MetaNews takes another look at what stories have helped to shape the metaverse this week.
This time we talk about a fresh round of job cuts at Meta and a stale round of job cuts at Microsoft, and consider whether Sony has found the ‘goldilocks zone’ of VR headsets. We also take a look at what Nick Clegg is up to and whether he’s still just as agreeable as ever.
Sony’s VR2 for Playstation
It’s no secret that one of the bigger speedbumps on the road to metaverse adoption is the quality and cost of VR headsets. Top-of-the-range headsets from Google and Meta retail at well over the thousand-dollar mark, enough to price casual consumers out of the market. Cheaper models are available, but those tend to come with a considerable drop in product quality.
Sony’s latest offering is somewhere in the middle – seeking the goldilocks zone of “just right.” At $549.99 it is far from the cheapest headset on the market, but the PS VR2 is still a serious piece of hardware. For starters, the PS VR2 boasts a 4K, HDR-enabled OLED screen with a 110-degree field of view and its accompanying hand controllers have adaptive triggers and haptic feedback.
Is it any good? The general consensus of reviews thus far is that the PS VR2 is a major improvement on Sony’s previous effort. IGN calls the latest headset a “quantum leap in console VR gaming,” while GQ says the PS VR2, “will make you a virtual reality believer again.”
Ultimately, of course, it will be up to consumers to decide if the PS VR2 is worth the money.
Dreaded ‘efficiency’ hits Meta again
Potentially good news for Meta investors, bad news for Meta workers: it looks like Mark Zuckerberg and co. are set to make another round of layoffs as part of its “year of efficiency.”
According to staff who survived Meta’s previous round of cuts, the company is now in a state of paralysis as bosses decide which positions to chop next.
“Honestly, it’s still a mess,” said one Meta team member. “The year of efficiency is kicking off with a bunch of people getting paid to do nothing.”
From the outside looking in, it doesn’t sound all that efficient.
Agreeing with Nick
Denizens of the United Kingdom, do you remember Nick Clegg? Well, now the former leader of the Liberal Democrats is back, working for Meta under the grand title of ‘President of Global Affairs.’
Other than being Deputy Prime Minister of the UK from 2010-2015 and driving his party off an electoral cliff in the process, Clegg is perhaps best known for the meme, “I agree with Nick,” which became an ever-present soundbite during the 2010 election.
According to Clegg, who was appearing in Saudi Arabia this week, the metaverse will be “the rebirth of the internet.”
“I would urge those who have not experienced it to experience it,” said Clegg. “You will get an insight into not only what is possible now, but what will be possible in the future, as we move towards a new computing platform based on some immersive sense of presence, regardless of geographical distance.”
You do have to concede – he does sound pretty agreeable.
Microsoft’s metaverse groundhog day
Have you heard the news about Microsoft? They’re cutting metaverse positions in their industrial metaverse team. MetaNews reported on that story last week, but we’ve also noticed the story continually repeated in other media outlets this week too.
It may be stale news by now, but for some reason, this story refuses to die. Perhaps that’s because it plays nicely into the ongoing ‘metaverse-failing’ narrative that some media outlets have chosen to pursue. For the avoidance of doubt, nothing has changed. Microsoft still sucks at the Metaverse this week, the same as they did last week, and the week before that.
In other news, following a challenging week with Bing, Microsoft isn’t looking so hot at chatbots and AI either.
Finally, here’s 23 for 23
To end on a positive note, this week MetaNews lifted the lid on the 23 best crypto-related Metaverse projects to check out in 2023. If you haven’t had the chance to catch up on that article yet, do give it a try.
23 Best Metaverse Crypto Projects to Look out for in 2023
That’s all for now, see you next week.
and then