Awards for the 2022 Edition

  • Best Books of 2022

  • Best Books of 2022

  • Bookseller Favorites 2022

  • Best Books of 2022

  • Best Books of 2022

  • Best Books of 2022

  • Best Books of Summer 2022

  • Official Recommendation

Out July 23, 2024: The Fully Revised & Updated Edition to the Award Winning and National & International Bestseller “The Metaverse”

  • 70% of the book is “brand new,” featuring over 40 new graphics and charts

  • New Chapter on AI: Covering the century-long history of artificial intelligence R&D and philosophy, including newer advances such as transformer models (such as ChatGPT) and diffusion models, neural networks, neural laces, photogrammetry, and “world reproduction,” plus the six ways AI will enable, accelerate, and steer the Metaverse and Spatial Internet

  • New Chapter on 3D Graphics: The history of 3D graphics, including its formation in military simulations and national research labs, adoption by the “video game industry” (including the founding of Id Software and Epic Games, as well as Epic’s debut title ZZT and creation of “Unreal Engine 0”), and how/why “video game engines” have become so important in tech

  • New Chapter on the Past, Present, and Future of XR Devices: Including NASA’s 1980s tests, Apple’s multi-decade work to build the Vision Pro, the creation of Oculus VR and early years of Facebook’s Metaverse investments, and a look at the (private) R&D prototypes that seek to crack XR’s hardest problems by replicating “bug eyes”, installing screen-based motors, and AI-powered image distortion

  • Completely Revamped Chapters: (i) Blockchains & Web3; (ii) Understanding what the Metaverse is, isn’t, and how it contrasts to other visions of the future; (iii) Global regulations over the Metaverse and Apple's fight against the E.U. Commission, U.S. Department of Justice, and various other governments

  • Comprehensive Updates and New Additions including (i) Quantum computing; (ii) Epic’s partnerships with Disney + Lego and launch of the “Verse” programming language for the Metaverse; (iii) The emerging Metaverse standards proposed by Pixar, Apple, Epic, and others; (iv) Tech's fight over undersea cable infrastructure; (v) The rise, importance, and technologies behind satellite Internet, plus the competition between SpaceX’s Starlink and Amazon’s Project Kuiper, as well as investments in drone and balloon Internet; (iv) The NFT royalty war between Blur v. OpenSea

    And much, much more!

Sales for the 2022 Edition

  • National Bestseller

  • National Bestseller

  • National Bestseller

  • National Bestseller

Executive Reviews

  • “Matthew Ball’s essays have defined, analyzed, and inspired the Metaverse for years. His book is an approachable and essential guide to the strategic, technical, and philosophical foundations of this new medium, and highlights the opportunity to build an open system bringing opportunity for all."

    Tim Sweeney, CEO & Co-Founder of Epic Games

  • “Helps separate fact from fiction, hype from reality, and should be foundational reading for anyone that wants to understand the possibilities of the Metaverse.”

    Reed Hastings, Co-Founder and Former CEO of Netflix

  • "Matthew is one of the most thoughtful writers about the future of computing. This edition captures a bunch of the breakthroughs we're seeing across the industry, especially around the convergence of AI and the metaverse."

    Mark Zuckerberg, Co-Founder and CEO of Facebook/Meta

  • “Thought-provoking on an industrial, human, and creative level.”

    Karlie Kloss, Supermodel and Entrepreneur

  • “A thought-provoking look at the evolving intersection of technology, society, human nature, and creativity. Matthew Ball’s enlightening guide is a must-read for every creator and company that is embarking on their journey to the new frontier that is the Metaverse."

    Kenichiro Yoshida, CEO of Sony

  • “Thoughtful, engaging, and relevant….The issues that Matthew Ball raises in this book will continue to shape our shared future, both online and off.”

    Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming

Editorial Reviews

  • “A rare achievement―a definitive statement about an emerging phenomenon that could shape the digital world, the global economy, and the very experience of human consciousness.”

    Derek Thompson, Atlantic staff writer and best-selling author of Hit Makers

  • "Will the Metaverse replace the internet? Will it fizzle like a bright firecracker? . . . Enter clear-eyed Matthew Ball, a brilliant student of business and the digital age. In sentences that clarify rather than obscure, Ball serves as our sherpa, helping readers decipher both the hype and the potentially seismic changes ahead."

    Ken Auletta, New York Times best-selling author of Googled and Frenemies, and New Yorker staff writer

  • "Mr. Ball’s summary of the history of virtual worlds, in both fiction and computer science, provides helpful context. But his book’s most valuable contribution may prove to be his definition of the metaverse . . . For anyone who wants to understand the process [of building the metaverse] and what is at stake, Mr. Ball’s lucid and timely book offers a portal into a new realm."

    The Economist

  • “[In] The Metaverse, Matthew Ball explains how it could operate in practice and explores how it might turn out to be a lot more exciting and beneficial invention than the miserabilists imagine, so long as we help shape its evolution . . . [written] in an informed and provocative style . . . it serves as a comprehensive guide to every aspect of the metaverse, from its technical underpinnings to its societal responsibilities.”

