Meta’s recent announcement that they are ending NFTs on Facebook and Instagram came as a welcome surprise to many who have already accepted the end of the NFT market. Meta’s exploration into the metaverse, propelled by NFT technology, quickly became the bane of many web2 users who thought the idea was a giant mistake. 

However, despite Meta’s discontinuation of the technology in their plans, the concept of the metaverse has still garnered a lot of attention within the web3 industry with companies like  Yuga Labs actively pursuing the development of their own virtual world, the Otherside, which is still implementing NFTs more appropriately. 

Facebook ends NFTs

As reported earlier, Meta’s Stephane Kasriel stated that NFTs would no longer be a part of Facebook and Instagram, citing interest in pursuing other avenues of content creation with users. 

The move was largely seen as a positive for the company, believing that their focus was in the wrong direction. In fact, Meta has been broadly criticized for their forceful interest in blockchain technology along with the metaverse, causing employees to quit in droves.

However, this decision might not be from the most genuine of places. The NFT market has largely fallen apart since its heights in early 2022 before crypto crashed entirely and it seems that Meta’s decision stems from this lack of demand instead of a genuine acceptance of what was a bad idea. 

What does this mean for the metaverse?

Despite a growing concern that Meta is losing sight of what their customers want, the company is still making significant headwinds with the sale of its Meta Quest 2 VR set. The company has reportedly sold over 20 million headsets, proving that interest in VR still remains high among consumers curious about new technology. 

However, selling the headsets does not mean that people are using them. According to the same report, it appears that while users are purchasing the product, they are not using it because there is still a lack of enjoyable games and activities to accompany the headset. 

Yet, with the expulsion of NFTs and blockchain technology, the ability for creators to provide their own unique content to the metaverse is being severely cut off, which could compound itself into a larger problem if users are already experiencing a lack of interesting things to do inside the virtual world. 

Otherside by Yuga Labs is superior

On the other hand, Yuga Labs is steadily improving its own metaverse called the Otherside as they continue to roll out new NFT collections for holders. Earlier this month, Yuga Labs announced they would be starting a new adventure in the Otherside metaverse for holders on March 25th, along with a series of rewards and giveaways for active members.

Unlike Meta, Yuga Labs is putting NFTs at the core of their virtual universe as a way to encourage users to stay interested in a way that Meta was unable to because Yuga Labs is responsible for many of the NFT market's most valuable collections. 

Moreover, Yuga Labs has cultivated a community that is highly vested in the success of the metaverse because of its strong correlation to the value of BAYC, MAYC, and the Otherside deeds, unlike Meta which had no notable NFT collection to center their metaverse around. 

As it stands, Yuga Labs might be taking over as the dominant metaverse developer as they continue to create a world that has active interest from a community that cares about the final product, unlike Meta which has struggled to retain user interest.