--- title: "Just what nobody’s been asking for: Another metaverse offering - The Hustle" description: A new way to metaverse would’ve been right on time a few years ago. image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/743042333-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-goatauction_20230620222902.webp --- # Just what nobody’s been asking for: Another metaverse offering ![Ben Berkley](https://53.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/HubSpot%20Media/Blog%202021/Images/Nav/Optimized/TheHustle_Icon_Dark.svg) [Ben Berkley](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/ben-berkley) Published: June 23, 2023 Updated: October 11, 2023 Keep taking big swings and you’re bound to miss, but lately, investment giant SoftBank has whiffed in truly spectacular fashion: ![goat auction](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/743042333-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-goatauction_20230620222902.webp?width=595&height=400&name=743042333-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-goatauction_20230620222902.webp) - Its Vision Fund had a rough last fiscal year — like, [*$32B*](https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/11/softbank-full-year-2022-earnings-vision-fund-posts-32-billion-loss.html) *in losses* rough. - It has ~$12B invested in troubled WeWork — where SoftBank’s handpicked CEO made *New York Times* headlines for “[abandoning ship](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/12/business/wework-softbank-sandeep-mathrani.html)” last month. - And Zume, SoftBank’s $375m mobile pizza-making robot, [shut down](https://gizmodo.com/zume-softbank-ai-pizza-delivery-stellar-pizza-1850529465) after it couldn’t overcome a fatal flaw: cheese flying around whenever its trucks moved. #### **What’s next for SoftBank?** Oh, just hyping another big bet: a network of metaverses, the thing many other influential companies [are retreating from](https://qz.com/meta-microsoft-disney-are-reversing-metaverse-bets-1850277328). SoftBank-funded Improbable detailed its upcoming project MSquared last week, which, according to [*CNBC*](https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/16/softbank-backed-improbable-outlines-plan-for-msquared-metaverse.html), calls for a 3D virtual space where 10k+ people can concurrently live, work, and interact, with an emphasis on “interactive entertainment experiences,” like parties, games, and concerts. - A chaotic [demo video](https://www.cnbc.com/video/2023/06/16/softbank-backed-startup-improbable-launches-msquared-metaverse.html) for MSquared shows people dancing en masse and a frantic, crowded auction for a statue of a goat. #### **What differentiates it?** MSquared will be available through cloud streaming, so it won’t require any software or, say, [a $3.5k device](https://techcrunch.com/2023/06/05/the-apple-vision-pro-headset-will-cost-3499-out-early-2024/) to access it. Improbable is courting partners to develop experiences — and if all goes according to plans, per *CNBC*, MSquared will be available via desktop, then eventually mobile devices and gaming consoles, by year-end. So, uh, get ready to duke it out with 9.9k dancing friends at a virtual goat auction, we guess? **Some good news:** It’ll be hard for Improbable to lose more money on the metaverse than Meta already has (its Reality Labs division lost [$13.7B](https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/01/meta-lost-13point7-billion-on-reality-labs-in-2022-after-metaverse-pivot.html) last year). Topics: [Metaverse](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/tag/metaverse) ## Follow us on social media prev next - ![Nobody’s moving to the metaverse](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1133408763-19-News-Brief_2023-04-09T222928.093Z-scaled.webp) ### Nobody’s moving to the metaverse - ![What’s up with Microsoft and the metaverse?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/143002262-HS-News-Brief_2022-10-26T230018.559Z.webp) ### What’s up with Microsoft and the metaverse? - ![Is Zuck too early to the metaverse?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/950506466-HS-News-Brief_2022-10-11T223953.155Z.webp) ### Is Zuck too early to the metaverse? - ![Are virtual concerts here to stay?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1443919082-HS-News-Brief_2022-07-31T230255.157Z-scaled.webp) ### Are virtual concerts here to stay? - ![Weed rolls into the metaverse](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1508852379-final_size-People_want_bud_20220605213408.webp) ### Weed rolls into the metaverse Pop up for Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Get the 5-minute news brief keeping 2.5M+ innovators in the loop. 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