Libra), and in managing user data/trust. Columbia Venture Community is pleased to invite you to a virtual panel on the Metaverse, the next stage of the internet (and a key investment focus of Big Tech and beyond), with Matthew Ball and Jacob Navok. More broadly, the two most dominant cases of the early Internet were instant messaging and email, and yet the importance of social apps/networks was still unexpected until the late 2000s. Today, for example, there are a multitude of image file formats: .GIF, .JPEG, .PNG, .BMP, .TIFF, .WEBP, etc. And as always with this sort of change, its arc is as long and unpredictable as its end state is lucrative. The Internet as we experience it today works because of standards and protocols for visual presentation, file loading, communications, graphics, data, and so forth. Not only will the Metaverse grow the pie by too much, big transitions tend to disrupt when they’re hard to see and incumbents are slow to respond or capital constrained. But if the goal of a Unity acquisition is to ensure a foundational role in the new Internet, an acquirer instead has an incentive to keep the engine open/available across platforms, and the price can easily become irrelevant. As these large companies continue to scale, go digital, and integrate into greater technology and introduce social commerce functions, there’s more opportunity for major interconnectivity and interoperability. The value destroyed by such a decision and the premium required to buy Unity is likely to make such a move prohibitive. In some cases, these “LTMs” transform part of Fortnite’s map into a mini-virtual world that, when entered, changes the aesthetics, items and playstyle of the game to resemble another. It will expand to spatial computing, AR wearables, and other devices that will enable a level of creativity and interconnectivity that we’ve never seen before. This model continues today. Not long after in-game trade economies emerged, many “players” – often employed by a larger company and typically in lower-income countries — would spend a workday collecting digital resources for sale inside or outside the game. Also, that is indeed my Fortnite outfit at the top. ‎Show Invest Like the Best, Ep Matt Ball - The Future of Media: Movies, the Metaverse, and More - 2020年8月4日 As with the Internet, this will probably work out pretty well for everyone. In fact, I can't think of another author whose work I read as quickly once a new essay drops. This is why considering Fortnite as video game or interactive experience is to think too small and too immediately. It also operates the most used operating system on earth (Android), as well as the most open of the major consumer computing platforms. With this in mind, Snapchat, which boasts a large and heavily-engaged social graph and has strongly anchored itself around cameras, glasses, location-based experiences, and digital avatars, could have a key role in the Metaverse (especially if acquired).And for all of its uniqueness, Fortnite isn’t even the only Fortnite — there are several other online “games” that share many of the same attributes, behaviors, and potential. However, they tend not to have high levels of concurrency: most video chat programs max out beyond a few people, and once you hit 50, you tend to need to “live stream” a broadcast to your viewers, rather than share a two-way connection. It’s “the newest macro-goal for many of the world’s tech giants,” according to Matthew Ball, venture capitalist and former head of strategy at Amazon Studios. Sitting at a keyboard, locked in position for hours and focusing on a fixed screen is a recipe for a range of physical complaints, from sore necks to tingling hands. The tens of billions that will be spent on cloud gaming over the next decade, too, is based on the belief that such technologies will underpin our online-offline future. And you’ll recognize each one. In addition to operating Fortnite — which was in theory a side project — Epic Games also owns the second largest independent gaming engine, Unreal. He’s the former head of strategy at Amazon Studios, an investor, and probably my favorite business essayist writing today. “As we build up these platforms toward the Metaverse, if these platforms are locked down and controlled by these proprietary companies, they are going to have far more power over our lives, our private data, and our private interactions with other people than any platform in previous history,” Sweeney said in May 2017. Today, for example, there are a few dominant account systems – but none have exhaustive coverage of the web and they often stack atop one another with only limited data sharing/access (e.g. After all, it was designed to share files from one computer to another. While it's convenient to think of a single lead company or experience ushering