KPMG’s New Metaverse Space is Like the First-Person Shooters You Played in 1999 But Worse
Abstract
All these years later, a small handful of accounting firms are taking the leap into the metaverse. Because people are putting money into it? Prager Metis spent $35,000 on virtual three-story property on a metaverse site it bought for nearly $35,000 last December, PwC Hong Kong purchased imaginary real estate on The Sandbox - a game where digital land has previously been purchased for a fee of upwards from $10,000, and this past February KPMG Canada bought "The highly acclaimed World of Women non-fungible token collection." Unsatisfied with the joy of owning non-fungible tokens, KPMG is going all in on this metaverse thing. From a press release yesterday: Today, KPMG in the U.S. and KPMG in Canada announced the opening of the first KPMG metaverse collaboration hub, where employees, clients and communities will connect, engage and explore opportunities for growth across industries and sectors. "The metaverse is a market opportunity, a way to re-engage talent and a path to connect people across the globe through a new collaborative experience," said Laura Newinski, deputy chair and chief operating officer at KPMG in the U.S. "The unique experience provided by our collaboration hub will tap the creativity and passion of our people and clients to accelerate innovation." "Launching a collaborative space in the metaverse is a natural evolution in our journey as an innovation-driven firm," said Elio Luongo, chief executive officer and senior partner at KPMG in Canada. With virtual reality what it is these days, we assumed the metaverse would look more like Overwatch 2 and less like original Half-Life released in 1998. Let's get in a time machine and visit MACPA headquarters in Second Life circa 2008: MACPA headquarters on CPA Island in Second Life - 2008 And KPMG's new "Metaverse Collaboration Hub" that's making the rounds in the accounting news sphere today: KPMG metaverse meeting room - 2022 KPMG metaverse meeting room - 2022 Mark has a rockin' haircut. Whatever the reason for our disappointment, expect more self-congratulatory press releases about exciting new Half-Life metaverse spaces with accounting firm logos on them to come as we trudge ever onward into the glorious virtual future.
