Disney’s plan to deliver the Magical Kingdom into the metaverse seems to be nothing greater than a fairy story. The leisure large laid off 50 staff of their Web3-focused Subsequent Era and Client Experiences division final week. Why did Disney scrap its metaverse group?

Why did Disney fireplace its metaverse group?

The mass firing comes on the heels of Bob Iger returning to Disney as CEO after beforehand leaving the corporate in 2020. His successor, Bob Chapek, had a rocky tenure main the $171b firm in his absence. The Disney+ steaming service turned a cash pit and the corporate’s theme parks struggled in the course of the Covid-19 pandemic. Disney’s inventory value shed 44% of its worth in 2021 alone, prompting traders to demand a change in management.

To this finish, Iger introduced a 7,000-person layoff final week. The mass firing will assist management prices and streamline Disney’s big selection of companies, Iger claims. The layoffs embody the 50-person group in control of creating Disney’s metaverse technique, sadly.

What was Disney’s plan for the metaverse?

This transfer comes as a shock after the 98-year-old firm introduced its intention to enter Web3 in 2022. The corporate deliberate on utilizing NFT and blockchain expertise to assist introduce new revenue streams for its library of content material. Disney partnered with Layer 2 blockchain Polygon to assist their entrance into the metaverse and even posted a job itemizing for an NFT and DeFi-focused in-house counsel in September.

Earlier than the layoffs, Disney had sought to make use of metaverse expertise to permit followers to enter digital worlds primarily based on Disney-owned mental property. The corporate deliberate on providing experiences set within the Star Wars Universe, Pixar films akin to Toy Story and Monsters Inc, and Disney’s personal genre-defining franchises.

It stays unclear if Disney will renew plans to enter the metaverse anytime quickly. As our lives turn into more and more digital, nevertheless, it’s doubtless that the content material behemoth will sometime circle again round to Web3.