Disney appoints director to lead metaverse development

disney metaverse

Through the metaverse, Disney plans to connect the virtual and the real, to create a new space in which its users can engage in a different way.

On February 15, Disney CEO Bob Chapek appointed a new director to lead metaverse development at the company. Mike White becomes a senior VP at Disney and heads the department in charge of the metaverse.

Mike White takes over as head of metavers at Disney

Previously, Mike White was in charge of customer experience at Disney. Prior to joining the company in 2011, White worked at large technology companies, including Yahoo. Following in Meta’s footsteps, Disney intends to take the lead on the subject of metavers and influence the development of this new web standard. Bob Chapek did not provide many details on how Disney plans to make money with its metaverse, but said that White’s task will be to “bring the virtual and real worlds together”.

The Disney CEO points out that “for nearly 100 years, our company has defined and redefined entertainment by leveraging technology to bring stories to life in deeper and more impactful ways.” He says the metaverse is the next great frontier in storytelling and the perfect place for Disney to execute its strategy of excellence and innovation.

It’s not hard to imagine how Disney could explore the possibilities of the metaverse. For example, one can imagine a virtual Disneyland, much more advanced than the existing real-world versions, with advanced experiences in each of Disney’s universes.

15 years before seeing a final version of the metaverse?

In his statement, Chapek also clarified that “we have an opportunity today to connect these two worlds and create a completely new paradigm for our users to engage in a different way.” This prospect of a virtual world at Disney, however, seems remote.

Indeed, despite the investment and hype surrounding the metaverse, the technology is not ready. Meta’s leaders estimate that it will take fifteen years for their vision to become a reality.

That’s not stopping many companies from testing new experiments. Warner, for example, is going to create a music theme park in the Sandbox metaverse. The music label has associated a nice bunch of stars to its project.

Among others, Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa and Green Day are expected to perform in Warner’s music theme park. Carrefour has also bought a virtual land in the Sandbox metaverse. There is talk of a possible opening of a virtual supermarket and the sale of certified virtual products in the form of NFT. In short, more and more projects related to the metaverse.