They did the second thing, which is they changed their developer license agreement so that if there is a dispute they need a court order to cut you off. This is the fundamental belief that for the metaverse to thrive, developers need to trust that their investments will be respected. And instead of trying to come up with their own legal system, they entrust it to democratic and legislative processes. Just as landlords must get approval by law to ban you from their premises, Epic must do so in its development roadmap.
And so we have these two companies that are not just focused on democratizing tools, but their entire framework is actually very different from a value capture point of view. If they can raise the TAM of the metaverse, they benefit. If they can pull it forward, they benefit and as a result they operate very nicely.
Gilad Edelman: This book, as I understand it, evolved from the nine-part book series you wrote last year on your website. So, of course, available for free. So people will… Just being here, Matt, what do people get out of a book that’s not in the nine-part series?
Matthew Ball: Thank you for kicking the ball. This book is an incredible overhaul. It’s about three times longer, but the primer itself, which has been completely redone, is just the middle third. The rest, written about 20 times, time written, professionally edited, supported, many others read it first, it reflects progress of six months, perhaps 24 months of compressed learning. But there are three parts in total.
The first to go down in the history of the metaverse. Why are we talking about it now? Where does it come from? It explains why gaming, a small part of the entertainment economy, seems to be at the forefront of the metaverse. It also spends around 12,000 words providing a detailed definition of the metaverse as well as why we should think of it, not just as some Internet but a revolution to it.
The second part, as I mentioned, is the primer for the most part, but with basic overhauls and some additions. And then the third part goes into the social questions, what business will be built, when, what are the social implications, what is the regulatory response, and then we can know what and we can’t know what until it’s here.
Lauren Goode: And this comes out on July 19th. Is it true?
Matthew Ball: That’s right.
Lauren Goode: OK. Matt, we’ll take a quick break and when we get back we’ll ask you, our guest of honor, about your proposal this week.
[Break]
Lauren Goode: OK. Matthew Ball, our guest of honor this week on WIRED’s Gadget Lab, what’s your recommendation?
Matthew Ball: I have two. One is television. I really enjoy Old man, is an FX production on Hulu, starring Jeff Bridges, John Lithgow, and Amy Brenneman. And then also Strict inspection podcast on Crooked Media, especially after two very signed Supreme Court decisions over the past month. I love the Crooked Media team, but I think Strict inspection just an incredible legal check with a little backing.
