4% to America’s annual GDP by 2035.
Sweeney’s tweet is not only reflective of his personal views on the metaverse, but a wider battle going on within the industry. This battle will ultimately decide the future of the platform, as well as the virtual worlds sustained by it. Until then, it will remain to be seen if the metaverse is truly alive and well or already dead. Either way, according to digital experts, its potential to revolutionize the way we connect and interact with one another cannot be overlooked.
