Revenue Drop
With all the bad rap the Metaverse is getting of late, especially regarding Meta and the reportedly thousands of people it is laying off due to revenue collapse, it doesn’t need more criticism.
Yet that’s what has happened, at least indirectly. Strauss Zelnick, CEO at Take-Two Interactive, an American video game holding company based in New York City, recently talked to CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box’ to discuss the company’s second-quarter earnings report. After talking economics, Zelnick was then asked whether we will be able to live in the Metaverse all day long.
“Look, you can live in a digital world right now,” Zelnick began, “Grand Theft Auto is this massive online digital world where you can pursue missions, and have stories told to you.”
One Squawk Box journalist told Zelnick he thinks Mark Zuckerberg needs to move out of the Metaverse, that he has to move “outta there” — granted the recent downturn the company has faced — this could be good advice. Another host of the show said it’s crazy that people would even think about living inside their goggles for up to ten hours a day. It’s all about gaming. And Zoom calls. Nothing more.
“I’m not sure I agree with you,” said Zelnick. “The notion of including your hearing and vision is something we’re not [Take-Two Interactive] super comfortable with. And even though we’re using a computer or screen to play a game or have a Zoom meeting we still interact with people around us — you can’t do that when you have a headset on.”
Zelnick just isn’t sure if what some people call the Metaverse will be where people will interact all day.
For many, it seems to be just gaming. More gaming and then even more gaming.
Opinions like this coming from captains of the industry are good to hear. If, as Zelnick said, the Metaverse won’t be a place we spend most of our lives in, this doesn’t mean it won’t be a place where we spend a great part of it.
Zelnick. Zuckerberg. Two men with contrasting views on the same subject. This one is going to be difficult to predict. Whatever the outcome, the world will be a different place anyway.
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Feature image: YouTube screenshot CNBC Television
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