In Depth: Chinese Firms Hype Metaverse Ambitions, Official Grumbling Aside

Metaverse — the latest tech industry buzzword sparking a familiar cycle of grand claims about the future and frenzied investment.

In China, dozens of companies have declared that they will be building the digital realm of the future.

A metaverse generally refers to an immersive, online, virtual-reality environment in which users can interact. The term was first coined in the 1992 novel “Snow Crash” by American writer Neal Stephenson. One recent portrayal of a metaverse-like environment was in the 2018 film “Ready Player One.”