Disney Shutters Metaverse Division

Entertainment powerhouse The Walt Disney Company has reportedly shut down its metaverse division.

Disney’s next-generation storytelling and consumer-experiences unit was responsible for overseeing the company’s metaverse strategy. The entire division of 50 employees is reported to have been laid off.

The move is part of a broader restructuring which will see Disney reduce its workforce by approximately 7,000 workers and cut its budget by $5.5B, and comes at a time when the company is going through a shakeup after its streaming service Disney+ lost nearly 2.4 million subscribers in the first quarter.

Disney isn’t the only major corporation to abandon its Web3 plans. Earlier this month, social media giant Meta announced that it will no longer support NFTs across its platforms after incorporating them less than a year ago.

According to an October 2022 report, even Meta employees were reluctant to use its metaverse project, citing major quality issues.

NFT Adoption Continues

Other Web2 companies continue to experiment with blockchain technology, however.

Retail giant Amazon is set to launch its own NFT marketplace in April.

Amazon To Reportedly Launch NFT Marketplace Next Month

Platform Will Likely Not Support Crypto Assets

The Defiant

On March 27, Ticketmaster, a leading ticket booking and distribution service, launched token-gated ticket sales. Metal band Avenged Sevenfold and its Web3 team collaborated with Ticketmaster to develop the new feature.