Metaverse Could Have Been Here, Should Silicon Valley Had Focused

Metaverse critics are on the back of the metaverse, some even declared it dead. Andrew Thompson, a data analyst in Chicago, wrote in an article published in the American business magazine Fast Company, calls Silicon Valley’s “inability to understand fun, and how to meaningfully waste time,” the reason behind its demise. A bank run in March 2023 caused the start-up-friendly Silicon Valley Bank to fail.

A ‘Time’ to ‘Kill’

According to Thompson, Decentraland, a metaverse game, had its fate decided already. He writes, “Without this familiarity with play and fun, Silicon Valley’s effort to assemble what was supposed to be the largest game ever created was doomed to collapse.” Data shows there are 8,000 users on the platform per day, a fraction of users dwelling on the metaverse, half of which are about to or just hit the teenage. 

The author scrutinizes Silicon Valley’s perception of the “value of time.” Putting down the analysis of over 75K products, he identifies productivity apps designed to save time that dominated the industry. He writes, “If productivity apps are designed solely to save time and optimize other systems, games are almost definitionally designed to do the exact opposite—to spend time having fun, producing nothing of utility at all.”

Furthermore, during Silicon Valley’s 15-year bullish run, the metaverse served as an advertising agent. According to Andrew, “Bulk of what Silicon Valley has produced over its nearly 15-year bull run, the metaverse had to actually work as advertised, and what it advertised was freeform play.”

He adds, “Not only is the Silicon Valley ecosystem not really interested in playing games, but fails to understand why anyone else would either.” Gaming is at the heart of the metaverse as virtual worlds cannot exist without it. Decentraland, The Sandbox, Roblox, and more are currently the most well-known examples depicting virtual worlds.

Metaverse Might Not be Dead Yet

From Spotify to Samsung, everyone has a presence on the metaverse. People may call it ‘entering the mainstream,’ but the truth is, the virtual world indeed has catered to the big guns as an advertising platform. Travis Scott and Ariana Grande attracted millions of users in a single event on Fortnite, a metaverse game.

The metaverse is a heavy ceiling standing on technological props still under maintenance. Pulling it out from unconventional to conventional requires bolstering. Realism is something people have started craving since the advent of Sony’s PlayStation 5.

Companies like Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) are still hopeful about the future of virtual worlds. Even today, one can step into the metaverse, but it won’t be similar to the one users have created in their minds.

Anurag is working as a fundamental writer for The Coin Republic since 2021. He likes to exercise his curious muscles and research deep into a topic. Though he covers various aspects of the crypto industry, he is quite passionate about the Web3, NFTs, Gaming, and Metaverse, and envisions them as the future of the (digital) economy. A reader & writer at heart, he calls himself an “average guitar player” and a fun footballer.