Epic Games and Google have reached a settlement that includes a special agreement for a new class of applications termed "metaverse browsers." While key details are redacted, the documents outline that these browsers will allow navigation of metaverse worlds, support portable virtual items and identity, and must include modern security features.
The agreement reflects Epic CEO Tim Sweeney's ongoing advocacy for the metaverse concept, despite the term's declining popularity elsewhere in the tech industry. Both companies have declined to provide further comment on the specifics of the deal.
The main topics covered are the Epic-Google settlement, the creation of "metaverse browsers," and the technical/security features these browsers will require.
Epic Games and Google are burying the hatchet, but documents released today reveal that they aren’t only aligned on how Google is shaking things up for app stores. The two companies have also agreed to terms about a new class of apps that they’re calling “metaverse browsers,” according to a heavily redacted section of a revised binding term sheet.
Epic and Google have signed a special deal for a new class of ‘metaverse’ apps
The two companies have agreed to terms about a new class of apps that they’re calling ‘metaverse browsers.’
The two companies have agreed to terms about a new class of apps that they’re calling ‘metaverse browsers.’
While the term “metaverse” has largely fallen out of favor — Mark Zuckerberg, for example, is now much more interested in AI — Epic CEO Tim Sweeney has been talking for years about the metaverse and how it might work in the future. (Depending on how you define the concept, Epic’s Fortnite is already arguably one of the biggest versions of a metaverse.) And this actually isn’t the first time there has been a connection with Epic and Google about the metaverse; in court in January, when discussing a secret $800 million Unreal Engine and services deal, Sweeney blurted out that the agreement related to the metaverse.
Unfortunately, the redactions in the revised binding term sheet cover up a lot of the key details about what a metaverse browser actually is. But from what’s visible in the document, metaverse browsers will:
- “have the primary purpose of allowing the navigation and exploration of metaverse worlds;”
- “support virtual items and identity that are portable across different worlds in the metaverse browser; and”
- “must support modern security considerations including Sandbox capabilities, limitations on code execution, and secure connections.”
In a blog post today about Google’s changes, Epic also vaguely noted that “Google will take steps to support the future open metaverse.”
When reached for comment by The Verge, Epic spokesperson Natalie Munoz and Google spokesperson Dan Jackson both said they had nothing further to share.
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