In this episode, we discuss Solana opening a store in New York City, Minecraft banning NFTs, Epic Games coming out in support of blockchain technologies, Mark Zuckerberg claiming the race to the metaverse is between Meta and Apple, and so much more!
Episode 35 Keywords: Solana, store, New York City, Minecraft, NFT ban, Epic Games, blockchain technologies, Mark Zuckerberg, metaverse, Meta, Apple
Transcripts
Unknown:
Welcome to the metaphysics podcast. The
Unknown:
Metaverse and web three are bringing about the biggest
Unknown:
revolution since the internet itself. With your hosts Paul the
Unknown:
prophet Dawalibi And Jeff the juice Cohen. We will be bringing
Unknown:
you the latest Metaverse, business news and insight into
Unknown:
what it all means. The meta business podcast starts now.
Unknown:
From the boardroom to the metaverse. This is the meta
Unknown:
business podcast. I am Paul the profit that will leave me. I'm
Unknown:
joined today by my friend and co host, Jeff the juice Cohen. For
Unknown:
those of you who are new here, welcome to the official podcast
Unknown:
in the metaverse. What we do is we cover the most pressing,
Unknown:
Metaverse, topics news of the week, we look at all of it
Unknown:
through a business and C suite lens, we dissect, we analyze the
Unknown:
business implications of everything happening in this
Unknown:
amazing industry. For our regular listeners. Thank you
Unknown:
guys for tuning in every single week. Thank you for leaving
Unknown:
those reviews, the five star ratings and reviews we promised
Unknown:
we read all of them. They're all so humbling. The feedback has
Unknown:
been amazing. We really appreciate it. If you haven't
Unknown:
yet, make sure you hit subscribe on the podcast so you get
Unknown:
alerted when new episodes drop every single week. And also
Unknown:
share the podcast with a friend or colleague, someone who's
Unknown:
maybe interested in the metaverse or web three, someone
Unknown:
who maybe doesn't know much about it.
Unknown:
But it was fun to introduce new people to the show, Jeff, how
Unknown:
you doing this week? Pretty good. Pretty good. Funny, my
Unknown:
cousin actually texted me like the other day and I guess he
Unknown:
must have been with my mom or something. And he's like, I
Unknown:
already have a new podcast. So he's now listening. That's
Unknown:
awesome. So there's always There's always new listeners,
Unknown:
you know, rolling and even family members sometimes you
Unknown:
know, aren't aren't necessarily aware. So, Hey, Johnny, you're
Unknown:
listening to this episode. And yeah, it's good to it's good to
Unknown:
continue getting more listeners. But it's a good it's a good.
Unknown:
It's a good thought, right? just force it on your family. If you
Unknown:
love the podcast, sit them all down. You know how they used to
Unknown:
go through, like slides from your family vacation, just sit
Unknown:
the whole family down and make them all listen to the podcast
Unknown:
or at least subscribe. I think this is this is the way to do
Unknown:
value its value add.
Unknown:
We've gotten a ton of stories. So let's jump into it. Jeff this
Unknown:
week. Let's start with as we usually do something maybe a
Unknown:
little bit lighter. And the headline here is crypto project
Unknown:
Solana is opening a store in New York City. Take a look inside.
Unknown:
So basically this is called Solana spaces. It's the first
Unknown:
permanent retail store funded by the Solana foundation. It's
Unknown:
going to be in Hudson Yards mall in Manhattan, which if you don't
Unknown:
know is a pretty fancy upscale mall in in New York City. And
Unknown:
what they're saying is the store according to this is like a it's
Unknown:
it's selling physical goods
Unknown:
but also selling digital goods with Solana pay accepted
Unknown:
obviously everywhere, right? So the idea is to onboard people
Unknown:
into the crypto space. There's a private booth for people to set
Unknown:
up their wallets, you know, right down it says their seed
Unknown:
phrase you know, so that so they can access it, should they you
Unknown:
know, should they go to school? What would they physically be?
Unknown:
So
Unknown:
I just from the photos that looked like hoodies and things
Unknown:
like that right like
Unknown:
merch Yeah.
Unknown:
But then, you know, so that it says there's branded merch
Unknown:
everywhere. And, again, the the goal according to them,
Unknown:
according to the Solana team, and the CEO of Solana spaces, is
Unknown:
what they say is like saying it's really around education,
Unknown:
right? It says, ultimately, the store is an experiment that we
Unknown:
think a lot of people will love. It's not obviously the
Unknown:
the author here says it's an expensive experiment, because
Unknown:
rent in a place like Hudson Yards is obviously quite high.
