Experts warn equity investors against rising metaverse hype

Metaverse has become a new buzzword among venture capital firms and tech giants, but industry observers warned the concept is vague, even illusory, and certainly nascent－and related technologies, application scenarios and business modes are far from mature.

The term metaverse was coined by US science fiction writer Neal Stephenson in his 1992 novel Snow Crash, which was set in a near future in which the virtual world and the physical world are inextricably interconnected. It covers a wide variety of fields like virtual reality, augmented reality, online games, cloud computing and ultrahigh definition video.

A batch of Chinese companies are jumping on the metaverse bandwagon, and beefing up efforts in VR and AR segments, combining metaverse elements into the research and development of game products. However, experts expressed concern that the concept might be overhyped and suggested people should not invest blindly.