in the Metaverse, the process itself will really be led through a Cambrian explosion of different “things” coming together (not that there can’t be a leader or big winner). Fulfilled by Amazon, Amazon Channels), is building what they hope will be the first major gaming/rendering engine purpose-designed for the cloud computing era, reportedly working on AR glasses, and is the leader in in-home/office digital assistants. Many of these companies are scaling to great heights, meaning that nothing is precluding their advancement. The same is true of digital experiences. The popularity of video game broadcasting and YouTubers still elude many in the media industry, as does the idea that the best way to monetize content might be to give it away for free and charge for optional $0.99 items of no consequential value. However, Epic Games Founder/CEO Tim Sweeney has been vocal about the fact that today’s standard 30% commissions for digital content sales (e.g. As a former Amazon Studios executive and current venture capitalist, Matthew Ball is well versed on interactive media, including gaming and streaming video. A “game” – Fortnite has many elements of the Metaverse. ... Genvid is helping put the “meta” in the Metaverse by creating the most advanced interactive streaming technology in the world. But please ask that question again in 12 months. “Esports and the Dangers of Serving at the Pleasure of a King” – thoughtful piece by Matthew Ball on the issues that may hinder esports growth. Our ability to interconnect more in the digital world will create a whole new market that we may be on the cusp of understanding but cannot yet predict. Appropriately, he starts by putting all of it in context, reminding us of the memex-hypertext-web evolution, which took decades to come to fruition. Fortnite is too valuable a platform. This is why there’s an intrinsic issue with Apple’s pursued acquisition of Epic Games technology, where Epic argues that because Apple is so large, it will become a natural monopoly and effectively stop the Metaverse dead in its tracks. However, it has rapidly expanded into creating all new games and experience using Fortnite’s engine, assets, and aesthetics. And for that matter, all of the prerequisites for building Facebook existed pre-Y2K, but Facebook didn't come along until 2005 – and even then, it was an accident. While this lacks several of the key attributes of the Metaverse today, such as individual “presence”, it begins amassing enormous volumes of “players” into fully shared virtual environments that aren’t currently possible via cloud or locally-rendered gaming. From 2016-2018, he served as the global Head of Strategy for Amazon Studios, and prior to that was a Director at The Chernin Group’s Otter Media. However, we can identify core attributes. This isn’t a “meta” (Greek for “beyond”) universe, just a synthetic and fictional one designed for a single purpose (a game). Individuals currently have multiple identity profiles online, between Google, Apple, Facebook, and more. Thus, it may be easier to think of a set of characteristics that collectively define the metaverse. Some believe the definition (and success) of a Metaverse requires it to be a heavily decentralized platform built mostly upon community-based standards and protocols (like the open web) and an “open source” Metaverse OS or platform (this doesn’t mean there won’t be dominant closed platforms in the Metaverse). He trained at The Royal Ballet School and joined the Company during the 2013/14 Season, promoted to First Artist in 2015, Soloist in 2016, First Soloist in 2017 and Principal dancer in 2018. A “new UGC platform” - The Metaverse is not just another YouTube or Facebook-like platform in which countless individuals can “create”, “share”, and “monetize” content, and where the most popular content represents only the tiniest share of overall consumption. But in the game, as with real life, you can’t just “build” a 10MM person city. ... (wrote a proto-Metaverse piece a year earlier). Ball is in the process of establishing a metaverse conference. And outside film and TV, Unreal is increasingly being used for live events, too: Unreal powers Fox Sports’s NASCAR set, for example. If other companies follow suit, they will collectively help create the possibility for interconnectivity amongst all things. To operate, the Metaverse requires something more akin to video conferencing and video games. Companies are already using game engine software to do things like produce film and television, design airports and plan commercial infrastructure. – Matt Ball Intro. architecture, design, engineering) than Unreal. It's not perfect, but it is an evolving tool in moviemaking. If Epic has a viable path to the Metaverse, Valve must too. It’s also helpful to consider what the Metaverse is often, but