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| Hey Insiders— 🗞️ In today's issue, we're zooming in on Walmart, the world's largest retailer, aggressively entering the metaverse to integrate customers' physical and virtual shopping experiences. Plus, get the inside scoop on the leading mobile Android app ad network SDKs and learn about the metaverse's privacy and psychological risks, as warned by the NYU Stern Center. ⏬ Don't miss our Quick Hits ⚡ and Upcoming Events 📅 section below. 💬 We're all ears! Hit reply to share your invaluable feedback with us. 👥 Love what you're reading? Pass it on! Share this newsletter with friends and colleagues to keep them in the loop. Thank you for being an Insider! Vildana
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| 1 | | Walmart, the world's largest retailer, is aggressively entering the metaverse to integrate customers' physical and virtual shopping experiences. The company aims to pioneer a new form of commerce that allows purchases of both virtual and real-world items. More: - Walmart is focusing on virtual worlds that connect to its physical stores.
- Almost 90% of the U.S. population lives within 10 miles of a Walmart store, providing a unique advantage for integration.
- Customers can buy items for their virtual homes in mobile games like "House Flip" and virtual clothing in "Zepeto."
- Walmart plans to allow purchases of physical items within virtual worlds using a Walmart account.
- Walmart aims to lead trust and safety within the metaverse, focusing on digital citizenship.
Zoom Out: - According to Citi, the total market for metaverse-related commercial activity will be between $8T and $13T by 2030.
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What the numbers say: As of July 2023, Google Ads AdMob led the mobile ad network SDK market among Android apps, boasting over 90% integration, while Facebook Audience Network followed with a 27% reach, followed by Unity Ads with 18%. Relevance: Unity recently declared that starting Jan. 1, 2024, it will impose a fee for each installation of a game built with its engine. As a result, a coalition of developers is protesting Unity's new policy to charge for game installations by discontinuing their use of Unity's ad and monetization services. Sixteen studios have deactivated Unity Ads and IronSource SDKs across their games, vowing not to reactivate them unless the new fee structure is revised. Impact: As revealed in an internal meeting, the video game tool makerUnity Software Inc. is reconsidering significant elements of a recently announced price increase. Last week, CEO John Riccitiello postponed a company-wide meeting about pricing adjustments and shut down two offices in response to what the firm identified as a legitimate death threat. | | | |
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| 3 | | NYU Stern's Center for Business and Human Rights warns that the metaverse poses significant and "unprecedented" privacy risks, including the potential for psychological harm. The report emphasizes the urgent need for comprehensive privacy laws to address these concerns. More: - The report states that VR experiences may result in "profound and lasting psychological harm."
- The main issue is not the VR devices themselves but how they use collected data from users.
- Scientists at UC Berkeley and Unanimous AI found that even basic VR headsets can collect extensive data, including identity and health.
- Meta's Code of Conduct for Virtual Experiences is criticized as "ambiguous and under-inclusive."
- The report calls for Congress to pass comprehensive privacy laws and reinforce the Federal Trade Commission's mandate.
- Meta collaborates with 15 U.S. universities, including Stanford and Arizona State, for immersive learning in the metaverse.
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| 4 | | Unity Software Inc. is revising its controversial new pricing policy after facing backlash from the gaming community. The company will now cap fees at 4% of a game's revenue for customers over $1M. More: - Unity initially planned to charge for every new game installation after a certain threshold.
- The backlash led to boycott threats from several game developers.
- Under the new plan, installations counted toward the fee cap won't be retroactive.
- More than 90% of Unity users won't be affected by the new policy.
- Unity executives emphasized the need for better future communications to rebuild trust.
Zoom Out: - Unity is a major player in the game development industry, with a market cap of $40.8B as of 2021.
- The U.S. video game industry was worth $36.9B in 2019, highlighting the significance of Unity's pricing changes.
- Unity's competitor, Unreal Engine, offers a royalty-free model for revenues under $1M.
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| 5 | | Microsoft accidentally disclosed confidential plans for its gaming division on a federal court website. The leak occurred amid the FTC's antitrust suit against Microsoft's $69B acquisition of Activision Blizzard. More: - The documents were exhibited in the FTC's antitrust case against Microsoft's $69B takeover of Activision Blizzard.
- The leak happened on Sept. 14 when Microsoft provided the exhibits for court upload.
- Microsoft's video game chief, Phil Spencer, downplayed the leak, stating the information was outdated.
- The judge ordered the removal of the confidential information from the court site.
- The FTC clarified it was not responsible for uploading Microsoft's confidential plans.
Zoom Out: - In June, Xbox chief Phil Spencer informed Bloomberg he didn't "feel an imperative" to update the current Xbox.
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| 6 | | Meta is discontinuing three VR games — Dead and Buried, Dead and Buried II, and Bogo — effective March 15, 2024, without providing any reasons for the shutdown. The affected games were developed for Oculus Rift and Oculus Quest platforms. More: - Dead and Buried was released in 2016 and was a free launch title for Oculus Rift's Touch controllers.
- Dead and Buried II, released in 2019, was available for both Oculus Quest and Rift, priced at $20.
- Bogo was a launch title for Oculus Quest, designed to showcase the system's capabilities.
- Owners of these games received an email from Meta about the discontinuation.
- Earlier in August, Meta also shut down Echo VR, which drew significant criticism.
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- This week, the World Economic Forum joined forces with Microsoft and Accenture to expand its Global Collaboration Village, a virtual environment in the metaverse for global business executives and policymakers.
- The three-day Second World Metaverse Conference kicked off in Anting Town, Jiading District, on Wednesday, gathering over 110 international experts and industry leaders to advance Shanghai's digital economy and discuss the future of the metaverse.
- U.K. politicians participated in a 51-nation metaverse discussion to publicly outline the country's focus and intentions regarding Web3 and blockchain technologies.
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