YouTube uploads a metaverse strategy

Future. YouTube is entering the metaverse… with gaming… somehow. The details are fuzzy, but the Google-owned video-hosting service wants to make its gaming content more interactive. As a service that is built on hosting content from others, the platform has a unique opportunity to create a democratized hub for gaming metaverses to exist on.

Let the games begin
Does YouTube want to be a portal to the metaverse?

• Chief product officer Neal Mohan said that the company will “bring more interactions to games and make them feel more alive.”
• It didn’t expand on those plans other than calling the ambitions “early days.”
• But it will probably include some sort of VR component — YouTube has supported VR videos since 2016.

YouTube’s focus on gaming to enter the metaverse is an obvious one  — Bloomberg reports that the metaverse market could be worth $800 billion by 2024, mostly due to growth from gaming platforms.

It’s all part and parcel of YouTube’s strategy of keeping up with the times. It’s not good enough to be the biggest video platform in the world, so it’s investing heavily into its TikTok-rival, Shorts, and adding a bevy of new features for creators.

Sounds like the exact playbook of another big tech company.