Source | Magnify the lamp
The popularity of the meta-universe concept has made the VR industry, which has been silent for five years, lively. However, front-line practitioners may not think so.
This week, we chatted with a person who has just switched from VR, and he complained that the industry does not make money at all, and the concept of the rubbing meta universe is also a trick to cut leeks, and the entire industry has a feeling for VR: despair. Today's industrial situation is much stronger than VR.
The following is his statement.
I have been in the VR industry for more than a year, and I have become several projects in my hands, but after thinking about it carefully, there are still problems with the operating logic of this industry.
At present, the entire VR industry, to C is a dead end. If you don't engage in pornography, you will only engage in a VR experience of 20 yuan in the mall, which is particularly bleak.
On Steam, VR games that don't engage in "little butter" are not bought or played by anyone. To B, find a big hardware manufacturer to adapt, landing a project is as difficult as jumping off the building, and it is not profitable.
If you really want to make money, you must combine it with other content and make a theme park.
Existing high-quality theme parks like Disney and Universal Studios also do VR content, but their cost considerations are very strict. Second, people have their own very strong IP production team, almost disdainful of these domestic IP, and can not look at these domestic VR content, why use yours?
At this time, you have only one way to go: self-construction. Self-construction inevitably had to communicate with local governments, so VR companies became content production companies to G.
On the surface, the definition is not turning, but the actual business has changed. This is also the survival reality faced by most VR teams in China: either I secretly engage in illegal pornography with overseas companies; or I become a member of the to G industry chain.
It is difficult to make money from the local hand
Since it is to G, it is necessary to bear all the risks.
For example, one of our projects, at the beginning of the talks was very smooth, the local government also particularly supported, in one breath to make a large budget, just the content production of this part of the budget is very impressive, sounds very beautiful, right? As a result, the upper side was replaced, and the whole project was abandoned halfway. Except for the completion of the first phase of construction, all the work in the later period was not done.
This situation leaves the company with a series of long-tail problems. For example, after signing the project, the company found a large number of suppliers to do content, but now it is told that "all stop, we don't want it", what do you do?
And this is not a breach of contract, nor is it a breach of contract, the project will continue to be done, but the new leader feels that "your thing is not very suitable, you have to change."
Can I add money if I change it? No, it is not because I have changed my mind, but because you have not done well before, so I have to change. It is rectification.
Generally speaking, the industry pays in stages: 70% upfront (40%+30% or 50%+20%), and the remaining 30% is paid after completion. But after entering the rectification, the remaining money is definitely gone. You haven't changed it yet, how do I give it?
This pressure is passed to the end of the industry, leading to the situation faced by these VR content producers: either accept indefinite rectification and rework countless times, or you can't stand not doing it, and don't ask for the remaining 30% of the money.
You can also sue me, so we'll continue to do it as planned, but I'll change it 18 times a day. I have 10,000 ways you can't get this money.
Why is it so hard to do business to G?
On the one hand, you deal with the local area, at least with all the people at the bottom, you have to get along, at that time we didn't have a penny, offended everyone at the bottom, and then everywhere was blocked.
On the other hand, it is also the most essential question: how to land projects in the VR industry? It must be "big" enough to land with the theme park and the like, and everyone is interested. Doing a theme park involves land and infrastructure, which are the most risky, which is why the underlying logic of vr company to G's business is not solid.
You will find that the whole VR is a virtual fire, to C does not make money at all, to G is particularly easy to get involved in trouble, completely unable to get money, this industry is an empty shell.
What the? You say VR has become the "meta-universe entrance" again? Come on.
There is no metacosm in the VR industry
In fact, the VR industry has long been practicing the meta-universe, but it has not said these three words. Now take all of our original planning proposals, the content does not change a word, and writes three big words on the cover of the "metacosm", which is a particularly complete metacosmonic concept.
What is the metacosm? The metacosm is a particularly old concept, which is itself a big collection of IPs, a big sandbox. This big sandbox is some kind of unreal world, or the real world, or any mess. The metacosm hovers over the entire world, across borders.
The metaverse needs to be enriched, and we use the concept of "skinny IP" to explain this rich process - all the characters in the metaverse, all the scenes, all the things, I use a "stick", or a string of code, or a blank space to replace.
The people who develop the metaverse, turn all the sticks or blanks in it into real people and scenes, and I share IP rights and interests with the developers, so-called buying land, buying clothes, buying things - this is the original meaning of the metaverse.
At this time, we will find two points: first, the world does not lack a metacosm, because almost all online games have such a metacosm; second, the essence of the metacosm is that I create "value" in it and circulate across borders.
At present, many so-called "technological innovations" are aimed at the direction of building an independent financial system, which is very dangerous and unreliable.
You can't go against the state.
Anyone who has survived the blockchain industry will know this for sure: as long as you are logically anti-state at the bottom, the state will pull the floodgates for you at some point. The basic definition of the metaverse and the morphological conflict between the state determine that this matter is a false proposition at the root.
It has been proven countless times before this, which is why both the NFT and the metaverse are actually nonsense, both deceitful, and no one in the industry believes it.
From the root, you will know that when the metaverse develops to a certain extent, the state will limit it to the scope of the game, and you will not be allowed to truly cross the border, and the metaverse will lose its most original meaning.
