Digital Ghost Towns: Why Metaverse Cities Are Failing in 2025
👥 Users Abandoning Virtual Worlds Once-promising platforms like Decentraland and The Sandbox saw massive hype in 2021–22. Yet, daily users have plummeted from tens of thousands to just a few hundred unique wallets, with less than 1,000 active players per day . 💸 Depleted Virtual Economies Decentraland’s virtual land sales dropped from $34 million/month in late 2021 to mere $343,000/month today . Platforms that once boasted land NFTs worth millions now see just 20–30 trades weekly . 🧩 Poor UX and Technical Problems Glitchy environments, long load times, and weak game mechanics contribute to user frustration . Many areas resemble empty facades—beautiful but lifeless, with very little actual interaction . 📉 Huge Losses from Big Tech Meta's Reality Labs division has burned over $60 billion since 2020, including $4.2 billion just this quarter, with projects like Horizon Worlds struggling to gain traction . Layoffs in VR teams signal a possible pivot—Meta may even s...
