Content, Services, and Asset Businesses in the Metaverse
Hi! The “METAVERSE PRIMER” was published in early 2021, long before “the Metaverse” surged to popularity, or was even mentioned by Mark Zuckerberg (let alone contemplated as the new name for Facebook). The Primer was the third entry in my Metaverse series, which began in 2018, and was intended to share my thinking on the still-inchoate and seemingly far off topic. After publishing the Primer, I decided to write a book on the topic, which was published by Norton more than a year later. The book fully rewrote, revamped, and expanded on all 34,000 words in the Metaverse Primer, which serves as the middle segment of the book. The hardware section, for example, grew from 600 words to 14,000, and a dedicated section on the blockchain was developed. I also added another fully new 70,000 words, which comprise Parts I and III and discuss the history of the Metaverse, providing a detailed definition of it, explaining its origins in gaming, the businesses it will produce, when it might arrive, how it will be regulated, who might lead it, etc.
When I published the book, I chose to keep the Metaverse Primer online so that my work could be more easily read and my thinking better tracked. In 2023, I’ve decided to take the series offline. Because portions of my book and the Primer can seem similar, they are often conflated or confused, with my old views argued as new ones, or readers opting for a blog post written in a week-or-two versus a chapter written over a year and which benefited from not just more time, but more expertise, sourcing, professional editing, clarity, and detail. While this decision asks interested readers to make a purchase ($10 on Kindle, $17 hard cover), I believe it is a far better use of time. THE METAVERSE was an instant bestseller in the US, UK, Canada, and China, while being selected as one of the Best Books of 2022 by Hudson Booksellers, Amazon, The Guardian, FT China, The Economist China, ByteDance’s Toutiao, Fast Company, and Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, while receiving endorsements from Tim Sweeney (CEO/Founder of Epic Games), Reed Hastings (CEO/Founder of Netflix), Phil Spencer (CEO of Microsoft Gaming), John Riccitiello (CEO of Unity), and Kenichiro Yoshida (CEO of Unity). The book is also available in hard copy in more than a dozen languages, with another dozen to come. Thank you!
Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Bookshop, Hudson Booksellers, Target, Walmart. Available via hardcover, e-book, and audiobook.
