--- title: "The Metaverse Is Completely Falling Apart" description: "To what we presume is Facebook-turned-Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's dismay, Microsoft and Disney have both begun to wind down metaverse efforts." date: "2023-03-30" modified: "2023-03-30" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/metaverse-completely-falling-apart" categories: - "Future Society" - "Metaverse" - "Virtual Reality" tags: - "ai" - "metaverse" - "microsoft" - "silicon valley" --- # The Metaverse Is Completely Falling Apart ![To what we presume is Facebook-turned-Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's dismay, Microsoft and Disney have both begun to wind down metaverse efforts.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* On the battlefield of the metaverse, Mickey Mouse and Clippy are the latest fallen warriors. Between mass industry job cuts and a trance-like shift toward generative AI, it's a strange time for the tech world. And as often happens during widespread changes and reorganizations, some efforts get lost in translation — one of those efforts being, it seems, the huge rush toward the metaverse after Facebook-turned-Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg [rebranded the entirety of Facebook]() around the concept. According to [reporting from *The Wall Street Journal*](), both Disney and Microsoft, two big-name companies that had skin in the game, have made big moves to wind down their metaverse operations, with Disney slashing its entire division and Microsoft shutting down a VR organization that it had acquired in 2017. "A lot of companies and businesses understandably feel like if they need to reduce headcount or spending overall, this kind of category would seem to be a pretty easy target," Scott Kessler, a tech-sector analyst at research firm Third Bridge Group, told the *WSJ.* "All these things that are going on, related to AI, seem to be able to be used and leveraged now," he continued. But when it comes to the metaverse, "no one," Kessler told the *WSJ*, "knows when you're going to reach critical mass." In other words, AI looks like money now, while metaverse looks like "maybe money at some point, just not for a while." And investors, apparently, don't prefer the odds of the latter. It's a telling industry shift, considering that back in just October, Zuck and his [falsified metaverse legs]() were still 100 percent in his AR vision, with a number of high-profile corporate partnerships featured prominently at [Meta's Connect 2022]() to show for it. And Microsoft, notably, was one of those [new and featured partners](); Zuckerberg used the conference to posit the metaverse as the future of work, and Microsoft, which has long had its grips on workflows everywhere, was a feather in Zuck's legless cap. Disney, for its part, had been working on metaverse projects [as far back as 2021](), when Zucko used the previous year's Connect to first detail his [AR vision for reality](), with former CEO Bob Chapek doubling down on his trust in the metaverse in an [October 2022 company call](). Microsoft's [change-of-metaverse-heart]() is particularly interesting, given the timeline. It's one thing for Disney to see the writing on the pixelated wall. But Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was onstage with Zucko praising the Facebook founder's digital world just three short months before it invested a reported [$10 ]()*[billion]()* into OpenAI (and meanwhile layed off 11,000 Microsoft employees.) Cast a wide net, and see what you catch, we guess — and then throw the smaller fish back. To Nadella's credit, though, even Zuck himself has pared back his metaverse efforts — at least in lip service — to focus on AI. In a recent call, according to the *WSJ*'s tally, the [meat-smoking CEO]() used the word "AI" 28 times, while the word "metaverse" was said a comparatively measly seven times. A similar shift was seen in Zucko's most recent [apology-slash-explainer note]() to his most recently [slashed workforce](), which mentioned AI four times, meanwhile just mentioning the metaverse twice, and *only* in the same breath as AI. Elsewhere, the *WSJ* also notes that sales of Meta's Quest 2 headsets were down last quarter — a number that feels in line with the number of people that can be found in Horizon Worlds, which apparently just [isn't that many](). Of course, Meta's got more money in the metaverse pot than anyone, so it'll be interesting to see where the nascent industry. As for Microsoft and Disney? We know where Microsoft stands, and we wouldn't be surprised to see the pair team up to use AI to generate the "[even greater next storytelling frontier]()." Or something along those lines. **READ MORE:** [*The Metaverse Is Quickly Turning Into the Meh-taverse*]() \[*The Wall Street Journal*\] **More on the metaverse:** [*The Metaverse Industry Is Already Going Belly-up, for Reasons We Can't Imagine*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()