[demeyer1]

Your take is similar to mine. Three core components to the metaverse: 3D creators/content, lower cost hardware, and social/distribution networks.

The 3D creator population is expanding. The tools are better and the use cases are expanding. So yes, to your point, existing assets.

Then there is the hardware, as you've pointed out. This makes all that content slightly more user friendly and available at a lower barrier of entry to the average user.

Then there must be a network that brings users together. Certainly seems like Facebook had capability for this area.

Will it be controlled by Meta? Too soon to say IMO, but they have capacity and expertise for two of the three requirements in my (overly simple) mental model. I suspect the Web3/DAO crowd has a pretty strong opinion here. My two cents is we'll have at least two primary metaverse-like networks of users (one more closed, one more open).. but likely more.

Disclaimer: I work at Thangs.com, which is a 3D search and collaboration platform. So I have obvious biases which lead me to assume there will be a more open metaverse in the future.