Author Neal Stephenson has tweeted clarification that he has no involvement in Facebook's Meta rebranding.

Since there seems to be growing confusion on this: I have nothing to do with anything that FB is up to involving the Metaverse, other than the obvious fact that they're using a term I coined in Snow Crash. There has been zero communication between me and FB & no biz relationship.

Facebook the social media webite will retain its name but the company's name will change to Meta.

Mark Zuckerberg has been talking up the metaverse for a long time so it's not a huge surprise.

But upon making the announcement, commentators frequently referenced Stephenson as the originator of the term.

What is the Metaverse?

Essentially the next evolution of the internet.

It won't be the Matrix. Neither that sophisticated (at least at first) nor entrapped. The metaverse is not supposed to be a prison or complete replacement for reality. It's meant to be a virtual space you visit.

And ideally - from the perspective of those creating these spaces - spend money on.

For example in gaming it's common for players to be represented by an avatar, or 3D graphical representation of their character. In the metaverse there'd be a graphical you and if you want to dress nicely, those virtual clothes are going to cost you.

Real money.

Facebook's rebranding is a statement of Zuckerberg's confidence in the notion but not everyone is convinced that it's justified.

Obviously technology and how we engage with it will change. That's a very safe bet.

But Epic's slower and low tech approach might be more savvy.

With their weekly free game giveaways, they're building a userbase to challenge Steam's digital game sales monopoly. That's not all they're doing though.

There's also Core which launched in April:

Core is a multiverse of free games to play and worlds to explore designed by a global community of developers. Play thousands of Unreal-powered games from every genre, or create and earn from your own! Download now to get a limited-time free reward bundle.

Unlike the almost sci-fi vision which Facebook / Meta presented, no-one will need to buy an expensive upgrade for their computer hardware or special VR equipment to jump into Core. Whether it's actually fun and will succeed isn't guaranteed. Monetization in gaming is a very sensitive topic and many gamers could be wary with good cause. But it importantly has no barrier to entry.

World of Warcraft and Minecraft wouldn't have been the major gaming and business phenoma that they were and still are, if their graphics and system requirements weren't so low end.

And mixed in with Epic's weekly free single-player games there are occasional giveaways of digital goodies in online "service" games. Priming users for the monetized gamesverse which could be evolved into the metaverse.

Facebook's vision is grand but they might be betting their future on everyone's willingness to rush out and buy the latest tech.

Gaming history says that's a bad bet but many people are now in the habit of eg. regularly replacing and upgrading mobile phones. So maybe enough will.

It will be interesting to see how this battle plays out.

[ Main Image: A mixed reality experience. Credit: Facebook / Meta. ]

References

Epic Games. Core. Epic Games Store. (viewed November 3, 2021)

Facebook (October 28, 2021). Connect 2021: Our vision for the metaverse.

Steele, Chandra (August 2, 2021). WTF Is the Metaverse? PC Mag.

Stephenson, Neal [@nealstephenson] (October 30, 2021). Since there seems to be growing confusion on this. Twitter.