Xbox head Phil Spencer thinks that gamers have already been in the metaverse for the past 30 years, although he understands why gamers are hesitant to get involved with it just yet.
One of the rising trends in the gaming space at the moment is the potential of the metaverse, something that companies like Facebook and Epic Games are putting a lot of their focus on, to mixed results. With that growing interest comes the question of what other big companies and studios in the gaming space think about the concept, something that Phil Spencer was recently asked about.
During an interview with Bloomberg, Phil Spencer was asked about his thoughts regarding the ongoing rise of the metaverse and how it might change the landscape of gaming. In response, Spencer argued that games are already all about the metaverse and that we've already been there for the past 30 years.
Spencer said, "My view on metaverse is that gamers have been in the metaverse for 30 years. When you're playing games, these 3D shared worlds that people have been playing in for years and years, I think what we've found is that there's more connection because we have a shared purpose. It's not at all surprising to me that gamers might look at metaverse and think, 'well, I don't really get it, because I already have an avatar of myself, and I can already go into a shared world, and I can already sit there and have voice conversations with people anywhere'."
Although Spencer still seems to be on the fence about the metaverse as a whole and gave no indication towards Microsoft pursuing the idea, he did clamp down on the idea of play-to-earn games, saying, "Play-to-earn specifically is something I’m cautious about. It creates a worker force out of players, for certain players to kind of monetize. I think sometimes it’s a hammer looking for a nail when these technologies come up. But the actual human use — or player use, in our case — of these technologies, I think there could be some interesting things."