--- title: Everyone is doing the metaverse - The Hustle description: "A roundup of companies doing metaverse stuff: Facebook/Meta, Microsoft, Dropbox, Autodesk, Nike, Niantic" image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1616322625-News-Brief_2021-11-10T011927.665Z.webp --- # Everyone is doing the metaverse ![Trung T. Phan](https://thehustle.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Image-from-iOS-300x300.jpg?width=48&height=48&name=Image-from-iOS-300x300.jpg) [Trung T. Phan](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/trung-t-phan) [Trung T. Phan Twitter profile ](https://twitter.com/TrungTPhan) Published: November 10, 2021 Updated: October 11, 2023 Ok, this is getting a bit ridiculous. ![Everyone is doing the metaverse](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1616322625-News-Brief_2021-11-10T011927.665Z.webp?width=595&height=400&name=1616322625-News-Brief_2021-11-10T011927.665Z.webp) Less than 2 weeks ago, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook was changing its name to “Meta.” The rebrand reflects the social network’s pivot into the metaverse, a shared internet space mediated by AR and VR tech. Now, everyone is getting in on the act. #### **Here are metaverse efforts announcements…** … since Facebook went Meta: - **Microsoft** has an [enterprise](https://thehustle.co/11042021-Microsoft-Meta/) metaverse (yay! Microsoft Excel with avatars) - **Nike** is launching [virtual footwear](https://news.bitcoin.com/athletic-shoe-giant-nike-looks-poised-to-tackle-metaverse-and-nfts-report/) and apparel so people can look good in the metaverse - **Dropbox** is positioning itself as [content](https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/dropbox-founder-we-are-gearing-up-for-the-metaverse-182310343.html) storage for the metaverse - **Autodesk** has [software](https://www.reuters.com/technology/whos-building-metaverse-2021-11-01/) used by engineers and architects to design buildings (and, now, maybe virtual worlds) - **Unity** and **Epic Games** are both positioning themselves as metaverse [world builders](https://www.protocol.com/newsletters/sourcecode/too-many-metaverses?rebelltitem=4#rebelltitem4) The metaverse hype is reaching similar levels as mobile in the early 2010s or social media in the mid-2000s #### **Not everyone is a fan** One company with *actual* metaverse bonafides hates the hype: Niantic, which created a massively popular augmented reality game called… “Pokemon Go.” Tech writer Casey Newton [writes](https://www.platformer.news/p/the-dark-horse-in-the-metaverse-wars) that Niantic is the “dark horse in the metaverse wars” but notes that its CEO John Hanke thinks the virtual-first metaverse vision is “dystopian.” “[Niantic wants people] to stand up, walk outside, and connect with people and the world around us,” says Hanke. To help build out this real-world version of the metaverse, Niantic just released developer [tools](https://nianticlabs.com/blog/lightshiplaunch/?hl=en). Here’s hoping no one builds AR spreadsheet tools for nature walks. 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