What does Microsoft Buying Activision Blizzard Mean for Metaverse?

On Jan. 18, 2022, the so-called Metaverse was touted by Microsoft as a basis for its $68.7 billion acquisition of game company Activision Blizzard, which would offer "building blocks for the metaverse." Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook, has rebranded his social networking firm Meta after betting on the metaverse. For years, Google has been working on metaverse-related technology. Apple is also working on its own comparable products.

But what exactly is the metaverse, and does it even exist? Here's all you need to know about it.

What is Metaverse？

The word Metaverse first appeared in the 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash, written by Neal Stephenson. In the fiction novel, Metaverse is the 3D virtual world where human beings' avatars interact with each other. It is described as the next generation of the Internet. The word "metaverse" is made up of the prefix "meta" (meaning beyond) and the stem "verse" (a backformation from "universe"), now it refers to a manifestation of actual physical reality, an extension of the Internet virtual that connects with the real world, similar to the world that portrayed in the movie Ready Player One and The Matri.

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What is Microsoft building for the Metaverse?

According to Microsoft's announcement of the acquisition, are key "building blocks for the metaverse."

Microsoft's metaverse development has so far been in its infancy.

For several years, Microsoft has been working on the HoloLens, a $3,500 headset that displays digital holograms, with a focus on commercial and government applications. The device is linked to augmented reality, which some engineers believe will become a part of the metaverse in the future.

Microsoft also created the Xbox, which is the second most popular video gaming system after the Sony PlayStation. But unlike the PlayStation, the Xbox has been conspicuously absent from the virtual reality gaming space.

Microsoft has been attempting to establish itself as a big participant in the gaming business for some time. Despite having the Xbox console, it has not been able to break into the interactive gaming software market as effectively as some other companies, such as Zynga, which was also owned by Take-Two Interactive, the creator of Grand Theft Auto.

With the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the business will feature games like Call of Duty, Warcraft, Candy Crush, Tony Hawk, Diablo, and Overwatch among others in its portfolio. While these games will be available on the Xbox console, they can be altered to allow players to join the metaverse virtual world via Microsoft's Hololens.
Though the company offers games on its platform, it has so far concentrated on creating social media and workspaces that are consistent regardless of the user's location.

Microsoft will be able to grow up its position in this field with Activision Blizzard on its side, according to an industry analyst, by extrapolating the learnings from the gaming platform for other users as well.

What's Behind the the Activision Blizzard Acquisition?

If the sale goes through following what would almost certainly be intensive regulatory examination, Microsoft will undoubtedly get a significant amount of technology and material that might be used to the metaverse and, therefore, the digital workplace. Is it, however, really about the metaverse? Isn't it just as possible that this is just another attempt to corner a sizable portion of the gaming market?

If Microsoft is attempting to purchase its way into the metaverse, this is perhaps not the best idea. There are a number of innovative firms in the AR and VR industry that would be a better fit. However, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella acknowledged in a statement regarding the deal that the metaverse is at least part of what the acquisition is about. "Gaming is the most dynamic and interesting area in entertainment today across all platforms," Nadella wrote in an email to workers. "It will play a crucial role in the creation of metaverse platforms."

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