Unknown:
So but at the same time, like is it because it's funny, like as
Unknown:
you were talking, I jotted down on my note but literally cheap
Unknown:
marketing. So maybe I just think like, like to me like this seems
Unknown:
like actually a decently cheap form of marketing. Personally,
Unknown:
you know, a Superbowl ad
Unknown:
I guess maybe not in terms of reach, but like literally
Unknown:
cheaper than Superbowl ad. First thing that comes to mind and if
Unknown:
you're not watching the video, maybe you just Google it or go
Unknown:
check it out. It looks exactly like an Apple store. It clearly
Unknown:
model that on that as as many retail do so yeah, I was gonna
Unknown:
say that's like almost all of retail since the Apple Store
Unknown:
today.
Unknown:
So I mean, initially I was I was ready to hate this. I was
Unknown:
already to say this is another example of the excess and just
Unknown:
ridiculousness of web three. And what is the point of this? It's
Unknown:
a physical, you know, it's an inch piece of infrastructure and
Unknown:
digital technology. Why do they need a physical store? But then
Unknown:
I was thinking about, like, some of the things you said just the
Unknown:
onboarding process for crypto. I almost view this as like a
Unknown:
really good Geek Squad, right? Like if you want to get people
Unknown:
with the crypto they need a certain demographic of people
Unknown:
needs to have
Unknown:
Have a person right? They need to be able to talk to someone
Unknown:
like, how do I get? How do I put money onto my wallet? How do I
Unknown:
buy something with crypto do it for me? How do I create my seed
Unknown:
phrase, my password helped me. So I kind of say think that it
Unknown:
could be the equivalent of that, where it's almost like becomes a
Unknown:
little bit of like a Geek Squad where people in onboards a lot
Unknown:
like you're walking through, they're like, Okay, this is
Unknown:
cool. Let me go check it out. Let me ask some stupid
Unknown:
questions. And maybe you bring more people into the ecosystem,
Unknown:
like, will this store make money or provide a great ROI? You
Unknown:
know, for Silvana, the end of the day, I probably doubt it.
Unknown:
But it's kind of a good thing for the ecosystem actually, like
Unknown:
I just think it will, it will educate folks. It will it will
Unknown:
it really did things like I don't know. Like, how many
Unknown:
people like honestly, do you think will go through this
Unknown:
store? On a daily basis?
Unknown:
Probably a decent amount. Like if you're just, you know,
Unknown:
browsing through the mall. It's pretty high in Miko. You
Unknown:
obviously know it. Well. Yeah. How many? How many crypto
Unknown:
wallets? Do you think they'll activate in a day?
Unknown:
75 I don't, I don't think it'll be anywhere near that. I figure
Unknown:
like two an hour maybe right? There's like one or two of these
Unknown:
pods, right? Like two an hour or something like that. You're
Unknown:
talking like 16 wallets activated in an eight hour kind
Unknown:
of work day ish.
Unknown:
Like back of the envelope math, if the space cost them 100 grand
Unknown:
a month. And it may be more actually because I don't know
Unknown:
what, you know,
Unknown:
real estate, like retail space costs and Hudson Yards, but I
Unknown:
did the back of the envelope math, like you're talking about
Unknown:
cost of customer acquisition. Even I think in the most
Unknown:
conservative scenarios around $200.
Unknown:
But like, that actually is not that bad. I think I aren't
Unknown:
uncertain. You know, like, I think crypto.com Like a lot of
Unknown:
these companies have been paying like, massive sign on fees. Like
Unknown:
if you if you join their,
Unknown:
you know, their exchange, like they'll give you $50 For your
Unknown:
$25 Free it's like 200 Our customer acquisition cost
Unknown:
actually, like, you know, doesn't strike me as that high.
