The metaverse, shared virtual worlds accessed using virtual and augmented reality devices, does not stop adding followers. Facebook was the first to put the spotlight on this new technology, closely followed by Microsoft. Chinese tech giants are the latest to be seduced by an industry that could be worth $ 800 billion by 2024 , according to Bloomberg Intelligence.
The video game giant, Tencent, would join this trend with the possible launch of a new video game studio based on the metaverse , according to the South China Morning Post . For its part, the optimism of the owner of TikTok, ByteDance, regarding this technology would have motivated the acquisition of the RV company Pico Interactive.
Meanwhile, Alibaba, the e-commerce giant, has registered several trademarks related to this technology , such as “Ali Metaverse”, according to information obtained by technological means from the Asian country.
Facebook advances in its commitment to the metaverse
The social network made public its interest in the metaverse this summer, during its presentation of results. At that time, Marck Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, assured that the future of the company is to stop being a social network to specialize in virtual worlds .
Since then, Facebook has advanced in its commitment to this technology, in which it plans to invest 50 million dollars to build the virtual space , which may not be fully developed for 10 or 15 years. Recently, Facebook announced that the development of the metaverse will generate 10,000 “highly skilled” jobs across the European Union over the next five years.
This week it became known that Facebook is about to change its name , according to The Verge. The new name is a secret and will remain so, at least in theory, until next October 28, coinciding with the Facebook Connect conference. However, it is rumored that it could come to light sooner as part of its renewal strategy in the face of the latest leaks.
