Microsoft fires a team of hundred working on metaverse industrial application

Microsoft appears to be putting an end to its industrial metaverse division and has dissolved a team of hundred people working on the project. Future plans for the unit have been put on indefinite hold.

The special unit, Industrial Metaverse Core, was put together four months ago to explore how the metaverse tech can fit into industrial operations. Social media, gaming, and the automobile industry are anticipated to be the major beneficiaries of the application.

The move is part of the layoffs associated with strategising spending. Microsoft has fired a total of 10,000 employees amid the ongoing economic slowdown. The company said it is currently favouring short-term projects that could generate more revenue quicker over projects, reported NDTV.

Last month, Microsoft also shut down two up-and-coming units dedicated to Virtual Reality (VR) and the metaverse – Altspacevr and the Mixed Reality Tool Kit.

The tech giant in an email interaction said it will be supporting the products already completed by the unit. "We are applying our focus to the areas of the industrial metaverse that matter most to our customers and they will see no change in how they are supported. Microsoft remains committed to the industrial metaverse," reported Coindesk.

According to Bloomberg Intelligence, the market opportunity for the metaverse is set to reach $800 billion by 2024. Nishant Batra, the Chief Strategy and Technology Officer at Nokia, also said the metaverse tech is expected to see a wide-scale industrial adoption before individuals come on board.