Unknown:
Now, I think so. Maybe they're looking for more b2b. So maybe
Unknown:
they're they're looking just to generate the high end Mall. You
Unknown:
get the right kind of people in there. Maybe they think, okay,
Unknown:
you're you're getting executives that aren't the tastemakers,
Unknown:
exactly, exactly. You kind of get the tastemakers, the
Unknown:
decision makers to kind of to come through there. And then
Unknown:
they get hooked. And it also creates a brand Halo, right? You
Unknown:
have this great store this great mall, and it becomes all of a
Unknown:
sudden, Solana edges themselves above the competition, just in
Unknown:
the mindshare of the right people like you are talking
Unknown:
about that they're hedge funds in that in that space. It's, you
Unknown:
know, all sorts of titans of industry walking through that
Unknown:
mall. So I don't know, maybe that maybe it makes sense. I
Unknown:
mean, you're talking about spending, though, that is on the
Unknown:
order of a Superbowl ad, right, like between rent outfitting it.
Unknown:
People, right, like you're talking millions of dollars at
Unknown:
this point?
Unknown:
I don't know. Like, maybe it was they were better off just like
Unknown:
sponsoring and Mr. Beast, here's the question.
Unknown:
And maybe this maybe this was mentioned in the article, maybe
Unknown:
it wasn't, and maybe they have this decision made? And maybe
Unknown:
they don't? Do you think this was a one off? Like kind of
Unknown:
we'll see this for six months as almost like a pop up shop? Or is
Unknown:
this going to be part of a broader? There's going to be one
Unknown:
in Miami, there's going to be one in San Francisco, one in
Unknown:
Chicago? Because I think it'd be interesting if that's the case.
Unknown:
I don't know.
Unknown:
It says in the article. It's a permanent physical retail space.
Unknown:
So it's not a pop up. Now, what their plans are in terms of
Unknown:
expansion.
Unknown:
That's not mentioned. If you had to bet will we see any more of
Unknown:
these?
Unknown:
Yes, yes, because the the article does say that this is
Unknown:
being paid for by the Solana Foundation. And they're, they're
Unknown:
the ones like they're the ones covering all the costs of the
Unknown:
store. And their goal is to, you know, help build out the Solana
Unknown:
ecosystem. And I would think, if they've committed to this retail
Unknown:
model permanently in New York City. In other words, not like a
Unknown:
three month pop up, you have to believe that it's part of some
Unknown:
broader plan. I mean, this just makes me even more makes me hate
Unknown:
it even more to be honest, right? If we see like 12 retail
Unknown:
stores, again, for a product that is inherently digital, and
Unknown:
I don't I don't really get it if the goal is to sign up my
Unknown:
grandmother. I don't think that achieves that really either.
Unknown:
She's not gonna wander into the Solana store and go like Hey
Unknown:
guys, what's going on here? Right, like, Sign me up. That's
Unknown:
true. But like you do see this like with even you know, like, I
Unknown:
think back to when Tesla like famously put like, showrooms in
Unknown:
the mall, and like you could argue yes, you do need to go see
Unknown:
a car. It's a physical
Unknown:
I get the difference. But it was a different kind of direct to
Unknown:
consumer that what the way cars had been sold for hundreds of
Unknown:
years. And it kind of worked. So I don't know. I would bet two
Unknown:
things happen with this one, they get bogged down with like a
Unknown:
bunch of the noobs who come in and they set up their wallet,
Unknown:
that like a week later the wallet they can't figure out how
Unknown:
to make it work. And so there's like a lot of people wandering
Unknown:
in the store like, Where'd my bitcoin go? Right? Like, there's
Unknown:
a lot of that.
Unknown:
And then the second group like they buy the NFT in the store
Unknown:
and then they don't know why they can't take home like the
Unknown:
physical thing on the wall that they thought they just bought. I
Unknown:
feel like it's gonna be 5050 between unhappy experiences and
Unknown:
like 50% that maybe walk away having
Unknown:
in people the intelligence of the people of your old girl
Unknown:
neighborhood I don't have a lot of faith in retail unless it's
Unknown:
truly an experience right and and it's truly for a physical
Unknown:
product that is an experience like Apple Stores work because
Unknown:
you can touch and feel and that you know the MacBook and like,
Unknown:
like it's not just because they're educating you and it's
Unknown:
not just because the Geek Squad is there it is. That is a
Unknown:
physical good with digital goods. This just seems like a
Unknown:
waste but I mean time will tell we'll see. Maybe you'll have to
Unknown:
go check it out. Jeff, I guess right. You'll have to go see me
Unknown:
and we'll report back how about that
Unknown:
let's talk about Minecraft in the news Minecraft. You know, I
Unknown:
know we're Metaverse and web three podcast but Minecraft has
Unknown:
taken a stance here and and the headline is popular blog game.