incorrectly, likened to. ‎My guest today, Matthew Ball, is a long time coming. According to Epic Games Founder/CEO Tim Sweeney, this means that there are now three ways to create in Unreal: the standard “coding” engine itself, the more simplified and “visual” Twinmotion, and Fortnite Creative Mode for those with no experience in programming and design. Gaming has gotten to such an advanced level when it comes to simulation and visualization that it is paving the way for the Metaverse. Here’s a look at Ball’s musings on what the Metaverse really is, why it matters, what it’s going to take to build, who’s trying to build it, and what that means for your business. We don’t know exactly what the Metaverse will need, let alone which existing standards will transfer over, how, to what effects, when, or through which applications and groups. Those who have the greatest reach and participation right now are leading the way to a future in which they will have a large share in the Metaverse. Tencent owns that on-ramp, and the titles that will keep people engaged and immersed in early versions of the Metaverse. Reframing your view of today’s landscape now and recognizing these disparate forays into new tech-driven experiences not as disparate, but as ingredients on a collision course to the birth of the Metaverse, may be the very thing that will position you and your business to be prepared for it when it comes. Just imagine, for example, if credit card fees weren’t 0.5-2.5% but up to 60-20x as much; whole sectors of the physical economy wouldn’t be able to operate (such as a coffee shop or grocery store). Minecraft and Roblox, for example, both boast more than 100MM monthly users (Fortnite probably has fewer) and have also been able to mash up various intellectual properties (such as Marvel and DC). Instead, it will slowly emerge over time as different products, services, and capabilities integrate and meld together. English dancer Matthew Ball is a Principal dancer of The Royal Ballet. Ubiquity6, as an example, hopes to use millions of individual content creators to “map” the real world then build smartphone/AR/VR-accessible digital experiences atop these maps. We have seen our lives go heavily “online” in the many months since the global pandemic rocked our world and the way it traditionally works. A Metaverse must also have no real cap on audience, and have its own fully functioning economy... Fortnite hasn't reached Metaverse status yet. A couple of months ago, Matthew Ball, a venture capitalist specialised in interactive media, dedicated a long post on his blog to the concept of the metaverse, examining its nature, where it can be found and who its constructor will be. Matthew Ball - The Future of Media: Movies, the Metaverse, and More Matthew Ball is the Managing Partner of Epyllion Industries and the former head of strategy at Amazon Studios. The Metaverse by premise expects and requires multiple winners. Similarly, a car designed for Rocket League (or even for Porsche’s website) could be brought over to work in Roblox. The similarly named Singularity6 is building a virtual world that, unlike Fortnite, is intended to develop into a Metaverse from day one. Just as it was hard to envision in 1982 what the Internet of 2020 would be — and harder still to communicate it to those who had never even “logged” onto it at that time — we don’t really know how to describe the Metaverse. The Metaverse isn’t about scaling what we have, it’s about connecting everything we have together. However, as is the case with Ready Player One, it remains too narrow in what it does, how far it extends, and what “work” can occur (at least for now). This means thousands of games already operate on its “stack” of tools and software (to simplify things), making it easier to share assets, integrate experiences, and share user profiles. As with Facebook, the Metaverse needs to be “populated”, rather than just “populable”, and this population must then fill in this digital world with things to do and content to consume. However, it’s helpful to think of three core elements that need to come into place. Sitting at a keyboard, locked in position for hours and focusing on a fixed screen is a recipe for a range of physical complaints, from sore necks to … And there are many reasons why. The acquisition of media conglomerate Time Warner by landline internet giant AOL was set in 2000 based on the idea media and tech/distribution needed to converge, but was unwound in 2009 after it failed to produce much benefit. And while something that sounds straight out of science fiction may leave you thinking that it has no bearing on today’s world, think again. Ball & Jacob Navok 5/18/20 small and too immediately even broader, more complex, and capabilities and! 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