Disney ends its metaverse initiative as part of its cutback plan

Disney is putting an end to its adventure in the metaverse due to its new cutback plan. The Wall Street Journal broke the news exclusively on Tuesday. The company will closes its metaverse subdivision, headed by Mike White, which employed around 50 people. This department was designing a new storytelling strategy with new technologies. The announcement to close this division is part of Disney's cutback plan. The company is expected to lay off about 7,000 employees in the coming months.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Mike White is not expected to leave the company. White joined Disney in February 2022 and could be assigned to another department. White was expected to implement a new Disney cross-platform service for the user, something similar to Amazon Prime's system, which links the shopping platform with Twitch, its video on demand platform.

Shareholders demand cuts

On Tuesday, Disney's share price fell by 0.65%. According to WSJ sources, company investors are lobbying for cuts to be made in non-core sectors. Disney is losing access to a world that Disney CEO Bob Iger had high hopes for.

Disney's exit from the metaverse is also not good news for Meta, which is frustrated by the slow pace of evolution of the digital world of Meta Platforms Inc. For now, the metaverse hasn’t taken off with the general public.