Epic CEO mocks ‘metaverse is dead’ notion — 600M coming to the ‘wake’

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney is just as optimistic about the Metaverse as ever, after poking fun at a recent suggestion that online virtual worlds are “dead.”

The now-billionaire video game entrepreneur – creator of the Unreal Engine and Fortnite – took to Twitter on May 9 to mock a newly published article from Business Insider titled “RIP Metaverse, we hardly knew ye.”

The article by PR firm CEO Ed Zitron suggested the “once-buzzy technology” had “died after being abandoned by the business world.”

The article made particular mention of Meta’s virtual reality (VR) platform Horizon Worlds which Zitron claims has failed to live up to its “grand promise” of becoming the future of the internet.

It also mentions Decentraland and Yuga Labs’ Otherside as examples of Metaverses that have seemingly failed to live up to their hype and claimed investors have turned their attention to the next big tech fad – generative AI.

Excerpt from RIP Metaverse – An obituary for the latest fad to join the tech graveyard. Source: Business Insider

Sweeney however doesn’t appear to agree, suggesting there are 600 million users across virtual world platforms such as Fortnite, Minecraft, Roblox, The Sandbox and VR Chat.

“The metaverse is dead! Let’s organize an online wake so that we 600,000,000 monthly active users in Fortnite, Minecraft, Roblox, PUBG Mobile, Sandbox, and VRChat can mourn its passing together in real-time 3D,” he joked, which was echoed soon after by Sandbox CEO Sebastien Borget.

Related: Meta coughing up big money to developers building its metaverse

In April 2022, Epic Games announced a $2 billion funding round with the aim of accelerating the company’s plans for the Metaverse. The investment included a $1 billion investment from Sony Group and KIRKBI, the holding company behind the LEGO Group.

It came not long after LEGO Group and Epic Games announced they were entering a long-term partnership to build a “family-friendly” Metaverse.

Neither company is yet to reveal what plans entail. However, Lego Group chief executive Niels Christiansen told the Financial Times earlier this year that it is looking to announce more details about the collaboration.

Web3 Gamer: ‘Ethical’ SBF game axed, Web3 games sign-up process sucks, Tomb Chaser

All Dutch and English crypto news!

Canadian authorities move to seize assets tied to QuadrigaCX CEO

According to the order, the assets allegedly are the proceeds of criminal activities linked to Michael Patryn, a co-founder of Quadriga Coin Exchange, and Gerald...

$0DOG prediction: Bitcoin Dogs sets a new tone amid robust use cases and BTC link

Bitcoin Dogs token is set for listing as post-listing speculation gains mount. Investors have been attracted by Bitcoin Dogs as the first ICO on the Bitcoin...

Elon Musk offers free premium features on X, crypto scammers included

Elon Musk rolled out the paid verification model on X, earlier known as “Twitter Blue,” to fight the scammers and spammers thriving on the platform...

Bitcoin zorgt voor ‘snelst groeiende ETF aller tijden’

Larry Fink noemt Bitcoin ETF IBIT de snelst groeiende ETF aller tijden. Dat zijn mooie woorden, van de directeur van Blackrock, het fonds dat IBIT...

Beste exchanges

Koop je crypto bij Bitvavo