According to Matthew Ball, head analyst at the market research firm Canalys for technology, the majority of metaverse ventures will fail over the coming years.

Purple Spring VR Metaverse
(Photo : Brian Penny/Pixabay)
Purple Spring VR Metaverse

Analyst Takes on Metaverse Projects

According to a recent article from The Register, Ball explained his analysis at Canalys' 2022 Channels Forum in Barcelona. In response to the question of whether the metaverse is the newest digital frontier or a hyped money pit, Ball claimed that the complicated project of Meta, with all its relatively pitiful hiccups, can be used as a gauge for the success of the metaverse as a whole. Most metaverse initiatives, he continued, will likely be closed by 2025.

Ball's findings stand in stark contrast to a recent projection made by market research firm Gartner, which Interpol referenced, that by 2026, a quarter of Americans will spend at least one hour each day in the metaverse. Even higher hopes are held by Meta. Zuckerberg predicted earlier this year that by 2030, one billion people would be participating in the metaverse. 

Metaverse Projects Criticism 

According to Extreme Tech, it's far simpler to comprehend Ball's pessimistic forecast from outside the metaverse growth space. Despite spending billions on the platform, Meta, by far the biggest competitor in the metaverse market, has had trouble establishing its metaverse. Most people have heard by now that Meta had to push its own staff to utilize Horizon Worlds, its flagship product. Given recent evidence that working in the metaverse is really terrible, it makes sense that meta workers are reluctant to use Horizon Worlds at work.

Some well-known tech entrepreneurs have very openly and in multiple ways criticized the metaverse, calling it a disappointing product that wastes resources that could be utilized to solve actual, pressing issues rather than just willfully spawning new ones.

According to Tech Spot, that supports Ball's claim about accessibility. Few individuals are willing or able to invest hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in virtual realms like the metaverse while the cost of living is in such a slump. People struggle to invest in real estate, tangible goods, and other NFTs, according to Ball, even in the virtual world.

It takes a lot of trust to pursue a project as vast and complex as the metaverse. For the time being, Meta, along with other tech behemoths like Microsoft, Apple, and Google, seems to be able to maintain that faith, even if it's merely to show that their most recent investments have been profitable. If Ball is on the correct track, it shouldn't be more than a few years until we learn if that is in fact the case.

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Expansion of Business Through Metaverse

Entrepreneurs will be able to develop and improve their business models in previously unheard-of ways by switching from a digital business to a metaverse business, according to Marty Resnick, research veep at the analyst.

In order to position themselves competitively, he advised product managers to take the time to learn, investigate, and get ready for a metaverse. However, it is still too early to determine whether investments will be profitable in the long run.

Mike Norris, CEO of Computacenter, responded when asked about short-term expectations for the metaverse driving business sales. He said that he was making money now. Whether he makes it in four, five, or six years will be interesting, but in the next few years he'll make money.

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