Metaverse
The metaverse is the category of persistent, shared virtual spaces in which people are present as avatars and can own, trade and operate things. It is not a product and no company owns it — it names a class of platforms in the way that "the web" names a class of sites, which is why claims that it succeeded or failed as a whole are usually claims about a narrative rather than about the platforms.
Why the term became contested
Between 2021 and 2023 the word carried a specific investment thesis: that persistent worlds would become the primary interface for social and commercial life, and that the assets inside them would appreciate accordingly. That thesis failed on population and redemption. The failure of a thesis is not the failure of a category, but the word absorbed the damage and is now avoided by companies still operating in it.
What a metaverse platform requires
Three properties distinguish a metaverse platform from a multiplayer game: the world persists when you leave it, other people are present in the same instance, and what you make or acquire inside it has some standing beyond a single session. Platforms meeting all three include Roblox, Fortnite Creative, Decentraland, The Sandbox and VRChat. Platforms meeting none are simply games with lobbies.
CoinGecko Research — metaverse land prices · The Block — Meta reductions and token collapse
See also
Related entries in the Register. Every see-also is reciprocal — if this entry points there, that entry points back.
Metaverse Group, The Register, REG-001 “Metaverse”, as at 2026-08-28. https://metaversegroup.com/encyclopedia/metaverse/
Reference numbers are permanent and never reused. This entry is corrected by publishing a new entry that supersedes it, never by editing this text — so a citation made today resolves to exactly what it said today.