Metaverse

Speaking of the cloud and semiconductors, these are two big elements of the metaverse. After $Meta Platforms (FB.US)$ changed its name to Meta to reflect its commitment to being a part of the metaverse, many investors have asked themselves, “What is the metaverse?”. The term metaverse comes from a 1992 novel by Neal Stephenson called Snow Crash where the people could safely meet in an electronically shared imaginary place. There are many interpretations of what the metaverse would look like, and some people reject any corporation being a part of it. However, it has become the new buzzword that many companies are latching on to.

Popular books, movies, and video games describe or create versions of the metaverse. Ernest Cline’s bestselling book Ready Player One that was later made into a movie by Steven Spielberg, paints a picture where people spend their time in a virtual reality world. This description is often used to describe the metaverse. The company $Roblox (RBLX.US)$ is one of the first gaming companies to promote a metaverse. It provides a platform that allows users to create content based on games, entertainment, social media, and toys. Roblox has climbed nearly 70% from its IPO in March.

Before Roblox, $Activision Blizzard (ATVI.US)$ was among the leading publicly traded companies for metaverse-type games, which includes World of Warcraft. However, there are many popular metaverse platforms like Fortnite, which is held privately by Epic Games, and Minecraft, which is owned by Microsoft. $Microsoft (MSFT.US)$