Eric D. Tidwell

3 min read
30 September 2022


"We continuously strive to move Dr. King from the history books and bring his legacy in the lives of future generations," Eric D. Tidwell, general counsel and managing director of the King Estate, said in an announcement. "Presenting his most renowned speech in this interactive format is a great way to reach that goal."



Silicon Valley is betting that this dystopian sci-fi concept will be a reality.



It's the latest example of Fortnite offering experiences that go beyond regular gaming, as it attempts to position itself as a metaverse instead of simply a video game. It featured performances by Marshmello, Travis Scott, and three films by Christopher Nolan last year.



Although the initial idea behind the metaverse was to be used in dystopian science-fiction stories where virtual worlds offer an escape from crumbling societies and were designed for fictional characters, the technology industry has painted a more positive picture of the concept. The idea is to create a space similar to the internet, but one that users (via digital avatars) can wander around in of and where they can communicate with one another in real-time.



Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney made a concerted effort to present Fortnite as an alternate reality and a "social experience" when he was a witness in the company's highly-publicized lawsuit against Apple earlier this year, involving the commissions the iPhone maker collects from app developers. Sweeney's argument was an effort to convince Epic that it is more than just an online game, and also to undermine Apple's claim that it's not a monopoly because Fortnite players can opt to play the game on any device other than iPhones and iPads.



Epic, on the other hand, sought to make itself appear as one of the millions of apps on Apple's App Store that are subject to the company's excessive restrictions and commissions on in-app purchases. (A verdict in this case is in the process of being determined.



Fortnite isn't just the most popular game to lean heavily on the concept of metaverse.



One of the most well-known examples is Roblox that has games within games that are created by users. It has also expanded into concerts and TV shows in recent months. Minecraft is owned by Microsoft (MSFT), has also worked to expand its own metaverse, with the group Reporters Without Borders recently creating a virtual library inside the game that contains articles that have been censored across the globe.



Roblox wants to rule the metaverse



Big Tech is also more open to the metaverse. The term was mentioned more than two dozen times during Facebook's most recent earnings call. Minecraftservers.Top The social media company has long been experimenting with virtual reality services and features even in the workplace as it tries to transcend the realm of video calls that are two-dimensional.



For a variety of reasons, a full-fledged metaverse is likely to take years before it's possible. However, the gaming industry is currently leading the charge.

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Saleh Chung 0
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