    John Thornhill, Financial Times

  • "There is no better guide to where the Internet may—or may not—be heading... Ball has an intimate understanding of the work necessary to bring the metaverse to fruition, and what might derail it."

    Dr. Sue Halpern, Guggenheim Fellow and Rhodes Scholar, New York Review of Books

  • "Tactfully toes the line between enthusiasm and skepticism while weighing possible futures against infrastructural realities . . . A tour of metaverse concepts from heady theory to gritty technicalities."

    Cecilia D'Anastasio, Bloomberg

  • “This book not only captures our moment--it will also shape our collective future."

    Taylor Lorenz, best-selling author of Extremely Online

  • "This is the big reason why Matthew Ball is so influential in shaping our understanding of a conceptual metaverse: he is a skilled communicator and writer with clarity of thought. His book is a showcase of this talent as he traces the contours of our theoretical, collective future. Matthew goes beyond jargon and marketing smoke and mirrors to shine a light on the challenges of evolving the internet. His book is essential reading to anyone interested not just in what digital life may evolve into, but how we’ve already evolved with it throughout time."

    Gene Park, reporter, Washington Post

  • "Ball [is] clear and transparent on his assumptions and ground[s] his discussion in real data and facts. His analysis then manages to integrate logic, humor, and an appropriate degree of skepticism of the most extreme claims, often made by those with vested interests. The result is an entertaining and thought-provoking guide to the coming alternative virtual world that should prove indispensable to not just users and developers but investors, competitors, and regulators."

    Professor Jonathan A. Knee, Senior Advisor to Evercore and Co-Director of the media and technology program at Columbia Business School, Business Insider,

  • "Matthew is the leading thinker on the metaverse and gaming, one of the leading thinkers on media… The Metaverse, in my opinion, [is] the very best book on its topic… [I] recommend highly."

    Tyler Cowen

  • "[Ball’s] book puts some meat behind the buzzword . . . his arguments are rooted in reality, and his optimism is tempered with the murkiness of real life . . . a good read that handles the hard work of describing the technology and defining the metaverse in elegant ways that don’t sacrifice all of the complexity. And so it’s worth your time, particularly if you want to know what the future is going to be about and whether the metaverse will truly generate trillions of dollars in new wealth."

    Dean Takahashi, VentureBeat

  • "[A]n instant classic . . . detailed, meticulously researched, and dense with observations and insight. I read it twice, just to make sure I scooped up every gem within it . . . a must-read for those in digital media . . . I loved this book and can’t recommend it highly enough."

    Charlie Fink, Forbes.com

  • “[Ball] has long been one of the most interesting writers analyzing the technological and cultural shifts behind the emergence of the Metaverse, and his new book, The Metaverse, provides an informative account on where our online existence is heading…. [Ball] knows what he is talking about, and perhaps more importantly, when the enthusiastic prophets of the new digital age are blowing smoke… If Ball’s illuminating guide is anything to go by, there is a bright future ahead for those building the Metaverse — and time perhaps for the rest of us to dust off those mirror-shades."

    Paul Dicken, Los Angeles Review of Books

  • "[P]rovides more than just a definitive definition of the metaverse, which despite mounting interest, many people still fail to fully understand . . . Much of the book is a breezy read . . . [it details] what systems will be necessary for the metaverse to thrive."

    Dov Greenbaum, Science Magazine

  • "Intersperses anecdotes from the pre-Internet era with comprehensive current evidence to convince the reader that a scalable, interoperable metaverse is coming, and that it will be transformative…. Ball demystifies the narrative on the metaverse by clarifying [it]… We all may be understandably wary when it comes to the idea of the intrusion of the metaverse into our lives, but this book reinforces my belief in the need to seize the untouched opportunity."

    Pooja Singh, International Monetary Fund

  • "A great historical perspective on technology and how it brought us to this point . . . an excellent book if people want to learn where we are and where we are going."

    Raju Mudhar, Toronto Star

  • "Excellent . . . Chapters on bringing the various iterations of the developing metaverse together, making them interact, and the hardware required, are lucid and logical. The third section is even better. Ball prophesies about where and how the metaverse might arrive, and what it could do to our lives. Its strength is testament to years of thinking deeply about the area."

    Chris Stokel-Walker, New Scientist (UK)

  • “For this emerging generation the metaverse will be a perfectly natural psychological extension of everything they have ever known. For the rest of us, who will soon need to catch up, Ball’s book is the best crash course we have.”

    Kit Wilson, The Times (UK)

  • “The Metaverse is a timely, authoritative, and accessible overview of the subject . . . well-pitched for the interested non-expert."

    Hilary Lamb, Engineering and Technology Magazine (UK)

  • “Written by luminary Metaverse theorist, essayist, and VC, Matthew Ball, this book explores the ‘next internet.’ Ball demonstrates that many proto-Metaverses are already here. Yet, these offer only a glimpse of what is to come . . . The Metaverse is a timely, authoritative overview of the subject. Don’t miss it!”

    Cathy Hackl, Founder of Journey and Spatial Dynamics, Forbes

Pre-Order the Second Edition for July 23, 2024