Unknown:
Like I will always love when like non gaming endemic
Unknown:
outlets report on anything gaming popular block game
Unknown:
Minecraft says no to NF Ts and the blockchain. So Mojang
Unknown:
Studios which is owned by Microsoft, they make Minecraft
Unknown:
they've come out and they've said we are not going to do NF
Unknown:
T's NF T's are not that they say oh, let me read the statement
Unknown:
directly. Nf T's are not inclusive of all of our
Unknown:
community and create a scenario of the haves and have nots.
Unknown:
Mojang also said that the mindset NF T's would introduce
Unknown:
into Minecraft would tarnish players long term enjoyment of
Unknown:
the game, the company expressed concern that players would spend
Unknown:
more time appraising NF T's values and trying to make money
Unknown:
through Minecraft over playing the game itself. So there's a
Unknown:
ban on NF Ts, but they're saying they're gonna pay close
Unknown:
attention to how the technology evolves right there. They're not
Unknown:
ruling it out forever. They say they have no plans of
Unknown:
implementing blockchain into Minecraft right now. So
Unknown:
Minecraft, you know, maybe the best selling game of all time by
Unknown:
some counts 238 million copies sold.
Unknown:
What do you make of them taking the stand, essentially banning
Unknown:
NF T's from their ecosystem. I mean, the cynic in me says, you
Unknown:
know that this is just like a closed platform wanting to keep
Unknown:
the platform closed and make the money themselves. Right, right.
Unknown:
Like they want to be the one selling the Digital Goods and
Unknown:
getting all the money rather than having it be open
Unknown:
transactions. Kind of a lot of the benefits of the of the
Unknown:
blockchain. One of the things we've also talked a lot about is
Unknown:
how the existing games that have massive player bases really
Unknown:
don't have an incentive to be interoperable. And we both
Unknown:
identified interoperability as one of the main like benefits.
Unknown:
The one of the actually, probably the only benefits that
Unknown:
we can see currently, of having blockchain and games is being
Unknown:
able to take things one game to another. Well, if you're in
Unknown:
Minecraft, and you're literally the 800 pound gorilla, you're
Unknown:
arguing out of the top five game currently in your player base?
Unknown:
Well, I would you want to make your game interoperable,
Unknown:
interoperable with anything, because that just means that
Unknown:
people are going to be leaving your game not coming into your
Unknown:
game. So I they really don't have a big incentive to to
Unknown:
integrate blockchain and make it more open. So that's, that's, I
Unknown:
guess, number one. So I do want to hit them a bit on that.
Unknown:
Having said that, some of their points around tarnishing long
Unknown:
term engagement and creating a world of haves and have nots did
Unknown:
resonate with me a little bit, because I think that's something
Unknown:
we've talked a lot about, you know, within, within our
Unknown:
conversations on this podcast is that once you incorporate this
Unknown:
financial mechanism, and that's really what the blockchain is
Unknown:
currently is like financialized in games, with earning component
Unknown:
putting dollar amounts tradability to different assets.
Unknown:
You do kind of tarnish the fun factor or so far.
Unknown:
So I guess I come down on both sides of this one where I think
Unknown:
they're doing it probably for nefarious, various is the wrong
Unknown:
word. They're doing it, not altruistically.
Unknown:
per se. Yeah, I think they're probably right in their
Unknown:
assessment of things.
Unknown:
Yeah, I think you're spot on on the first part, Jeff, like the
Unknown:
whole incentives thing has always been my, you know, my
Unknown:
rallying cry against web three games in general, right. Like,
Unknown:
that's just, you create incentives that take away from
Unknown:
the fun, the actual fun of the game. And people start to focus
Unknown:
on, you know, other things that the reality is have nothing to
Unknown:
do with fun. So, you know, Mojang has this interesting sort
Unknown:
of past. And, you know, without sort of diving too deep into it,
Unknown:
they really have been a company, up until maybe more recently,
Unknown:
that was very, very much focused on their player base and fun and
Unknown:
trying to deliver what their player base wants, right? Like,
Unknown:
this is not out of the ordinary in terms of like, messaging from
Unknown:
them. I saw like, even though you say they're not doing this
Unknown:
altruistically, I think it's in line with the culture at Mojang,
Unknown:
slash Minecraft, right? It's slash Microsoft even all
Unknown:
extended to that, right. Like, there is, I think a culture that
Unknown:
understands gaming within Microsoft may be better than any
Unknown:
of the big tech companies. And and because they understand that
Unknown:
culture better.
