Even though Disney disbanded the entire metaverse department in March this year, its layout in the "3D Internet" has not stopped. From the grand narrative of the metaverse, which encompasses virtual reality, blockchain, AI, cloud computing, and other new technologies, Disney has chosen a more specific approach.

Recently, Disney announced a collaboration with the creators of the well-known NFT series "NBA Top Shot," Dapper Labs, to launch the "Digital Badge" platform Disney Pinnacle based on the Flow blockchain network. This platform is set to debut on the Apple App Store by the end of this year.

Earlier this year, Disney collaborated with Cryptoys to release a series of limited edition "Star Wars" NFTs, and Dapper Labs was one of the investors in this project.

In addition, Disney's collaboration with Apple's XR headset Vision Pro has long been in the works, with plans to provide Disney+ streaming services when the headset is released.

For the metaverse, Disney is no longer investing heavily in self-construction, but is embedding its own IP and content advantages into more fitting areas, while also strengthening external partnerships. This is not only because the realization of the metaverse takes time, but also because of Disney's revenue pressure.

Earlier this year, Disney underwent a major restructuring, cutting 7,000 jobs globally, and the cost reduction and efficiency improvement finally showed some feedback in the year-end financial report. The latest Disney financial data shows that the company's revenue for the full year of fiscal year 2023 was $88.898 billion (approximately 643.8 billion RMB), a 7% year-on-year increase.

Chasing the Dream of the Metaverse

"The metaverse will be Disney's future." This was the bold statement made by former Disney CEO Bob Chapek in November 2021.

Indeed, among many companies, Disney is seen as the "most suitable company for developing the metaverse," with a large number of film and animation IPs under its belt, and its Marvel IPs alone have a futuristic feel. Even if it's just bringing theme parks into the virtual world, it sounds very appealing. Disney and 3D, AR/VR technology seem to naturally fit together.

Chapek probably thought so too. So, starting in February 2022, Disney officially established the metaverse department, incorporating emerging technologies such as blockchain and virtual reality. Chapek's blueprint was to "allow consumers to experience Disney's products wherever they are."

With the Disney platform as the entry point, Disney's metaverse dream began to take shape around its many IPs.

Initially, the company created a "virtual world simulator of the real world," which was deployed in multiple Disney theme parks around the world. This simulator allows classic IPs to interact with visitors in the park in 3D.

In addition to virtual reality, Disney's interest in NFTs has been growing. Classic IPs created by Disney's subsidiary Pixar Studios have appeared on the NFT collection platform VeVe. In March 2022, the platform was authorized to tokenize characters from "Toy Story," "Cars," "The Incredibles," and "Up" and sell them to collectors.

The "Cars" IP becomes an NFT collectible

From 2020 to 2022, all companies worldwide that pursued the concept of the metaverse during this period faced a common reality: people couldn't go out during the pandemic, and more content consumption came from online sources. This meant that all offline businesses would be hit hard.

In this reality, it was understandable that Disney hitched its story to the metaverse trend at the end of 2021. Unfortunately, the results were not ideal: the stock price continued to fall (by over 40% in 2022), the streaming business incurred losses, and revenue from cable TV and film businesses continued to decline.

The new and distant metaverse concept did not save Disney, and this media and entertainment giant quickly made adjustments.

At the beginning of 2023, Disney proposed a strategic restructuring, cutting costs by $5.5 billion, laying off 7,000 employees, which accounted for 3% of its workforce, and the entire metaverse R&D department was simply disbanded. Bob Chapek, who had been CEO for only two and a half years, resigned, and the previous CEO Bob Iger returned as the "firefighter."

IP Resources Shift Towards NFTs

By 2023, as countries around the world gradually emerged from the pandemic and the economy began to recover, people were eager to return to offline life, and Disney's cost reduction and efficiency improvement finally paid off at the end of the year.

The latest financial data shows that Disney's revenue for the full fiscal year of 2023 was $88.898 billion (approximately 643.8 billion RMB), a 7% year-on-year increase; net profit was $2.354 billion, a 25% year-on-year decrease.

With revenue growth and profit decline, but cost reductions exceeding expectations, and improved streaming user metrics, Disney's stock price rose by about 10% in the week following the financial report release. Looking at the performance of various businesses, revenue and profit from theme parks both increased, while streaming losses narrowed, and Disney+ added nearly 7 million new subscribers in the fourth quarter.

Current CEO Iger stated, "While we still have work to do, these efforts have allowed us to move beyond this recovery period and begin rebuilding our business."

With its vitality restored, Disney's pursuit of new opportunities has resumed, despite the disbandment of the metaverse department. From its actions in 2023, the company has left its mark in the vertical application fields related to the metaverse: NFT IPs and XR content.

In November of this year, Disney announced a collaboration with NFT IP development company Dapper Labs to launch the NFT platform "Disney Pinnacle," where IPs from "Star Wars" and iconic characters created by Pixar Studios will be introduced in NFT form. Dapper Labs is the creator of the well-known NFT series "NBA Top Shot" and has extensive experience in operating NFT IPs.

Meanwhile, Disney's IPs that collaborated with the NFT collection platform VeVe last year continue to evolve on the platform, with NFT collectibles of characters such as Donald Duck and Ariel appearing in VeVe's marketplace.

At this year's Apple Developer Conference, Iger also announced Disney's collaboration with Apple, where Disney+ streaming services will be provided to all users when Vision Pro is released.

"We have always been looking for new ways to combine extraordinary creativity with breakthrough technology to create truly extraordinary experiences for our fans. And we believe that Apple Vision Pro is a revolutionary platform that can make our vision a reality."

Disney+ will debut on Vision Pro

For the metaverse, Disney seems to no longer be fixated on building its own world, but has chosen to work with partners to execute more specific landing scenarios. This giant has also recognized its own advantages: content platforms and IPs. Compared to virtual space, these two advantages are undoubtedly more compatible with NFTs.

Compared to Bob Chapek, who proposed the metaverse strategy, current CEO Bob Iger has taken a more practical approach to the cost-benefit ratio of the metaverse, spending money where it can be earned. IP NFTs can be sold to fans, and Disney+ can increase subscription revenue through headset hardware.

After all, the metaverse is an all-encompassing technological integration, involving cloud computing, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, blockchain, and other cutting-edge technologies, and XR, blockchain, and AI are still in the early stages of development. It will only be possible for the dream of the metaverse in the "3D Internet" to become a reality when all technologies take shape on the original hardware.

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