History of Metaverse in Timeline

By Popular Timelines Editorial Team · Updated: March 18, 2026

The metaverse is a virtual world where users interact through avatars, primarily within a 3D environment. Its core emphasis lies in fostering social interactions and economic activities. It represents a convergence of physical and digital lives, offering immersive experiences and new opportunities for connection, collaboration, and commerce. This technology is still evolving, but its potential impact spans entertainment, education, business, and beyond. The goal of the metaverse is to create a persistent, shared digital space that mirrors and extends the real world.

1992: Origin of the term Metaverse in Snow Crash

In 1992, the term "metaverse" originated in Neal Stephenson's science fiction novel Snow Crash. The novel envisions the metaverse as an immersive virtual world accessible through VR and AR headsets, representing a single, universal version of the Internet.

1992: The term metaverse was coined by Neal Stephenson

The term metaverse was coined by Neal Stephenson in his 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash, where humans, represented by computer-generated avatars, interact with each other and software agents, in a three-dimensional virtual space that uses the metaphor of the real world.

2003: Second Life launch

In 2003, the virtual world platform Second Life was launched and is often considered the first metaverse. It integrated social media aspects into a persistent 3D world where users are represented by avatars.

2011: Release of Ready Player One

In 2011, the first novel of the dystopian science fiction franchise Ready Player One, created by Ernest Cline, was released.

2017: Microsoft Acquires AltspaceVR

In 2017, Microsoft acquired the virtual reality company AltspaceVR. They subsequently integrated virtual avatars and meetings in virtual reality into Microsoft Teams.

2018: Ready Player One film adaptation

In 2018, the film adaptation of Ready Player One was released.

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2019: Facebook Launches Facebook Horizon

In 2019, the social network company Facebook launched a social VR world called Facebook Horizon.

2020: Second Ready Player One novel released

In 2020, the second novel in the Ready Player One series was released.

December 2021: Intel Claims More Computational Efficiency Needed

In December 2021, Raja Koduri, senior vice president of Intel, claimed that "Truly persistent and immersive computing, at scale and accessible by billions of humans in real time, will require even more: a 1,000-times increase in computational efficiency from today's state of the art."

2021: Facebook rebrands to Meta Platforms and commits to metaverse development

In 2021, Facebook was renamed Meta Platforms, and its chairman Mark Zuckerberg announced a commitment to developing a metaverse.

2021: Concerns over information privacy in the metaverse

In 2021, concerns arose about information privacy in the metaverse due to companies likely collecting users' personal information and biometric data. David Reid of Liverpool Hope University argued that data collection would be greater than on the internet.

2021: NVIDIA adopts USD for metaverse development

In 2021, the technology company NVIDIA announced that they would adopt Universal Scene Description (USD) for their metaverse development tools.

January 2022: Philip Rosedale describes the metaverse

In January 2022, Philip Rosedale, the creator of Second Life, described the metaverse in an interview with Wired as a three-dimensional Internet populated with live people.

February 2022: Reports of minors engaging in adult activities on VR platforms

In February 2022, investigations by BBC News and The Washington Post found minors engaging in adult activities in applications such as VRChat and Horizon Worlds, despite age restrictions.

February 2022: Lauren Jackson argues metaverse is stalled

In a February 2022 article for The New York Times, Lauren Jackson argued that the metaverse is "stalled from achieving scale by a lack of infrastructure for both hardware and software, a monopolistic approach to platform development, and a lack of clear governance standards."

August 2022: glTF 2.0 released as the ISO/IEC 12113:2022 International Standard

In August 2022, it was announced that glTF 2.0 had been released as the ISO/IEC 12113:2022 International Standard.

October 2022: Roblox Chief Scientist comments on moderation challenges

In an October 2022 interview, Roblox Chief Scientist Morgan McGuire stated that it is "a challenge to moderate 3D", and also compared moderating Roblox to shutting down speakeasies.

October 26, 2022: Ryan Mac reports Zuckerberg struggles to achieve metaverse

On October 26, 2022, Ryan Mac, a technology reporter for The New York Times, claimed that Mark Zuckerberg has struggled to find the best way to achieve the metaverse for the past year and has yet to succeed.

2022: Meta reports losses on metaverse development

In 2022, Meta reported a loss of over $10 billion on its metaverse development department, with Mark Zuckerberg anticipating further operating losses in 2022.

2022: VR technology limiting metaverse development

In 2022, dependence on VR technology limited metaverse development and wide-scale adoption. Limitations of portable hardware and the need to balance cost and design have caused a lack of high-quality graphics and mobility.

February 2023: Meta pivots away from the metaverse

In February 2023, Mark Zuckerberg announced Meta's pivot away from the metaverse to focus on artificial intelligence.

March 2023: Microsoft Shuts Down AltspaceVR

In March 2023, Microsoft shut down AltspaceVR, its virtual reality platform.

2023: Reports of low user adoption for Metaverse technology

As of 2023, reports indicated low user adoption of Metaverse technology. The Verge reported that Decentraland had as low as 38 daily users, though Decentraland disputed the report. Some declared the Metaverse a fad that was "dead".

January 2026: Meta lays off employees in Reality Labs division

In January 2026, Meta started laying off employees in its Reality Labs division focused on virtual reality and shut down a few of its studios that were working on VR titles. The decision impacted more than 1,000 employees.

2045: Depiction of the year 2045 in Ready Player One

The Ready Player One franchise depicts the year 2045 as being gripped by an energy crisis and global warming, causing widespread social problems and economic stagnation.