Microsoft To Join Metaverse

Microsoft has announced it is becoming a part of the now popular Metaverse. The tech giant stated that it was launching team updates and upgrading its console services to integrate a new product known as “Dynamics 365 Connected Spaces.”

Speaking during the Microsoft Ignite Conference, the CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, stated that, “The Metaverse enables us to embed computing into the real world and to embed the real world into computing. Bringing Real presence to any digital space. What’s most important is that we are able to bring our humanity with us and choose how we want to experience this world.”

The Microsoft Teams updates are known as “Mesh”, and they will initially roll out in 2022. These updates will offer users a personalized digital avatar and spaces where people can meet in the Metaverse. Part of Mesh’s roadmap is to allow corporates to hold meetings and offer platforms to boost their online presence.

Through the Dynamics 365 Connected Spaces product, businesses will have a way of combining the Metaverse and artificial intelligence (AI) with their business operations. This product is expected to premiere towards the end of this year.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Nadella also stated that Microsoft was also bringing the Metaverse into its gaming console. However, Nadella did not give any comprehensive details on some of the upgrades that the tech giant wants to bring into Xbox.

“If you take Halo as a game, it is a Metaverse. Minecraft is a Metaverse, and so is Flight Sim. In some sense, they’re 2D today, and the question is, can you now take that to a fully 3D world, and we absolutely plan to do so,” he added.

Microsoft is not the only major company that is plunging into the Metaverse. Nike recently submitted an application to trademark its logo for use in virtual worlds. Facebook is also joining the Metaverse, and it even announced plans to rebrand the company into Meta. The crypto space had already explored the Metaverse through projects such as Decentraland.