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While the metaverse is often seen as a joke in 2025 because of low user counts and poor financial performance (take Meta’s Reality Labs division and its continued losses, estimated by Statista at $70 billion all-time), the industry may be thriving in ways the general public doesn’t realize.
“The hype around the entertainment part has subsided,” said Andy Lee, partner at law firm Jones Walker who specializes in privacy, data strategy, artificial intelligence and the metaverse. Instead, Lee said there’s a “pragmatic recalibration” happening, where enterprise companies and even entire industries are starting to use immersive 3D worlds for uses like upskilling and scenario planning. Venture funds like Intel Capital and Venture Reality Fund are taking a close look at the metaverse for all its purposes.
For instance, the metaverse might serve to train police officers on how to handle someone in a mental health crisis or someone that’s high on fentanyl, according to Neil Sahota, CEO of ACSILabs, which develops virtual worlds for enterprises. “While you might hear about it or read about it in the classroom setting, it’s very different when it’s happening in real life,” said Sahota, who also serves as an artificial intelligence advisor for the United Nations.
