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Valve president Gabe Newell recently gave his take on the metaverse. According to the head of the company, the biggest supporters of the metaverse are only jumping to the last page. He believes that they have a very poor understanding of what the Metaverse really is.
Speaking about the latest trends in the gaming industry, Gabe Newell spoke about his impressions of the Metaverse. He wasn’t thrilled.
Most people who talk about the metaverse have absolutely no idea what they are talking about. And they obviously never played an MMO. They say, “Oh, you’re going to have a custom avatar,” which is like going to La Noscea in Final Fantasy 14 and looking at the players around.
Newell has cited science fiction writers such as Neil Stevenson, who is generally credited with popularizing the metaverse concept.
I’m friends with Neil Stevenson, and every time we get together, he just puts his face in his hands. So it’s like, “Okay, what story about the metaverse is driving you crazy today?”
When it comes to practical application, the executive does not see much potential in the metaverse at the moment.
Newell noted that “the gaming industry has been exploring these technologies for a long time”:
It will be interesting to see if those who showed up to the party late have something to add, rather than wanting a whole bunch of people to give them a bunch of money for nothing. But in the end, as you know, consumers and useful technologies win, so I’m not really worried about this.