--- title: "Guy Who Invented the Word “Metaverse” Building His Own Metaverse" description: "Neal Stephenson, the science fiction icon who first coined and popularized the term \"metaverse,\" is pausing his literary career to build his own. " date: "2022-09-19" modified: "2022-09-19" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/neal-stephenson-building-metaverse" categories: - "Blockchain" - "Cryptocurrency" - "Future Society" tags: - "crypto" - "metaverse" - "science fiction" - "virtual reality" --- # Guy Who Invented the Word “Metaverse” Building His Own Metaverse ![Neal Stephenson, the science fiction icon who first coined and popularized the term "metaverse," is pausing his literary career to build his own. ]() *\Image: Getty Images/Futurism\* The science fiction icon who coined and popularized the term "metaverse" is pausing his literary career to build his own. As [revealed by *Wired*](), "Snow Crash" author and cyberpunk pioneer Neal Stephenson is working with a crypto bro to create an open metaverse platform that will, its creators hope, be a more decentralized version of the types of Big Tech metaverses like those run by Fortnite and Facebook. "It’s like Neal is coming down out of the mountains like Gandalf, to restore the metaverse to an open, decentralized, and creative order," said robotics and augmented reality entrepreneur Rony Abovitz, who is also acting as a strategic advisor to Lamina1, the company Stephenson is cofounding with Bitcoin Foundation head Peter Vessenes. As Vessenes told *Wired*, he was initially concerned that the science fiction titan was "Kardashian-ing," or profiting from his own self-created hype. "That’s potentially the first question," the career Bitcoin evangelist said. "Is Neal selling his brand out to some fucking metaverse company?” Once people speak with the Lamina1 pair, Vessenes claimed, "they conclude this is a principled effort" and then begin asking how they plan to do it. The answer to that subsequent question, it seems, will be figured out along the way. "The economics are tied to adoption," Vessenes said, without adding much more detail. "The more people use it, the more valuable it is." Execution might be a sticking point. Back in 2021, Stephenson raised a half million dollars to create an incredibly ambitious swordfighting game called "Clang," complete with its own new motion capture hardware, but the project [disintegrated the next year]() without delivering anything. Now, Stephenson and co are describing a much more ambitious project, similar to the unified internet. In other words, it sounds way more ambitious than "Clang." Resources could be thin as well. *Wired* reports that the company currently only employs three engineers, though they intend to hire many more as they build out their tech. Adding to the stakes, Stephenson says he doesn't intend to take much of a break from writing novels: the cyberpunk king said that "when the calendar turns over to 2023, it’s going to be back to the usual.” "My publisher will send a hit man after me if I don’t fulfill my obligations," he told *Wired.* **READ MORE:** [Neal Stephenson Named the Metaverse. Now, He’s Building It]() \[*Wired*\] **More on the business side of the metaverse:** *[Another Company Called Meta is Suing Facebook for Changing its Name to Meta]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()