Sony Group Corp plans to expand via the Metaverse to boost its presence in the rising spatial communications platform, the firm revealed in a statement on Wednesday.
The tech giant aims to use its knowledge of gaming and music to build the Metaverse, allowing people to socialise, collaborate, and join gaming communities, among others, the company noted in a corporate strategy briefing published on Wednesday.
According to Kenichiro Yoshida, Sony Group Chief Executive,
“The metaverse is simultaneously a social environment, as well as a live networking space where gaming, music, films and anime intersect”
According to Yoshida, Sony aims to expand across entertainment markets in the ‘Kando’ space, or experiences which create feeling and emotion for users.
Sony will leverage its gaming technologies to build future Metaverse infrastructure and expand its portfolio of entertainment experiences, where it expects growth in the tech industry.
The enterprise has also planned further partnerships with Manchester City Football Club and live virtual performances from artists signed to Sony Music, it added.
It concluded it would prioritise mobility for users in three areas—safety, adaptability, and entertainment—and has entered talks with Honda Motor Co to develop an alliance for electric vehicles by 2025.
Sony-Epic Metaverse Partnership
The news comes after Sony announced in mid-April it had invested roughly $1 billion USD in real-time 3D software firm Epic Games Inc in a bid to develop its own Metaverse immersive worlds, bringing Epic’s total valuation to $28.7 billion USD.
The funding round will also add a further $200 million in strategic investments to deepen ties to the Cary, North Carolina-based firm as both expand their entertainment and social Metaverse solutions.
Investors involved in the funding round include Baillie Gifford, Appaloosa, Fidelity Management & Research Company, and many others.
An additional announcement revealed $2 billion in investments from Sony and KIRKBI, the parent company of the Lego Group, to develop Metaverse technologies, at $1 billion USD each.
The company recently bought out US gaming firm Bungie, ahead of revealing its latest iteration of the Sony PSVR 2 headset, to compete with Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision: Blizzard, with the latter leading to a record-breaking $68 billion USD deal.
Tim Sweeney, Chief Executive and Founder of Epic Games, said in a statement,
“We are grateful to our new and existing investors who support our vision for Epic and the Metaverse. Their investment will help accelerate our work around building connected social experiences in Fortnite, Rocket League and Fall Guys, while empowering game developers and creators with Unreal Engine, Epic Online Services and the Epic Games Store”
The announcement comes amid a massive shift in focus to the Metaverse, namely after Facebook rebranded as Meta Platforms and unveiled numerous spatial communications platforms and upcoming headsets at an event in October last year, triggering major competition among global tech firms.
A representative of Microsoft explored the potential of serious gaming technologies, or gaming solutions and infrastructure leading to future Metaverse technologies, at the Immerse Global Summit 2.0 in March this year. The exec said at the time that advancements in cloud and edge computing, avatar development, and networking, among others, could lead to next-generation Metaverse solutions.
