Disney Lays Off Entire Metaverse Division Abandoning Further Exploration

• Disney has laid off all fifty members of their metaverse section.
• The metaverse division of Disney was established in February 2022.

Recently, interest in the metaverse seems to be waning. According to Google Trends, which measures changes in search interest over time, the term’s popularity peaked around the time when Facebook’s future was dependent on creating an immersive 3D environment and the firm selected Meta as its new corporate identity. Search volume in the metaverse has since reverted to pre-boom levels.

Disney has laid off all fifty members of their metaverse section. The giant has apparently abandoned plans to discover the “metaverse,” even though the vast majority of its employees will be laid off as the business starts laying off about 7,000 workers worldwide. Mike White, who reportedly oversaw Disney’s metaverse team and will continue with the firm, was quoted in the WSJ. 

Metaverse Craze Fading

In February 2022, when media firms realized Facebook must be onto something, Disney’s metaverse division was established and previous CEO Bob Chapek named it “next generation storytelling.” In October 2021, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled a radical new strategy to concentrate on the metaverse; to underline his devotion to this vision, he even rebranded the firm as Meta.

But, many in the IT industry now see the metaverse as nothing more than a parody; an attempt to build a virtual world where the main “innovation” was being able to see your colleagues in the form of funny avatars. In February, Zuckerberg said that Facebook will shift its attention to AI. Although the word “AI” is rather vague, it is generally agreed that tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney’s picture generator will have revolutionary effects.

Recommended For You:

Metaverse Fund of $2 Billion Reduced to $800 Million by Animoca Brands