The Walt Disney Company is one of the most well-known entertainment brands in the world, and some of the best-loved children’s stories have been made by the company. So, the much-talked-about idea of the “metaverse”—immersive, interactive online spaces where magic and stories can happen—is a perfect fit for its business strategy.
Disney’s intellectual property includes Marvel, Star Wars, its huge library of animated movies from the past 60 years, and well-known children’s brands like Disney Princesses and Disney Villains. It stands to reason that “the Mouse House” would make a lot of money from a shared, online digital universe based on these worlds and characters. Even though there aren’t many details right now, it’s a safe bet that something like this is being planned!
The famous entertainment brand is known for more than just movies, TV shows, and animated films. It is also known for its resorts and theme parks. This ability to make fantasy come to life in the real world fits well with the idea that the metaverse will focus on bringing the real and virtual worlds together. Disney is probably one of the companies best able to take advantage of the opportunities connected, immersive, and long-lasting virtual worlds offer. So, here is a list of some of the ways we know or think it will follow this cool new trend.
Getting everyone together
To make opportunities in the metaverse, you need the right people in place. The fact that Mike White was hired as Disney’s first “metaverse executive” to start building a metaverse strategy shows that the company is moving in this direction. Mike is the senior vice president of next-generation storytelling and consumer experiences. It is expected that he will focus on figuring out how well virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and other technologies that work with the metaverse can be used. These technologies give Disney and other media and entertainment companies a whole new set of tools for making new experiences for their audiences. Disney has always been ahead of the curve. It was one of the first companies to use television, computer-generated animation, video games, and the internet, so there’s no reason to think it won’t do the same with virtual reality and the metaverse.
Storytelling is at the heart of everything that has made Disney great, so it makes sense that it will be the center of its metaverse strategy. When people think of Disney stories, they probably first think of the movies and TV shows they’ve watched. CEO Bob Chapek has made it clear that he wants this to change. He recently said during an earnings call, “We realize that it’s going to be less of a passive-type experience where you just have playback, whether it’s a sporting event or an entertainment offering, and more of an interactive, lean-forward, actively engaged type of experience.”
There are already a number of virtual reality experiences based on Disney properties. The Star Wars-themed Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge may be the most famous of these. Even though the game can only be played by one person at a time, it shows that Disney is serious about the potential of virtual reality. Some people think that recent trademark applications show that a Marvel-based metaverse experience of some kind is also being made and could be released soon.
NFTs and Blockchain
Many people who like the idea of the metaverse think that blockchains and related technologies like non-fungible tokens (NFTs) will be very important in the new worlds that are being built. This is because they make it possible to build virtual worlds (and pretty much anything else virtual) in a way that is not controlled by a single authority. In Disney’s case, it’s likely that it would want to keep control of its own digital environments in one place, like if it made a virtual theme park.
But NFTs in particular could also be used to make one-of-a-kind digital collectibles and limited-edition virtual assets. All things that Disney fans are known to care about. The company has already made a set of NFTs called Golden Moments to honor some of its most popular movie characters and scenes. Unlike the many physical collectibles that the company sells, these ones are made to keep making money for the company. Due to the “smart contract” features that can be built into NFTs, Disney gets a six percent cut every time a fan or collector trades or resells one.
Theme parks and computerized worlds
Chapek’s words are, “Our parks are something that no one else has. Disney is the best at what they do.”
Visitors to Disney parks, resorts, hotels, and cruise ships have had access to “magic” wristbands that can be used to unlock a variety of virtual and real-world interactions as well as store credits that can be used to buy things in shops and restaurants for a while now. It has also made a virtual assistant-style app called Genie that helps you plan your trip and creates a personalized itinerary so that visitors don’t miss the sights they are most likely to enjoy.
You could say that these are the building blocks of a plan for the metaverse that includes theme parks. A recent patent application might give us more information. This makes it seem like the company wants to make augmented reality environments that don’t need headsets. SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) technology would be needed for this, according to the application. This could track guests’ movements through a real-world setting, like a theme park, and use projectors to bring characters to life right in front of their eyes. Similar technology is already used in the parks for live performances and parades. The difference here is that the visuals will be customized for each visitor, giving each person a unique experience.
How Well Do Disney and the Metaverse Go Together?
As of this writing, there aren’t many specifics about what Disney wants to do with the metaverse. However, it seems clear that plans of some kind are in the works. Disney has done an amazing job of staying as popular with Generation Z kids as it was with the baby boomers, who made it a household name in the first place. It has done this by being good at marketing and business and by knowing its own strengths and weaknesses. In recent years, it has bought big-name companies like Marvel and Lucasfilm, giving it control over popular brands and characters that are ready to be used in new ways that use technology to tell stories. All of these things mean that the House of Mouse is in a good position to be a leader in the growth of the metaverse.
Latest NFT News, Trendings and Tutorials, right at your inbox, every Monday Leave this field empty if you're human: