Disney’s next-generation consumer experiences and storytelling division, which had been exploring how the company could enter the so-called metaverse, has been axed. according The Wall Street Journal. The team is believed to have consisted of around 50 employees and was exploring how Disney could use its existing intellectual property in what former CEO Bob Chapek called “the next great storytelling frontier”.
The division was announced internally last February
Disney announced its metaverse ambitions to its employees last February, four months after Facebook changed its name to Meta, when then-CEO Bob Chapek appointed Mike White to lead the next-generation storytelling unit. White, who is not believed to have been affected by the layoffs, has worked at Disney for more than a decade. His LinkedIn profile notes that he originally started out in the company’s Disney interactive video game division.
“For nearly 100 years, our company has defined and redefined entertainment by leveraging technology to bring stories to life in deeper and more impactful ways,” Chapek said in last year’s memo. “Today, we have the opportunity to connect those universes and create a whole new paradigm for how audiences experience and interact with our stories… This is the so-called metaverse.” It’s unclear exactly what experiences the team was working on, but wsj he notes that they could have involved “fantasy sports, theme park attractions, and other consumer experiences.”
Disney did not immediately respond to the edgerequest for comments.
Although cuts have taken place under Iger, he appears to be far from a metaverse skeptic, with wsj noting that he sits on the board of directors of a startup, Genies Inc, that focuses on helping users create avatars.
Disney isn’t the only company struggling to deliver on the grand ambitions of the metaverse. Even Meta has had trouble getting adoption of its technology. Its first major VR headset launch after the rebrand, the Meta Quest Pro, was terrible, and its Reality Labs division reported an operating loss of $13.72 billion last year.
