Building the Metaverse Doesn’t Cost $40 Billion

Subculture does everything first. And better

Meta lost $40 billion in building what amounts to "less-fun VRChat." It's a virtual reality world, but optimized for "safety," so internet non-natives will use it.

Which means it's less user-driven and more centralized. It doesn't look as lovely and is more restrictive. Its latest big reveal was finally adding legs to the chat avatars.

Meanwhile, people in VRChat are hanging out in virtual dance clubs right now. Dancing around as catgirls, Gundams, and Chao creatures from Sonic Adventure. With working legs.

Not even $40 billion can buy you a thriving metaverse. Some things you can't buy with money.

Meta's $40 billion metaverse wasn't built for enthusiasts. They made it for the "mainstream." This means it's taking what games like VRChat established and padding all the edges. It's like what you do when you don't want toddlers to hurt themselves on table corners.

In many ways, every mainstream "innovation" is precisely that. They take something subculture has already been doing for years but sand down all the edges. And then pray masses of ordinary people use it.

Because the companies that do this need massive scale to justify their existence.

That's why it costs Meta $40 billion to fail at what VRChat raised a little under $100 million succeeding at.

Subculture does everything first. And better.

Because the challenge for enthusiasts is to make something that people want. The challenge for the "mainstream" is in making people desire what they've made.

Everything on the cutting-edge, you find first in a subculture.

Built by talented enthusiasts who can't help but care deeply about what they're making.

That's where the Bluegem Network comes in.

We connect creators with the expertise and guidance to make their projects successful. We help make the hard stuff easier because few can do it alone.

Our members are building unique experiences and powerful tools. The sorts of things $40 billion can't buy.

Join us.