According to The Wall Street Journal, Disney has shut down its metaverse business and laid off all of the team’s 50 or so people as part of a larger reorganisation process. Former Disney CEO Bob Chapek appointed industry veteran Mike White to manage the team tasked with discovering engaging ways to deliver Disney’s tales utilising new technology a little over a year ago. Although the rest of the crew has been laid off, White will continue with the firm, but it is unknown what role he will play in the future.
According to reports, the executive’s idea to develop an Amazon Prime-like subscription service for Disney has been cancelled. It would have resulted in a unified user experience for Disney+, the company’s retail operations, and the applications used to buy food and products at Disney theme parks.
Chapek was optimistic about Disney’s future in the metaverse, previously saying that the company should excel at “blending… the physical and digital experiences” and referring to the metaverse as “the next great storytelling frontier.” However, the division’s closure does not necessarily mean that Disney has abandoned its metaverse ambitions for good. According to The Wall Street Journal, Bob Iger, who returned as CEO to replace Chapek in November 2022, demonstrated his interest in the metaverse when he joined the board of an animated avatar firm.
Although Iger may have another plan in mind, we may not hear about it for a while. Investors have pressed Disney to adopt significant cost-cutting measures, and the company recently stated that it will lay off 7,000 people. According to TechCrunch, there will be three waves of layoffs, the first of which will take place this week. The metaverse crew might easily be one of the first to be affected by Disney’s massive reorganisation initiatives. Iger said in the memo acquired by TechCrunch that the business will issue a bigger batch of layoff notices in April and will tell the remaining impacted workers before the start of summer.
