Microsoft’s Activision merger faces real-world barriers to metaverse mission

theguardian.com:

If the world of Call of Duty seems fraught enough when you are playing it, try being in it. That could be the consequence of Microsoft’s proposed $68.7bn (£50.4bn) acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the video games maker behind the shoot ’em up franchise. Announcing the deal, Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s chief executive, said that gaming would “play a key role in the development of metaverse platforms”.

The metaverse is a catch-all term for an immersive experience that blends the physical and digital worlds through a mixture of virtual and augmented reality. This concept is years away from being fully realised, but it is envisaged that participants – using digital representations of themselves, or avatars – will access it through a virtual reality headset, or augmented reality (AR) glasses that put a digital layer over what they see in the real world. In the metaverse they can socialise with friends, carry out their job – or take part in a video game.

John Egan, chief executive of market intelligence firm L’Atelier BNP Paribas, says that with the Activision deal Microsoft has made it “very clear” that gaming will be at the centre of how metaverse concepts work. And it is not just using the games, but also deploying the creative and technical talent behind them to build virtual worlds.

“Imagine Call of Duty. You’d be dropped into a Battle Royale-like environment, on to a planet like the way Fortnite is now, though bigger by a factor of several thousand. You’ve got an entire planet, so your experience can go on for weeks at a time.”

Egan adds that Call of Duty would work in what he calls a “digi-physical” environment, where AR comes in to play and the game is superimposed on participants’ glasses, or even contact lenses.

“Micros