Corporate content showing up in Social VR can give the platforms a sense of legitimacy. For years the main corporate presence has come from the eastern world (excluding crypto platforms). With Meta, its no surprise that Western companies are taking an interest. Meta has made the term “metaverse” a popular buzzword, which got the attention of many businesses. Wendy’s being one of them, apparently.

When I see a business pushing metaverse content, it feels very uninspired. On one hand its cool that social VR platforms are getting to a point where businesses are taking an interest, but on the other hand, its very clearly a marketing stunt. The press that comes from making VR content is probably worth more than the content itself. Its a shame because I believe there is real value to having a VR presence.

So how was the world?

Well, it was a Wendy’s, that’s for sure. I’m realizing that I’m kind of a Horizon hater. I’m not a fan of the blocky art style, so being in Horizon already feels uninteresting to me.  Though there can definitely be experiences where the blocky style works very well. Wendy’s developed two worlds within Horizon, one being a recreation of their restaurant, and the second being a giant Hamburger dome. Each world had some games in it and a ton of Wendy’s branding (obviously). It felt like I was in an ad, because I was.

Businesses can create a great VR environment that the community genuinely enjoys being in. I just think they need to focus more on the player experience rather than focusing on creating the ad.