Unknown:
And the gaming sort of ecosystem better. This to me, is evidence
Unknown:
of that and they're coming out and they don't want to alienate
Unknown:
anyone in their player base. Right. And so I think it's, it's
Unknown:
an interesting stand, I think they're going to history is
Unknown:
going to prove them right on this one. Because until someone
Unknown:
has figured out why gamers should care about NF, t's beyond
Unknown:
just making money in games, right? Why it makes the game
Unknown:
more fun.
Unknown:
Everyone's just wasting their time sort of thing, right? And
Unknown:
so I liked the stance they took its measured, right, we're
Unknown:
banning it for now, because it doesn't make the game any more
Unknown:
fun. And we think it creates
Unknown:
things that make the game less fun, in fact,
Unknown:
or situations essentially. And but we're gonna keep watching
Unknown:
it, right? They didn't rule it out. And they it's literally in
Unknown:
the statement, but they're gonna keep an eye on it. And so I
Unknown:
think that's about as good as we can expect from a company that's
Unknown:
big. And a game mistake. And I give them I maybe I'm not take
Unknown:
like, I'm, my view is much less cynical on this specifically.
Unknown:
Yes, they're protecting their their ecosystem, but like, if
Unknown:
tomorrow they opened it up to a zillion NF T's I don't think
Unknown:
like anyone would stop playing Minecraft, you know what I mean?
Unknown:
Like, Minecraft would be just as popular as it is today. So I
Unknown:
don't see too much risk, if, you know because first of all, to
Unknown:
open it up just to finish on this point, like
Unknown:
Roblox would also have to open up to let me take my, you know,
Unknown:
diamond x from Minecraft and use it somehow in Roblox.
Unknown:
And that's
Unknown:
really decide, but Will that ever possible between those two
Unknown:
games specific?
Unknown:
No. I mean, it says
Unknown:
conversation. But yeah, that's such a longer line, because I
Unknown:
guess short term long term, like, will we see consolidation?
Unknown:
Well, we see technologies that allow interoperability, despite
Unknown:
what the developers want, right? Like, there may be ways to
Unknown:
tunnel the walled gardens essentially right things like
Unknown:
that. So we'll see. But like, as it stands with current
Unknown:
technology and current sort of
Unknown:
the way the companies are structured today No, I don't
Unknown:
lose no incentive to and the gamers aren't like demanding it
Unknown:
no one's like there's just not 50 million kids going please let
Unknown:
me use my Diamond Axe and Roblox right this just doesn't exist.
Unknown:
So
Unknown:
anyways, I just want to bring up the second part of this story,
Unknown:
which is, let me read this headline epic won't ban NF T
Unknown:
games in response to Minecraft stance, Tim Sweeney says, and
Unknown:
the sub headline here says stores and operating system
Unknown:
makers shouldn't interfere by forcing their views onto others.
Unknown:
So Tim Sweeney forever the Crusader
Unknown:
in response to Minecraft, saying, you know, we're gonna
Unknown:
ban essentially NF T's from our games for now.
Unknown:
Came out and reminded everyone that Epic is not banning NF T's
Unknown:
which is not new because he has said this before, but he took
Unknown:
the
Unknown:
took the opportunity to say it again and added that it's wrong.
Unknown:
I guess he used this word to interfere in how developers make
Unknown:
their games.
Unknown:
What do you think of Tim Sweeney's comments here? I mean,
Unknown:
he never misses an opportunity to play the defender of the
Unknown:
common man common gamer if you will. So yeah, good on him
Unknown:
again. It's like they have a great PR team anytime there's a
Unknown:
story like this. It's like immediately like a quote comes
Unknown:
out like we are
Unknown:
Just banning nfts decision that we made set up months ago, and
Unknown:
still doing it. It's just wrong.
Unknown:
Okay. But having said that smart and they are the challenger
Unknown:
brand, Challenger platform, they they're losing on most fronts at
Unknown:
this debate for whether how successful they are how much of
Unknown:
a failure the epic game store has been. But regardless if we
Unknown:
disagree on how much of a failure or where they are in
Unknown:
that process, if they are clearly the challenger brand,
Unknown:
they're clearly the hunter versus the other. So it's smart
Unknown:
on them to try to find that angle, right. This is the one
Unknown:
maybe part of steams armor that has like a GenCon. You know,
Unknown:
like, if we get to a point where people want to actually play
Unknown:
what three games, and they can't play them on Steam.
