Facebook announces $50M investment fund to build its virtual metaverse
The social networking giant Facebook has recently announced the allocation of a $50 million fund over a period of two years to being working on the platform’s vision for a virtual metaverse.
The decision was announced on September 27 by Facebook as a part of its roadmap for the future with the fund allotted to back “global research and program partners” who are looking to building out the platform in addition to other internal research projects.
Facebook said it would collaborate with policymakers, industry partners and experts “to bring this to life” as the metaverse cannot be “built overnight by a single company.”
The platform has stressed that the upcoming Metaverse would enable people to interact with one another in a virtual environment through their avatars and other digital objects. The allotted funding would be disbursed through Facebook’s XR Programs and Research Fund.
Rumours for an upcoming Facebook Metaverse had already started surfacing in June 2021 as soon as the firm announced the formation of an executive team to oversee the project.
In the latest official announcement, Facebook has asserted that its’ “not necessarily about spending more time online”, instead the metaverse is about making the online time spent, more meaningful.
However, despite the $50 million investment fund, Facebook believes it would take more time than a whole decade until a comprehensive version of the metaverse is made ready for use, accompanied by a wide array of products and services.
In order to make the metaverse a more ethical and inclusive space, Facebook has partnered with multiple non-profit organizations and universities representing minority groups, including The University of Hong Kong, Africa No Filter, Women In Immersive tech, the National University of Singapore, and others.
While Facebook is set to mobilize its capital in building a metaverse, crypto developers have already started developing decentralized and interoperable metaverses of their own.
An open-world metaverse by Decentraland comprises a decentralized, virtual and community-owned world originally built on the Ethereum blockchain. Within it, users can create their avatars, build 3D environments and also showcase a vast range of digital content which can be monetized.
The Sandbox is a similar NFT-powered game where players buy digital plots of land and create gaming experiences on them to share among other users.
