Disney is moving forward on its metaverse project

Since Facebook's announcement last October, everyone has eyes only for him. He is the metaverse, a virtual universe in which Disney hopes to continue to develop. And for this, the American company finally announces the color by appointing the new director in charge of this department. 

While the company recently obtained a patent to expand into the metaverse, it is already implementing an ambitious recruitment policy. The long-term goal? To be able to diversify its sources of income by offering a credible complement to physical amusement parks!

Disney Is Recruiting Massively For Its Metaverse!

If the universe is very recent, the competition there is already particularly fierce. Disney has understood this and multiplies announcements to expand its team in charge of the metaverse. She would have already found the director of this brand new pole: Mike White who has been in positions of responsibility in the company for more than 10 years. Mike White, the new “mister metaverse” will therefore be in charge of steering the group's strategy for deployment in the metaverse. Bob Chapek, CEO of the Walt Disney Company believes that this new department would be the one in charge of bringing together the virtual and real worlds. In an email sent to Disney employees, the CEO detailed this strategic shift desired by the brand with big ears:

For nearly 100 years, our company has defined and redefined entertainment by leveraging technology to bring stories to life in deeper, more impactful ways. Today, we have the opportunity to connect these universes and create an entirely new paradigm for how audiences experience and engage with our stories. It's called the metaverse, which I believe lis the next great frontier in storytelling and the perfect place to strengthen our storytelling strategic pillars of excellence, innovation and understanding user expectations. . 

Through this press release, the Disney management team highlights its ability to be a pioneer in a field. Sensitive to innovation, Disney is also very present in other recent markets such as NFT. Last year, the entertainment company partnered with Veve, a marketplace-like platform for trading NFTs.

An Amusement Park In The Metaverse?

This is ultimately the ambition of Bob Chapek. Asked about the metaverse last November, he declared his desire to “connect the physical and digital worlds even more closely, allowing us to tell stories, without limits in our own Disney metaverse”. In the medium term, the firm could also offer attractions using augmented reality technologies.

Through the metaverse, Disney aims to renew the user experience by offering an even different immersion. Over the year 2021, the 12 Disney parks would have generated around 17 billion dollars. The deployment within the metaverse could also allow the group to increase and diversify its income.

If the craze for the metaverse has been very strong in recent months, experts consider that the technology is not yet mature. Thus, the leaders of Meta (Facebook) estimate that it will take about fifteen years before their vision of the metaverse can concretely take shape. We are therefore only at the beginning of a technology that is looking for itself. In the months or years to come, it may well be that the metaverse projects carried by Disney are among the most successful. Because in the end, the metaverse notably carries the values ​​of the game, and what better than an amusement park to embody them?

The Metaverse, A Subject Of Controversy?

If the metaverse technology is not yet mature, it is clear that the public is still quite reluctant and fearful. Fears probably exacerbated by the media frenzy on the subject. In a recent IFOP study that we relayed , the French respondents were particularly skeptical of metaverse technologies. Thus, for 57% of respondents, the deployment of the metaverse would be something frightening. This figure even climbs close to 65% among respondents who invest in the crypto universe.

For Disney as for all other companies, this quest for a new virtual world will therefore necessarily have to take into account the reluctance and fears of users.