Unknown:
epic game store has a massive opportunity there. So I still
Unknown:
made them. That's the key question is just like, when do
Unknown:
we get to that point where people actually want to play
Unknown:
with their games and epic game store becomes the place to do
Unknown:
it. I don't think we're there yet. I remember we talked a few
Unknown:
episodes back, there was a game launch. I can't even now
Unknown:
remember which one it was. But I remember we debated whether it
Unknown:
would be kind of a big moment for the epic game store and for
Unknown:
web three gaming. Given that I can't even remember the name of
Unknown:
the game. I'm guessing it was not a real supernova moment.
Unknown:
You remember?
Unknown:
Watching but I can't even remember now what?
Unknown:
That's
Unknown:
I don't I don't get Tim Sweeney, right. Like, I don't.
Unknown:
I don't I don't really understand
Unknown:
why he has taken on this fight. Right? Like, he's got a totally
Unknown:
dominant game in its genre by in fortnight, or at least a cash
Unknown:
cow. You know, it's not totally done, but it's a cash cow. He
Unknown:
has an engine that has 50% of the market share, right? Like,
Unknown:
I've never understood why he takes on these crusades, because
Unknown:
it doesn't move his business forward in any way today. And so
Unknown:
your argument, I think, is a good one. And I think it's the
Unknown:
art of the argument.
Unknown:
But it has the most validity, right, which is he's making
Unknown:
these arguments today, because he thinks at some point in the
Unknown:
future, all of this catches on, right. And, and Epic Games will
Unknown:
be the only one left standing right, everyone will be years
Unknown:
behind because he saw the future first.
Unknown:
And, and I think he couldn't be any more wrong. I think he
Unknown:
couldn't be any more wrong. What what when I see these articles,
Unknown:
what I truly believe, is Tim Sweeney has become so far
Unknown:
removed from actually making games, that he doesn't really
Unknown:
know what a fun game is anymore. Right? And if you just look at
Unknown:
his Twitter feed
Unknown:
98% of it is him talking about highly technical programming
Unknown:
related things, right? Like, oh, you know, in Objective C, using
Unknown:
an array is less efficient than using like you don't like this
Unknown:
kind of, like hardcore programmer stuff. And then the
Unknown:
rest is his crusade against that bowl against valve against like,
Unknown:
literally anyone who has taken maybe a more measured approach
Unknown:
to this. It's his crusade or his like, highly technical stuff.
Unknown:
And I really am starting to believe that he's not really, he
Unknown:
doesn't really care about making games anymore. And he's not
Unknown:
really in the business of making things anymore himself. Right.
Unknown:
That's just not part of what he sees as his responsibility as
Unknown:
CEO of epic, which makes me very concerned because as a games
Unknown:
company, if the CEO doesn't care about the games you make this is
Unknown:
this is the start of a big downward slide. You can
Unknown:
reference Activision Blizzard as the perfect proof of this.
Unknown:
And so the scenario I see more likely to play out. And I've
Unknown:
said this before, I think is
Unknown:
epic is going to publish some web three game that is complete
Unknown:
garbage. And it's not garbage. It's like it's a scam. It's some
Unknown:
Chinese scam of some kind. And some kid in Utah is going to is
Unknown:
going to lose, you know, $2,000 of his parents money. And it's
Unknown:
going to be front page news on the Washington Post. And it will
Unknown:
tarnish web three games and set them back a year or two at least
Unknown:
right and totally setback epic. They'll have to issue an
Unknown:
apology. They'll have to say we're doing more moderation and
Unknown:
curation. You know that they'll have to backpedal all of this,
Unknown:
all of the big statements he's making like we're never going to
Unknown:
tell developers what to do. Right like, Okay, well I'm gonna
Unknown:
put up a
Unknown:
When three scam game, and then you can't tell me what to do
Unknown:
like, okay, and he's just gonna look silly, like I don't see how
Unknown:
this ends other than them looking silly. And and people
Unknown:
getting hurt as a consequence of,
Unknown:
of religious arguments is what I see here. It's not measured it's
Unknown:
not really logical. It's just become religion for him. Do you
Unknown:
think so? So I, I like your prognostication, I think I
Unknown:
actually tend to like that is a decent like scenario, not the
Unknown:
specifics that you detail, but I think that outcome is possible.
