Patrick Boyle On Finance How Did the Metaverse Fail So Badly?
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Apr 12, 2026 A deep dive into Zuckerberg's grand metaverse bet and the rebrand that followed. Strange design choices like legless avatars and staged demos get scrutinized. The story of virtual land mania, tiny user numbers, and Reality Labs' massive $88 billion losses takes center stage. The conversation tracks corporate retreats, a pivot to AI and smart glasses, and how hype unraveled when economic conditions changed.
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Consultants And Banks Fueled The Hype
- Serious institutions and analysts hyped the metaverse with massive forecasts and corporate hires.
- Reports from The Economist, McKinsey, Citi and banks predicted trillions in value and billions of users despite weak technology.
Virtual Real Estate Imploded
- Investors paid extravagant sums for virtual land and items, like $450,000 to be Snoop Dogg's neighbor.
- Those assets collapsed: that plot fell to about $100 and metaverse land prices plunged up to 95% or more.
Nobody Wanted The Product Meta Built
- Horizon Worlds was low-quality, empty, and toxic, peaking at a few hundred thousand monthly users and ~900 daily users.
- By contrast, Second Life still had ~200,000 daily users and managed basic features like legs from day one.