Sony’s free 3D social space is a cool idea ruined by advertising, and Mark Zuckerberg’s meta-universe will suffer the same fate.

In 2005, Sony launched the first beta version of PlayStation Home. This 3D social space was created specifically for PS3 by SingStar developer London Studio, and it is terrible. The idea is reasonable: the physical representation of the PlayStation Network, where players can meet, chat, play mini games and win prizes to customize virtual apartments. However, the problem is execution. Home control is sluggish, the appearance is ugly, and in the end it is just a well-crafted advertising platform in disguise. I used to write a column about it for PlayStation Magazine every month, so I spent many, many hours there-when I saw the proof-of-concept video of Facebook Metaverse, that was all I could think of.

Home is free, and 41 million people are interested in logging in and creating an avatar. I am the first one. As a fan of Second Life, I am excited about the possibility of providing similar services with higher production value. But I was immediately disappointed. The appeal of "Second Life" is that it is a blank canvas, allowing users to sprinkle every strange aspect of their personality on it, and it is a wild and lawless place, where you are never sure about it. Some strange encounter awaits you around the corner. On the other hand, the home is rigid, boring and corporatized—this is a dull board meeting of the avant-garde guerrilla art exhibition in Second Life.

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When I played "Second Life", I used to dress up as a Cylon in Battlestar Galactica and wander around on a motorcycle. At home, I am an expressionless person wearing a polo shirt and chinos. The problem is that Home is strictly monitored by Sony. It should be shiny, approachable, and harmless-making it a platform to attract advertisers. If players can express their ideas freely, then no company is willing to be associated with it. The result is an incredibly boring, lifeless world, with almost zero personality, everything is too clean, too tidy, and personality is stifled. It's just boring.

This is what will happen to Facebook's metaverse. (I used the company's old name because "Meta's metaverse" sounds weird.) Zuckerberg can't let people run wild in his virtual world like in Second Life. This is one of the largest companies on the planet, and more importantly, it is a company that loves money. When Anheuser-Busch and The Coca-Cola Company knock on their doors and want to profit from the metaverse, Facebook will ensure that their ads are presented in the safest and cleanest way. It will become a more epic PlayStation Home.

Home is not all bad. Some social spaces, mini games and unlockable costumes are very interesting and imaginative. But as the years passed, corporate elements were actively pushed to the front. You will see people wearing Dr. Pepper vending machines, Subway soda cups and pot noodles, while huge, distracting video screens endlessly loop through game trailers and advertisements. It's free, so Sony has to make money in some way, but it makes the whole experience feel a bit cheap and tacky. Home has potential, but Sony uses it as a commercial project, followed by a social space, thus wasting it.

When I think of the Facebook meta-universe, all I can see is the future of my login. My racist uncle ran up to me, dressed like a can of Bud Light Lime, and started to hype right-wing conspiracy theories. Facebook thinks it is making Ready Player One, but it will be more like the episode of Futurama, where they travel on the Internet and are attacked by flying pop-up ads. Facebook (okay, very good, Meta) is completely the wrong company, unable to turn the idea of ​​the internet world into reality. It may succeed, but it will be the soulless corporate hell that all those cyberpunk writers warn us about.

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Andy Kelly is the feature editor of TheGamer. He likes detective games, anything with a good story, weird indie games and Alien: Isolation.