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Millions of dollars are being invested in virtual property but what do you get for your money in reality? Access to parties in Decentraland where the socialite Paris Hilton DJ-ed at a festival hosted in outer space? The FT has a great long-form read.
Edward Castronova, professor of media at Indiana University and an authority on virtual economies, is equally critical. “I’ve been saying the same thing about virtual real estate for 20 years or so: I never thought it was a good model and I still think it’s not.” For Castronova, the techno-utopian excitement of metaverse acolytes belies the core question — is the content good enough to compete with distractions including Netflix, YouTube, TikTok and other games, and to encourage players to return in ever-growing numbers? Those who have made money through virtual land have been the beneficiaries of hype cycles, he says, not investors in products that offer solid value in the attention economy.
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