Meta is just playing catch-up as Roblox, Steam VR, VRChat, and other platforms have already developed metaverse-like experiences

Washington Post 2021-11-01 Gene Park

Context & Ripple Effects

When Meta rebranded around the metaverse, it was entering a market that already existed without it: Roblox, Steam VR, and VRChat had spent years building the social, user-generated 3D worlds Meta was now claiming to invent. The framing in the catch-up coverage matters because it reframes Meta's pivot from vision-setter to follower — a position its later product record reinforced.

Two follow-ups define the arc. By year-end, coverage of Meta and Microsoft's metaverse products concluded they were closed 3D social spaces lacking the interoperability that would make them a true metaverse. And by 2023, The Verge reported Meta was ignoring its core gamer audience even though games were what actually drove its VR hardware sales.

First-order effects

Meta's rebrand positions it against incumbents — Roblox, VRChat, Steam VR — that already own the users and creator ecosystems, so Meta must buy or build the social gravity those platforms accumulated organically.

Second-order effects

As Meta pours billions into VR, developers face its strict app store rules and acquisition-driven market dominance, per the developer concerns coverage — meaning the platforms Meta trails may also be squeezed by the capital it deploys to close the gap.

Third-order effects

If the interoperability critique holds, the market splits between walled-garden 'metaverses' from big-tech entrants and the open, cross-platform worlds the incumbents already run — with whoever solves cross-world portability, not hardware volume, defining the category.

The trend: The metaverse is consolidating around platforms that already have social scale, forcing hardware-rich late entrants like Meta to compete on ecosystem openness rather than vision.

Discussion

@harper @harper on x
Facebook rebranding as meta and saying “we are the metaverse” is FB's way to “500 lb gorilla” their way into competition with Epic, Roblox, Minecraft, etc. They are losing the youth - their competition is not.
@harper Harper.Eth on x
i have been saying this all week https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@mattrosoff Matt Rosoff on x
“If delivering the Metaverse we set out to build doesn't scare the living hell out of us, then it is not the Metaverse we should be building, it is not what customers want, and it is, therefore, meaningless,” 2018 internal doc: https://www.cnbc.com/...
@ibogost @ibogost on x
Two important things @EthanZ gets right here: Those of us who have been around a while know that all these replacement world ideas turned out to be dumb; and Facebook is scared to death of Apple. https://www.theatlantic.com/ ...
@scalzi John Scalzi on x
Oh, for fuck's sake. One, everyone who uses the term “meta” for anything can expect this asshole's lawyers to get all up in their business, which will be JUST GREAT, THANKS; Two, a racist authoritarian-leaning tech company by any other name still sucks. https://gizmodo.com/...
@erratarob @erratarob on x
So back around 2000 I created the first IPS and called it “BlackICE”. I ended up reconciling with @GreatDismal (who coined in the term in such books as Neuromancer) and buying him a MacBook. https://twitter.com/...
@karaswisher Kara Swisher on x
Smart piece: Zuckerberg's Meta promises a ‘future’ these video games delivered years ago https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@ballmatthew Matthew Ball on x
Balanced take from @GenePark - “Zuckerberg's Meta promises a ‘future’ these video games delivered years ago” - there's a reason why gaming, long a subordinated entertainment category (cue: absurd art debate) is now at the center of the next gen Internet https://www.washingtonpost…
@reuters @reuters on x
Facebook's rebranding that focuses on building the ‘metaverse’ was met with skepticism and surprise by some social media users and experts https://www.reuters.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@sherishannon27 Sheri Shannon on x
I cannot get over how we lived through Zuckerberg's origin story as a villain. I bet this is how Elysium was started. https://twitter.com/...
@rubycosmos Kara Dennison on x
Bro I'm literally just trying to RSVP for D&D night and send memes to my sister. https://twitter.com/...
@evleaks @evleaks on x
The Meta favicon https://twitter.com/...
@nealstephenson Neal Stephenson on x
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.
@dansodergren @dansodergren on x
So very true. Might be on @BBCRadioScot on Tuesday morning to discuss this all... But might not be as feel a bit poorly and looking after Mia as well. So depends on the timings. But a very interesting subject especially as @roblox is down at the monet. Has been for 23 hours. http…
@xrandrew @xrandrew on x
“The revenue model — the way that the makers of the system make money — is more important than anything else because it drives the technical features.” https://www.axios.com/...
@genepark Gene Park on x
part of my passion in reporting about the metaverse stems from my genuine dread over how the media industry will (or won't) evolve. my instincts tell me that just as social media disrupted and tore apart journalism as a business, gaming and the metaverse may finish the job. https…
@ibogost @ibogost on x
It's interesting that this had to be said. (Note too that Stephenson is “Chief Futurist” at hyperfunded, underproduced AR megafauna Magic Leap.) https://twitter.com/...
@senwarren Elizabeth Warren on x
Facebook changing their corporate name to Meta isn't going to change the underlying facts. They're a monopoly. They crush competition. And they refuse to control the spread of misinformation and harmful content on their site. We need to break up Facebook. https://twitter.com/...
@genepark Gene Park on x
Facebook is playing catchup to the metaverse, make no mistake, this is fact. Here are the gaming platforms and games that already offer much of Zuckerberg's “future.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@genepark Gene Park on x
I give a shout out to Ubisoft's historical tours in the Assassins Creed series. As a geek for Egyptian history it was heaven to stand among marketplaces from 2,000 years ago and learn more. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@babblingbrookea Br⚢ke on x
actually Meta is the name of the company. Facebook is the monster
@bettemidler @bettemidler on x
Facebook is changing its name to Meta. “Knock knock!” “Who's there?” “Meta!” “Meta who?” “Meta whistleblower & instead of improving the way we do business, we're gonna pretend to be a new business!”
@mattniessner Matthias Niessner on x
The “Facebook -> Meta” rebranding is quite a big deal for computer vision & graphics research. It's a long-term commitment by a trillion dollar tech company to virtual 3D cyberspaces (aka metaverse), driven by virtual/augmented reality tech, which is great for our field!
@dimeford Pete Haas on x
And even if Facebook wasn't behind on features, it's SO far behind these other companies on trust. https://twitter.com/...
@michaelcarusi Michael Scare-usi on x
@GenePark The fact that people still treat gaming as a cute little kids' pastime will never cease to amaze me. Minecraft alone is one of the most successful entertainment properties probably in human history since that gets brought up a lot.
@genepark Gene Park on x
so no. i do not believe the current media ecoysystem has infinite room for perspectives. i don't expect brian stelter or jim cramer to talk about the metaverse at length in any context outside of the facebook lens. if im wrong, i'll be glad for it. but its not happening now.
@genepark Gene Park on x
thank you this is my overall point. this is just “games” so in the eyes of many editors, news directors, cable news anchors etc, it doesn't have anything to do with the future of the internet, when it always has. https://twitter.com/...
@xuelder @xuelder on x
@MichaelCarusi @GenePark Pokemon, a gaming institution, is the biggest franchise in the world. Pikachu is a more valuable mouse mascot than Mickey.
@rosejackson3 Rose Jackson on x
Why I've been urging folks to take the gaming world more seriously. It is often the leading edge of tech and social tech innovation, that then becomes mainstreamed for the world. A lot gets baked in early on, in an industry that gets ignored by policymakers and mocked by others h…

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