Unknown:
If they're not doing the content moderation. They're not there
Unknown:
just allowing anything on there. I don't obviously know whether
Unknown:
that's the case or not. They need some moderation. But do you
Unknown:
think that the core of the strategy, if it's not driven by
Unknown:
this sort of ideological zeal, is it a good strategy to say,
Unknown:
hey, we're the challenger. This could be the next big thing. Our
Unknown:
competitors have shunned it. Let's give it let's give it a
Unknown:
chance. You know, it could be it could be the thing that bolts us
Unknown:
into competition. If I was a 50, person startup, right? The
Unknown:
contrarian strategy here makes total sense. Because the
Unknown:
downsides very small. And the upsides massive if I'm the only
Unknown:
one that's right, right, the problem is epic is not a 50
Unknown:
person startup, the downside for them is very large. It's 10s of
Unknown:
billions of dollars, right? Like, there is a huge amount of
Unknown:
downside. So like, maybe in his head, there's still that 20
Unknown:
person startup and there if I'm him, I would do the exact same
Unknown:
thing, even if I didn't believe it, just because the the you
Unknown:
know, the the risk reward math works in my favor. Right. So on
Unknown:
the 10% chance, I'm right, there's a ton of upside on the
Unknown:
90% chance I'm wrong. What do I lose like my rinky dink startup?
Unknown:
Okay.
Unknown:
And so, you know, it's, your point is a fantastic one. I just
Unknown:
think not, in the case of a company as big and valued
Unknown:
valuable as Epic Games. I mean, there's just they're not,
Unknown:
they're not a startup.
Unknown:
Make sense?
Unknown:
Let's talk about two companies that are definitely not startups
Unknown:
call it going after each other in the metaverse space here. And
Unknown:
this was Zuckerberg so we're, you know, big CEOs making big
Unknown:
comments this week, I guess is the theme. Something Zuckerberg
Unknown:
says Mehta and Apple are in very deep philosophical competition.
Unknown:
That's a direct quote, to build the metaverse. So he says this
Unknown:
is a competition of philosophies and ideas, is what he told
Unknown:
employees recently, and I'll just read the quote, he says
Unknown:
this is a competition of philosophies and ideas, where
Unknown:
they believe they as an apple, that by doing everything
Unknown:
themselves and tightly integrating, that they build a
Unknown:
better consumer experience, Zuckerberg said of the brooding
Unknown:
rivalry, and we believe that there's a lot to be done in
Unknown:
specialization across different companies, and that will allow a
Unknown:
much larger ecosystem to exist. He said that Mehta will position
Unknown:
itself as the more open, cheaper alternative to Apple, which is
Unknown:
expected to announce their first AR headset as soon as later this
Unknown:
year.
Unknown:
Sidenote, it's also mentioned in the article, they helped
Unknown:
medihelp stair stand up the metaverse open standards group,
Unknown:
with Microsoft epic and others. So
Unknown:
what do you think of this, like deep philosophical differences?
Unknown:
Sort of?
Unknown:
I agree. I mean, Apple has always been famously like the
Unknown:
closed platform. And on mobile, Android, you know, has always
Unknown:
been the open platform. So I think Zuckerberg is saying,
Unknown:
okay, for VR, we're going to be that open platform, Android of
Unknown:
the metaverse, Android VR, and Apple presumably will keep their
Unknown:
their walled garden type approach. It's interesting to me
Unknown:
because I feel like we always complain about Facebook or metta
Unknown:
kind of trying to be the one company that rules the
Unknown:
metaverse. Like, I don't often hear that. When people describe
Unknown:
the metaverse Well, it's not just going to be Facebook owning
Unknown:
it, like, almost like there's a lot of disdain towards
Unknown:
Facebook's approach. Because I think Facebook by the name
Unknown:
change, just being so vocal about it, people have this
Unknown:
perception that that is what they're trying to do. They're
Unknown:
trying to like own the whole ecosystem. So it's interesting
Unknown:
to see Zuckerberg like kind of smart almost like, smartly say,
Unknown:
Hey, that's not what we're trying to do. We're trying to be
Unknown:
like an open platform. Apple's the real you know, the real bad
Unknown:
guy here that's trying to like own everything. So there I
Unknown:
didn't get this. It's a smart, like savvy wait for me frame.
