According to reports, Chinese technology companies are developing technology that will enable Chinese soccer fans to view the FIFA World Cup in the Metaverse.
The projects are part of a five-year plan released by the Chinese government in early November to strengthen the local Virtual Reality (VR) industry’s capabilities and growth.
Global Times reported on November 20 that video streaming platform Migu is one of six Chinese companies that have secured the rights to broadcast the World Cup. Migu plans to create a “Metaverse-like” space accessible via VR headsets where users can watch a live stream of the game.
ByteDance, which owns TikTok and its Chinese version Douyin, has been granted licensing rights to broadcast the competition. ByteDance’s VR headset subsidiary Pico will offer live broadcasts of the World Cup, as well as the ability for users to create and watch the games in “digital rooms.”
China’s nascent VR industry appears to be using the World Cup as a testing ground for the technology, as the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and four other agencies pushed an ambitious industry plan on November 1.
The five-year plan, which runs from 2022 to 2026, states that China wants to expand its virtual reality (VR) industry and ship over 25 million units worth $48.56 billion, but does not specify whether this is an annual or cumulative goal.
The stated plans make no mention of whether the Metaverse will employ blockchain technology, such as that proposed by the Chinese city of Wuhan, which was subsequently revised to remove any mention of nonfungible tokens (NFTs).
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