It seems that Disney is now vying to enter into the blockchain-based metaverse with a new executive promotion announced on Tuesday. CEO of Disney Bob Chapek appointed previous consumer experiences and platforms executive Michaele White as the company's new metaverse lead.
According to Reuters, Chapek voiced the forthcoming metaverse strategy in an email to staff sent on Tuesday, Feb. 15. Although the Disney's head didn't explicitly relay the word 'metaverse,' the concept is still highly there and prevalent in his choice descriptors:
"For nearly 100 years, our company has defined and re-defined entertainment by leveraging technology to bring stories to life in deeper, more impactful ways. Today, we have an opportunity to connect those universes and create an entirely new paradigm for how audiences experience and engage with our stories."
Clearly, there is nothing in there about any Disney metaverse theme park, but the concept is still relatively in its infancy - that is, both Disney's plans and the Web3-based metaverse itself. Fueled by both VR and AR capabilities, enthusiasts and tech specialists see the metaverse as a next step in connectivity, a new internet of sorts, wherein all can live on a decentralized platform.
Specifically, Disney sees an opportunity with the technology as it stands currently. It was only last November that Chapek himself announced the company's sights on the metaverse. White's newfound role, which will see him leading the charge in "next-generation storytelling," proves that this isn't some PR mumbo jumbo or a cash-in opportunity for Disney. Sure, the money is there, but this is all about reevaluating how we look at entertainment.
According to his LinkedIn page, White has been with Disney now for over a decade. He first started out as Senior Vice President of Disney Interactive and has risen to the ranks to take on bigger and more interesting avenues. Now, the House of Mouse will employ its most knowledgeable in a whole new front, taking on diverse interactive concepts and evolving the way Disney itself can deliver its award-winning entertainment products.
White's newfound role at Disney will see him essentially building a proper leadership team around the metaverse concept and honing in on Disney's specific ideals on this new frontier. He will also be charged with dealing with various resource allocation procedures and building out the best way to implement technology through Disney, a feat that will undoubtedly be of little difficulty for the tech knowhow which has spent several years' worth of employment well before even Disney on technology and strategy across various companies, including Yahoo and Apollo Group.
While not directly linked, Disney stock took a leap today with a 2.19% bump as of writing. The company's various trailers amid the Super Bowl prove its longstanding commitment to delivering engaging and worthwhile entertainment, specifically its Disney+ commercial, as well as both the Marvel properties of Moon Knight and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Much like Q1 2022, Disney+ seems already poised to beat out Netflix yet again for Q2 subscriber benchmarks.
Disney's foothold within the burgeoning metaverse genuinely depends on the technology that arises over time and how Disney itself commodifies and approaches these new avenues. As mentioned previously, a Disney metaverse theme park sounds ideal on the surface but comes down to implementation and overall design.
In theory, we could even see Disney produce a metaverse game of some kind. The possibilities are utterly endless, but if anyone's going to do it the right way, it's certainly Disney.
