Disney has appointed a senior executive to oversee the company’s metaverse strategy.
Mike White, who has been with the firm for more than ten years, will lead a group of top executives.
Chief executive Bob Chapek stated in a memo to colleagues published by the BBC that the metaverse is “the next great storytelling frontier” to be explored.
Technology behemoths like Meta and Microsoft are investing billions of dollars in the metaverse.
Mr. Chapek hailed the metaverse as the “ideal platform to pursue our strategic pillars of storytelling excellence, innovation, and audience attention,” according to the memo.
Mr. White will take on the role of senior vice president of Next Generation Storytelling and Consumer Experiences at Disney. He will distribute resources, investigate collaborations, and foster knowledge sharing on the metaverse in his newly formed role, according to the business. He’ll also be in charge of a team with expertise in technology, strategy, and narrative.
Disney sees the metaverse as the next step in its nearly century-long storytelling history.
Last Monday, Disney announced that revenues at its theme parks in the United States had surpassed pre-pandemic levels.
It also revealed that its Disney+ streaming service has gained 11.8 million new subscribers in the last three months of 2021. This resulted in bringing the total number of subscribers to nearly 130 million globally.
Biggest Bets On The Metaverse
A metaverse is a virtual world where people can play games, work, and communicate using virtual reality headsets.
Some of the world’s largest IT corporations are touting it as a crucial milestone in the next generation of the internet.
The business formerly known as Facebook has placed the largest wager on the metaverse thus far.
Last year, Facebook renamed itself Meta Platforms. And announced plans to invest more than $10 billion (£7.4 billion) in virtual reality software and hardware.
Meanwhile, as part of its metaverse drive, Microsoft has announced the addition of 3D virtual avatars. Also environments to its Teams messaging system.