‘Metaverse’ Term Creator Neal Stephenson Not Bullish About Massive Adoption of Virtual Worlds

Neal Stephenson, ostensibly the first to coin the term “metaverse,” has shared his views on the future of virtual world adoption. science fiction author and blockchain metaverse company co-founder of Lamina1, believes that building experiences that millions of people consider worth having in virtual worlds is very difficult and is hindering the technology adoption process.

Neal Stephenson on the future of Metaverse adoption

Neal Stephenson, credited as the creator of the popular concept and term “metaverse,” recently popularized by Meta, believes that mainstream adoption of this technology may be very far off. The writer, who coined the term as part of his 1992 novel Snow Crash, states that the growth of the metaverse will depend on the quality of the experiences offered in the virtual world.

As part of an interview provided to

the Financial Times, Stevenson stated.

There is no metaverse that will be used by millions of people unless it includes experiences that millions of people will find valuable. And it is very difficult to create those experiences.

Articulating the relationship between the metaverse and game technology, the author explains that “the game industry is the economic engine, the technology engine, and clearly the foundation for the future metaverse,” and cites one game that opened the metaverse era, John Carmack of ID Software’s He cites “Doom,” produced by John Carmack of ID Software, as one of the games that ushered in the metaverse era.

blockchain interconnected virtual worlds

Stevenson also explained that the blockchain and the metaverse have a natural relationship, allowing the interconnection of various worlds as part of a larger world. The author stated that one of the reasons behind the creation ofLamina1

, the company he co-founded, was to lay a foundation layer for the creation of a digital world with “an engineering level that matches pretty well with what blockchain can do.” He stated.

While the internal design of the metaverse can be done in a centralized way, the movement of this data from one metaverse to another, which is part of a larger metaverse, can be done using blockchain-based tools. The declaration states.

In order to build a metaverse, we will need a situation where people can move freely from one environment to another. All of this smacks of a decentralized kind of network of interactions and financial transactions, reminiscent of blockchain and other decentralized financial kinds of configurations.

What do you think about Neal Stephenson’s opinion on the future of metaverse adoption and its relationship to blockchain? Let us know in the comments section below.

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