The Metaverse is coming along just fine. Roblox, Fortnite, VRchat, and Second Life all work. None are ad-supported. It's not compatible with Facebook's business model.
There's no real role for "brands" in the metaverse. Or even ads.
All the successful systems charge the user, although many have a free to play tier.
As a branch of gaming, the metaverse works reasonably well, and is getting better.
Gaming itself is huge, has passed Hollywood, and is going on from there. See the current issue of The Economist.
You know Fortnite has a huge ad business right? Like in the hundreds of millions of dollars a quarter.
Roblox also has a branded games business. It does not mediate ads but it also has advertising of other games on its platform. They are definitely working on automatic ad mediation.
The Metaverse is coming along just fine. Roblox, Fortnite, VRchat, and Second Life all work. None are ad-supported. It's not compatible with Facebook's business model.
There's no real role for "brands" in the metaverse. Or even ads. All the successful systems charge the user, although many have a free to play tier. As a branch of gaming, the metaverse works reasonably well, and is getting better. Gaming itself is huge, has passed Hollywood, and is going on from there. See the current issue of The Economist.
Roblox also has a branded games business. It does not mediate ads but it also has advertising of other games on its platform. They are definitely working on automatic ad mediation.