Will the Metaverse be a universal platform? Part 1

BigTech and other online platforms are beginning to acquire software businesses to position themselves for the arrival of the Metaverse. They hope to be at the forefront of profound changes that the Metaverse will bring in relation to digital interactions between people, between businesses, and between them both.

What is the Metaverse? The short answer is that it does not exist yet. At the moment it is vision for what the future will be like where personal and commercial life is conducted digitally in parallel with our lives in the physical world. Sounds too much like science fiction? For something that does not exist yet, the Metaverse is drawing a huge amount of attention and investment in the tech sector and beyond.

A team from our UK Technology practice comprising of Sean Murphy, Lara White, Dr Michael Sinclair and Professor Peter McBurney have published a two part article on the Metaverse with Society for Computers and Law (CSL). Click here to read part I, in which they look at what the Metaverse is, what its potential is for disruptive change, and what some of the computer science challenges are. In Part II, they will consider some of the key legal and regulatory issues future stakeholders may need to consider.

Click here to register for our webinar on The Metaverse, taking place on Thursday, 20 January. Our antitrust, data and privacy, technology and intellectual property lawyers will be joined by a panel of industry stakeholders, in-house counsel and a professor of computer science to consider:

• Who are the key stakeholders?
• How will the Metaverse develop?
• What will be required technologically?
• The opportunities for business (including for investment and for the creative games and interactive entertainment industry)
• The legal and regulatory challenges to be navigated