The Metaverse Crash: Picking up the pace to survive

The Metaverse Crash: Picking up the pace to survive

  • Microsoft and Disney shuttered its VR world platform AltSpaceVR and Roblox-based Metaverse. 
  • Yuga Labs, the team behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club(BAYC) and CryptoPunks NFT collections has completed its restructuring program.
  • Yuga Labs co-founder Greg Solano said the company required a major refurbishment.

The web3 industry has ushered in a new wave of technological innovations. Blockchain technology has presented the world with an entirely new outlook on technology, forgoing its predecessor’s view on centralization. Its dynamic nature and innate security have attracted multiple investors, innovators, and governments. Today, decentralized application has become a rising trend among many industries.

 From Bitcoin, which introduced an entirely new financial system, to NFT, which introduced Digital ownership, the limit of its applicability is still far. Among the numerous web3 applications, the Metaverse has been the highlight since the first cryptocurrency. The Metaverse showcased the unifying nature of all web3 applications by utilizing crypto, NFTs, intelligent contracts, and AI. As a result, the VR World opened an entirely new market, and many thought it would be the next big thing.

Unfortunately, the Metaverse platform has gone under over the years, with many investors pulling away. Due to the crypto winter and the NFT crash, the Metaverse has significantly underutilized its capabilities. Today, many experts estimate that this web3 project should have been launched earlier. VR World, like the Sandbox, has suffered losses over underutilized facilities. They generally have servers that can handle over 1000 users but only gain 200 on a good day.

Fortunately, several vital entities have outlined several agendas to revive the Metaverse in recent developments. Yuga Labs has officially shifted to restructuring the Metaverse crash to revive it.

The Metaverse Crash

After the crypto industry fell, its effects rippled throughout other web3 projects. The NFT marketplace is almost attaining a zero valuation, and now the Metaverse crash is a pending outcome many expect. The ripple effect has caused many to question the dream of Mack Zuckerberg and whether or not the concept of the VR world is truly redefining.

Initially, when Mack introduced the concept, the entire tech world poured billions into actualizing the concept. As a result, its functionality significantly propelled blockchain technology, showcasing a miniature ecosystem.

Zuckerberg stated poetically that the Metaverse is a vision that spans many companies. In addition, many experts claimed it would be the successor to the mobile internet and was the iteration of the web3 dream. Unfortunately, its flaws and drawbacks later revealed the mistakes its glorification covered. 

Also, Read Top Metaverse real estate platforms to purchase virtual land.

As a concept, the Metaverse has the potential to unify the business market, broaden Africa’s digital transformations, and realize the vision of the web3 industry. Unfortunately, this dream was built on vague ideals, as its practicability would fall short. For instance, Decentraland has a $1.3 billion ecosystem but only accommodates less than 100 active users.

To save its reputation and prevent the pending Metaverse Crash, Decentraland clarified that it had 8000 daily active users. Unfortunately, even if this figure was accurate, it still represents a small portion of its total capabilities. Microsoft and Disney shuttered its VR world platform AltSpaceVR and Roblox-based Metaverse. 

One of its primary issues is the equipment it requires. Typically, in African homesteads, only a few houses can afford VR headsets and other equipment. The hardware’s design and initialization surpass the average household’s capabilities. In addition, due to high production costs, plenty of organizations tend to cut corners, giving high-quality experiences to users.

Furthermore, in some cases, the Metaverse has become a platform for scammers and hackers. Currently, Meta has stopped pitching the Metaverse to advertisers. This had to be done to salvage the company’s reputation despite spending over $100 billion on research and development.

Salvaging the bits from the Metaverse Crash

Despite the Metaverse Crash, many investors still believe in the goals, ideals, and potential of his web3 projects. In recent new Yuga Labs, the team behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club(BAYC) and CryptoPunks NFT collections has completed its restructuring program. Initially, amid the Metaverse Crash, Yuga Labs announced in early 2022 its intent to revive the VR world and improve its flaws.

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Yuga Labs restructures its ecosystem to aid in the prevention of the Metaverse Crash.[Photo/Tweak-Town]

On October 17, Daniel Alegre, CEO of Yuga Labs, stated that the company is finalizing its restructuring to focus on and reinforce the loopholes amid the Metaverse. He said, “We now begin the task of refining the focus with our new team configurations.”

Yuga Labs has improved on Otherside, a gamified and interoperable metaverse project launched in March 2022. Alegre stated the approach to building the VR world needed to be revised. Its hype overlooked the feasible figures behind implementing it fully.

He clarified that the Otherside will take a different approach to provide an immersive experience without infringing on its technical and creative side. He said, “Otherside is a very important bet for Yuga, and when our creative team brought the concept for Metaverse up to my leadership team, making it a tentpole experience for Otherside felt like a slam dunk.

Also, Read African Countries Thriving in The Metaverse.

Yuga Labs co-founder Greg Solano said the company required a major refurbishment. The Metaverse crash has been an ongoing concern among peers, but only a few genuinely addressed the issue. One of the critical issues is the need for the VR world to provide long-term success. He said, “With this reorg, Yuga is still over 120 employees and is focused on specific priorities.

Unfortunately, the restructuring was necessary to ensure the company survived the ongoing Metaverse crash and preserve the dignity of Yuga Labs. Despite the restructuring, it became clear that many VR worlds spend more on development without accounting for its useability.

The franchise is struggling amid the crypto winter and NFT marketplace crash. Alegra has clarified that the restructuring will ensure its reputation remains while also considering those who have left. He said, “It’s a challenging time, not only for our industry but also for the global economy. […] The restructure impacts U.S. team members today, and we are actively reviewing the impact on our international teams.

Hope remains

Despite the telling Metavese Crash, many investors and organizations still strive to revive their users. Sebastian Borget, CEO and co-founder of The Sandbox, has worked tirelessly to increase and make his company available to its users. Initially, The Sandbox had as few as 500 users, but the company has maintained a steady user through collaborations and partnerships. 2022 The Sandbox Alpha Season 3 claimed 17 million visits by August 2022. This figure represented a threefold increase since its season 2 release.

Jeetu Patel, EVP and GM of security and collaboration at Cisco, also stated that the Metaverse still has plenty of potential, but it must stretch beyond gaming. He said, “The idea of [the] Metaverse was never fully baked beyond gaming. No one cared to meet with floating avatars of people to feel immersed in a conversation. However, my 12-year-old daughter, who is an avid user of Roblox, finds it rather natural. 

The matters offer plenty of potential to businesses, emerging markets, and the entertainment industries. Its use of NFT as a baseline component allows users to own digital content. If the VR world can go beyond its gaming features, it could potentially risk a downward trend for the organization. 

Grant Anderson, co-founder, and CEO of AR game development company Mirrorscape, has taken the initiative to develop smaller and affordable devices that spread the awareness of the Metaverse. He said, “A lot is riding on this year for XR [extended reality], including Apple’s release of its first mixed-reality headset incorporating both VR and AR. However, this headset, while lighter and sleeker than those that have come before, will still look like a ski mask and reportedly cost upwards of $3,000. This will not be a mass-market item at this price point. But suppose this initial, limited-run device (reportedly only a million will be made) is looked on as a failure. In that case, there is a real possibility that it could stall development within the industry.”

If the organization can find a way to provide better equipment without infringing on its quality, it could significantly benefit the franchise.

The Metaverse Crash is an ongoing concern among many companies. With Yuga Labs taking the initiative to restructure its brand, it may kickstart a new wave of progress.

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