Unknown:
Fast forward like five, maybe 10 years, even Jeff, like, Who do
Unknown:
you think? Like, what do you think, is the positioning
Unknown:
between these two companies five years from today? Like, what
Unknown:
does that relationship look like? And how are they? How are
Unknown:
they
Unknown:
The difference are similar.
Unknown:
From a Metaverse strategy, obviously, it's a good question.
Unknown:
I think I probably have more comment. I was gonna say I have
Unknown:
more confidence in Apple just in their ability to build hardware,
Unknown:
their ability to coax developers onto their platform.
Unknown:
Having said that meta head in the VR hardware sets, and I know
Unknown:
you, you've talked on prior episodes about how Oculus is
Unknown:
really the Trojan horse, if you will, for the for the metaverse
Unknown:
for meta. So I don't know, I don't have a ton of conviction,
Unknown:
honestly, curious to hear your thoughts, actually.
Unknown:
You know, Apple is notoriously good at waiting for someone else
Unknown:
to pioneer something, and then making it better and more
Unknown:
expensive and more profitable.
Unknown:
You know?
Unknown:
So, you know, in that sense, I don't think I don't discount
Unknown:
Apple, right? Even if it's a closed ecosystem. And I've said
Unknown:
many times, the true capital and Metaverse will need to be
Unknown:
interoperable and things like that. But, you know,
Unknown:
Apple has a billion people who will buy just about anything
Unknown:
they put out, right, like there's a base there that is so
Unknown:
deep in their ecosystem. And the ability to prime a pump with
Unknown:
that many people that many users is a superpower that I think
Unknown:
only Apple has today.
Unknown:
I think five years from now, we'll still talk me talking
Unknown:
about these two going head to head I know that's kind of a non
Unknown:
answer. But I think both will exist. And we'll still be
Unknown:
discussing sort of how they're figuring out how to coexist.
Unknown:
In the same way, you know, it would be awesome if we could use
Unknown:
iMessage across Apple and Android. How many? How many
Unknown:
times do you hear people complain about that? That hasn't
Unknown:
been solved yet so much simpler problem to solve.
Unknown:
But from a user perspective, right, we'd all love it to be
Unknown:
solved. And I think we'll be complaining about this five
Unknown:
years from now that you know, I've got assets in this room in
Unknown:
the Apple Metaverse, and I've got assets in the Facebook
Unknown:
Metaverse and like, you know, how nice would it be if I could
Unknown:
just hang out with my friends who are on the you know, the
Unknown:
Apple Metaverse is saying this. I think the reality is five
Unknown:
years is not a long enough time period for those things to sort
Unknown:
themselves out. You asked me 20 years, I think there will be
Unknown:
there. The reality is these things will be solved. But in
Unknown:
the shorter term, I think you're just going to have these
Unknown:
competitive viewpoints existing
Unknown:
concurrently.
Unknown:
Jeff, I don't know if you have any other thoughts on that. But
Unknown:
that
Unknown:
That wraps up this week's show, but I feel like that flew by I
Unknown:
know. As always a blast. And as always, I just want to thank our
Unknown:
listeners who tune in every week remind them make sure you
Unknown:
subscribe to the podcast so that you get notified when a new
Unknown:
episode drops. And go subscribe to our sister podcast met a
Unknown:
woman which covers
Unknown:
women operating in the gaming and web three space. It's it's
Unknown:
an interview show contents amazing. So go subscribe to
Unknown:
that. And if you love the juice, go follow him Jeff Cohen 23 And
Unknown:
go check out the live stream that Jeff and I do every single
Unknown:
Wednesday 2:30pm Eastern time. It's a lot of fun. We cover
Unknown:
gaming stuff more broadly. Not that web three and Metaverse
Unknown:
specifically, but gaming stuff more broadly. So go check that
Unknown:
out. And as always, guys, don't forget the most important thing.
Unknown:
The future is fun. We'll see you next week. Thanks for joining us
Unknown:
here on meta business. Make sure to subscribe to this podcast
Unknown:
everywhere you get your podcasts, leave a five star
Unknown:
review and tell your friends, family and colleagues all about
Unknown:
us. Also, make sure to follow metta TV on all socials to get
Unknown:
more of the best Metaverse content anywhere. Tune in every