If you don't have your own financial system, what do you do in the metacosm? Is it a game?
Since everyone's purpose is unified, then everyone's actions will be very unified - to cooperate with large factories, break through the name, and then the big factories come forward to go to the government, either to get land, or to take projects, or to take this messy subsidy, all of which are such a set, and finally it comes down to the perspective of to G or to VC.
Are there VC still cell universes and VR now? VCs don't believe it either, but they need these concepts when they go to convince LPs.
You see a lot of big factories in the meta-universe, but everyone thinks of this set: cut a leek, make a false name to take a piece of land... No one really believes in the metaverse, and there is no metacosm in the VR industry.
The whole wave of the current VR metaverse is piled up by layers of Ponzi schemes, and who will believe in this thing?
Everyone has broken through in the wind and rain, and no one will believe that there is nothing to land on this kind of fundamentally empty head. I just ask you, does blockchain believe in NFTs? Now who believes in the metaverse, do you believe?
Tough industry dilemmas
Currently, there are three groups of people in the VR industry.
The first category is a large company in the VR industry, with a large single volume, but most of the business of to G, such as the above-mentioned undertaking VR meta-universe theme park construction business.
But you can go to the field to see, all the landing theme parks, almost no one goes a day, so the "VR meta-universe" is not just needed by local governments, only cities that want to spend money are interested in doing it.
Even local governments that spend money are smart. In their eyes, the VR companies that hold the concept of "meta-universe" are a company that engages in novelty, a bit like a director going somewhere to make a movie. In other words, the VR company in their eyes is doing content, you make a theme park, just stop there, and anything up there, don't touch it.
The government's theme park projects need to be tendered, but in fact, the VR company's winning information cannot be found on the Internet, because they need to register a new renovation company to do this.
So the whole thing became particularly stupid: a VR high-tech company that claimed to be very good was still working on a group of so-called technology content producers, but in fact all the landing business was placed in a decoration company.
Registering a renovation company to take over the work is a common phenomenon in the VR industry. This is the essence of everyone, never changed: VR company is a construction party, engaged in decoration, but do not feel that you are more foreign.
Do you think you're relying on software companies to do to G projects? I tell you very clearly that the essence is.
There is a project in the place to find you to build a theme park, as for the filled VR content, to be honest people don't care at all.
You give me the whole VR, AR, XR, MR, you give me heaven or good, into the ground, good work, make things new and strange on the line, don't say so much, otherwise rework 100 times.
The second category, the original "Crystal Stone" (a state-owned enterprise that does digital content) people, formed a domestic VR content production team, these teams absorbed the most VR practitioners.
There are one or twenty of these content production companies, and one company can always make thirty or forty million a year; there are a large number of scattered soldiers and brave studios, everyone makes a sum of money every time they make a single order, and they can get positive cash flow in the short term.
But just like the situation mentioned earlier, because the VR company that takes the order to G cannot guarantee the order volume, the balance and the rework problem, the source is unstable, resulting in their poor anti-risk ability.
The third category is hardware manufacturers, who are the most profitable and the most resistant to risks.
Hardware manufacturers are divided into two categories, one is to do headsets, no matter what new and exotic content downstream VR companies use, there must be a head-mounted display to use, so the headset is always bought.
The other is an offline equipment manufacturer, called "game hardware equipment" in the industry, which is actually a roller coaster, a small tunnel car, a small flying car, including a slide, and it is very profitable to do these things.
There is also a kind of shopping mall, people sit up, put on glasses it will start to shake, 20 yuan a time, especially stupid.
This kind of "shake car" hardware manufacturers are profitable, but those who operate stores offline are not profitable - that kind of VR store is like a market, right? You have to take a closer look at why it's bustling, either there are free seats where you can sit and rest, or there are special cheap drinks where you can go wool.
So what is the real meta-universe on the C side, what is tall, what is the new world, all give way to the VR rocker, "Daddy's daddy's name is", exactly the same.
This is the metaverse of the VR industry.
In short, the upper and lower levels of the VR industry have long been completely desperate about this matter, only those content producers who take orders still have some ideals, why? It is not to make a beautiful IP, the future is scattered. "Now all kinds of misery are paving the way for future soaring", self-hypnosis.
This industry is difficult, no status, all day long have to sell laughter with people, even if VR plus the concept of meta-universe, this thing who still can't understand ah.
You work in this industry, there is no hope, you are specifically with everyone to engage in this kind of fly camp dog thing, you share a little money, I share a little money, everyone divides the money, once the accident is all unable to run. That was one of the core reasons I left.
In fact, the VR industry knows what's going on inside, and the outside world is still a sentence: VR meta-universe YYDS!
Doing business is much better than VR
Because I have now transferred to an industrial company, I am a pure party A. The industrial chain of the industry can be understood by people as soon as they listen, so the negotiation and doing of things are more comfortable.
For example, if I want to produce, I must negotiate large-scale procurement with the local government; if I want to make a processing plant, I must buy land at the local level.
It all involves infrastructure, the industry is much better than the VR company, when talking about cooperation, the waist bar is hard: I am here to invest, I am here to purchase, I am here to pay taxes, I do not expect to get any money from the locality, but there must be policy preferences... I want to do something for the local place with sincerity, and people's attitude towards you is completely different.
