The Wendy's Metaverse Is Expanding With A Frosty Village

Big companies are putting a lot of faith into the metaverse. Facebook even changed its company name to Meta in honor of the metaverse, with its executives believing it will eventually generate plenty of profit for businesses that were quick enough to buy into it, notes Wired.

Defining the metaverse isn't easy — because nobody really knows what it is. Wired explains that aspects of it involve virtual and augmented realities, including virtual worlds — such as those of video games — that continue even when the user isn't actively involved. Crucially, companies are interested because the metaverse is being billed as a digital economy where users could create, buy, and sell virtual products.

There are different worlds available in the metaverse, BBC News reports, and major companies (including Nike, Samsung, and HSBC) are buying virtual land in them. Restaurants are taking part too, with Wendy's being a notable investor. Having already created Wendyverse within Meta's Horizon Worlds, Wendy's is continuing to expand its metaverse functionality — but will the investments pay off?

Wendyverse is Wendy's metaverse creation, a virtual restaurant where people (using their avatars) can play basketball with Baconators, reports Nation's Restaurant News (NRN). NRN notes the addition of Sunrise City castle with an obstacle course, plus the inclusion of Frosty Village which includes French fry skis (via NRN).

NRN's reports detail promotions for free Wendy's snacks for people participating in the Wendyverse, and The Food Institute suggests the company's aim could be to build a rapport with users — presumably with the objective that this creates a loyal real-world community that spends money at its restaurants (avoiding Meta's fee of up to 47.5% on potential sales of virtual Wendy's-themed items, notes Insider).

McKinsey & Company reports that people expect to spend almost four hours a day on average in the metaverse by 2027, so Wendy's early creations can potentially capitalize on that — especially as the market to buy virtual land is expected to reach $5 billion by 2026 (via CBS News). If the metaverse goes big, Wendy's stands a chance of profiting from it. If it doesn't, Wendyverse and its Frosty Village might melt away.