Vitalik Buterin decries Meta’s metaverse, “Everything Facebook creates now will fail”!

The "metaverse" is going to happen but I don't think any of the existing corporate attempts to intentionally create the metaverse are going anywhere. https://t.co/tVUfq4CWmP

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) July 30, 2022

The creator of Ethereum shared his take on where the nascent space might be headed on Twitter on Sunday, saying he thinks companies trying to create the metaverse are unlikely to succeed. While he admitted that he thinks the metaverse “will happen“, he added that he does not think that “none of the current corporate attempts to intentionally create the Metaverse will go anywhere.“

Without a doubt, the most prominent company to show interest in the metaverse to date has been Meta, the parent company of Facebook, which changed its name as part of a shift to embrace the metaverse late last year. Buterin cited Meta in his critique of companies entering the space. “Everything Facebook creates now will fail” he wrote in response to a tweet, saying that metaverse-focused businesses would likely fail because “it’s far too early to know what people really want“.

Vitalik Buterin has become known for his outspokenness as his public profile has grown with Ethereum over the years, though he often uses his Twitter account and blog to discuss Ethereum’s technology and the impact that decentralization could have on the world. While he has commented extensively on NFTs in the past, indicating that he was surprised by the 2021 boom and subtly attacking the speculative aspect of the market, he has rarely spoken about the metaverse.

The Next Generation Internet

Although still a vague concept, the metaverse is widely used to refer to a next-generation Internet in which users will be able to work, play, and connect with others in immersive virtual worlds. It is believed that the metaverse will incorporate elements of augmented reality, virtual reality and blockchain technology. Blockbuster MMPORG games such as Fortnite and Runescape have been described as early examples of metaverse worlds, but in recent years, crypto titles such as Decentraland and The Sandbox have successfully adopted the metaverse space. Both of these games allow players to own parcels of digital land and explore virtual worlds. They also incorporate their own tokens, which crypto-currency enthusiasts believe will be key to the metaverse in the future. NFTs are also frequently discussed in tandem with this space, as they can be used to represent online characters, virtual land or other objects in the game, giving players true ownership of their assets.

Several major companies announced they would be entering the metaverse as the crypto-currency boom peaked in 2021, with companies like Adidas and Coca-Cola acquiring digital land. The metaverse craze peaked when Zuckerberg announced Meta, and the company has indicated it is ready to ramp up efforts in the space several times since, including sharing plans to support NFTs on Facebook and Instagram. Zuckerberg said the company’s metaverse arm, Reality Labs, would pump $10 billion into the space after the announcement, and it went on to announce an 11-figure loss in 2021. This year didn’t go much better, with Meta revealing its first revenue decline and a $2.8 billion loss for Reality Labs in its second quarter earnings call on Wednesday. In other words, based on the numbers, the company still has a long way to go to prove Vitalik Buterin wrong.