Give credit where credit is due. Ryan Faughnder of the LA Times has put on a masterclass in the art of writing a flattering headline only to casually level a CEO and his business strategy. In this case, the target is The Walt Disney Company CEO, Bob Chapek.
For the most part, Faughnder is a straight-shooter journalist in an age of ideology and partisanship in the mainstream media. Rather than being tacky with a direct swat at Chapek over a number of sins the CEO is perceived to have committed by the Hollywood oligarchs, Faughnder has found a weak spot that is legitimate and noteworthy. Just as I have been critical of Chapek for his cheapening of the Disney Parks through show buildings that are no longer hidden (now eyesores) and over-monetization of the consumer experience, Faughnder takes a look at the actual path forward for Disney’s “metaverse” and finds it lacking. But just as I have given Chapek his just praises when he has tried to steer the company away from politicization — unsuccessfully — it is clear that this LA Times piece is trying to give the second Bob a nod for being wise enough to recognize the future of technology. The downfall lies in the scope of that vision:
The specifics of what Disney’s strategy will look like are not yet formed. A key goal of the meetings is for Disney to figure out what it actually means when it talks about the concept, loosely defined as a new version of the internet based on decentralized digital ledgers known as blockchains.
One thing is becoming clear: Disney is not necessarily thinking about the metaverse in terms of creating full-fledged digital worlds in the way that Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook parent company Meta Platforms Inc. are trying to do. Don’t expect a VR hug from Mickey Mouse in a virtual park anytime soon.
— Ryan Faughnder, LA Times
The article is mostly positive in regards to what Disney is saying until it gets down to the nitty gritty of what exactly they’re aiming for. And when it comes to that area, Disney is severely lacking. They don’t intend to really do much in terms of creating a virtual service or platform in the way that you might imagine for a “metaverse”. Instead, they have almost nothing planned at all. It is a case of the CEO using a buzzword and then forming a team to try to manifest something that will approximate it. But there’s no there there.
Read Our Original Article from November: Bob Chapek Announces the Disney Metaverse
One huge hurdle for Disney, as outlined in the article, is that they really don’t have a great team for coding and developing any sort of metaverse software, app, or platform. Those teams likely would have overlap with the gaming industry, and if Disney has one major weakness, it’s definitely in that area. They may have access to some of the best CGI studios in the world, but none of that means much if you don’t have the game design developers who make all the parts move interactively and dynamically. If you’re going to have a W3 metaverse, you need that badly. Otherwise you’re just calling the synergy of future technologies a “metaverse” without it really being what the term means. Unfortunately for Disney, that appears to be exactly where they’re at and what they’re aiming for.
Funny that Disney trying to be super meta and self-aware just makes them look even more corporate somehow.
It's like they challenged themselves to see how many times they could get viewers to point at the screen and exclaim that they recognised the reference.
Not feeling it idk https://t.co/RaWgkeHU5p
— Broski (@BroskiBae) April 27, 2022
It’s early days yet in the chase for the next evolution of the world wide web, whatever that may be. Disney has time to reorient their business to accommodate and embrace that future, but it doesn’t look like they’ve quite figured it out just yet. For now, streaming could be the paradigm shift they’re working to master.
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Yeah, after people have been locked indoors for the most part of two years, everyone is clamoring to stay home more with VR headsets on. Metaverse is just a buzzword that will be about as relevant as in 1990s VR is now today. With the rise of Instagram and people doing tons of travel videos and pictures, the real world experiences are what a majority will be looking for due to FOMO, not some ‘cyberspace virtual experience’.
Was that photo of Chippendale dancers at the 6 second mark really necessary? They haven’t been a thing for a long time. No one today would make the association. So Disney Groomers applies. It’s so META. Disney is a technology company in every way, but they aren’t social media or Internet specific since those are largely free or commodity services. They only want to monetize their IP at premium prices. Virtual Disney won’t work. It’s a sinkhole. Remember when Eisner bought this expensive website (forgot the name).