Epic Games gets huge investors for their Metaverse

Epic Games lands massive investors for new Metaverse project

Epic Games and LEGO have partnered up for a new Metaverse project that will see elements of Fortnite and LEGO be used to build a family-friendly virtual reality, with a focus on catering to younger kids, who want to explore and build. To help facilitate that, they’ve brought in Sony Group Corporation and KIRKBI to invest $1 billion each into the Epig Cames to help create their Metaverse.

The four companies are now tied together with this Metaverse project, but it may not be the brilliant idea that Epic Games is hoping for.

The idea is highly controversial, as Facebook’s Metaverse is having difficulty finding people to engage with it, and some believe that the idea of a Metaverse is too much.

The Metaverse may be shaping up to be a massive disappointment

Facebook Reality Labs, the main group creating Facebooks’ Metaverse, lost $3.3 billion. Facebook is sinking a lot of money into something that is having problems maintaining younger audiences. It seems like people just don’t want to engage in virtual reality, go figure. It’s the one technology that is perpetually rejected decade after decade.

There are even more concerns that will set up Epic Games’ Metaverse for failure, physiologists believe it will have long-lasting effects on people who use it. Social media already is highly problematic and destructive for a person’s psyche, one can only imagine what it’ll be like in the Metaverse.

The chief science officer for the American Psychological Association, Mitch Prinstein, who is a clinical psychologist, told CNBC Make It (via CNBC.com)

"All of these new tools, and all of these new possibilities, could be used for good or for evil."

Prinstein goes on to say;

"This is creating more loneliness. This is creating far more body image concerns [and] exposure to dangerous content that’s related to suicidality."

Another psychologist, Albert “Skip” Rizzo, also told CNBC that the immersion can be highly problematic.

"There’s a potency about being immersed in a world that is different than observing and interacting…through a flat screen monito. Once you’re actually embodied in a space, even though you can’t be physically touched, we can be exposed to things that take on a level of realism that could be psychologically assaulting."

It should be noted that Epic and LEGO are very aware that they need to provide a safe space for kids using the service, but there are always issues. It’s very likely that Epic’s Metaverse fails as Facebook’s Metaverse appears to be doing so.

Should that happen, maybe it’d be for the best, as we’re probably already too wired in as a society as it is.