Through sheer usage and multiple acquisitions, Facebook became and remains one of the preeminent powers in both Silicon Valley and the wider world as a dominant social media platform. It was from this position founder, chairman, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the tech giant will work on building its own metaverse to try and realize the concept of fully virtual, online world for users to inhabit. However, the company's push for a metaverse has been met with a fair share of skepticism, and one of the most prolific names in the gaming industry has become one of those names.

The executive in question is the former president of Nintendo of America, Reggie Fils-Aime, who offered his criticisms of Facebook's metaverse while speaking with Bloomberg at South by Southwest 2022 in Austin, Texas. His main criticism is Facebook, and its parent company Meta Platforms, has not been "an innovative company" for some time and its success was largely driven by acquisitions of companies like Instagram and Oculus or by being a "fast follower of people's ideas." Between this business model and Meta Platforms current plans, Fils-Aime said he was not confident its approach to the metaverse would be successful.

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Fils-Aime instead pointed to smaller companies, many of which are still in the growing stages, will be the ones driving the metaverse and digital industry going forward. In turn, he expects these more innovative tech firms to be acquired by larger conglomerates looking to carve out a space for themselves in the digital future. Examples he pointed to were Take-Two Interactive and Microsoft's recent bids to purchase Zynga Inc. and Activision Blizzard, respectively.

reggie fils aime book cover and release date revealed

Given Fils-Aime's history, his open criticism of Facebook's metaverse plan may not come as a surprise to some. The former gaming executive has always been one to share his mind about the powers in gaming and tech, both good and bad. He was openly critical of GameStop and how he felt there was a lack of clear strategy about the company's future after joining its board of directors in March of 2020.

He ultimately resigned, along with a handful of other board members, in June 2021 and has not taken another executive position in the games industry since. Fils-Aime is, however, still part of the board of directors for the Canadian-based toy and entertainment company Spin Master and boating conglomerate Brunswick Corporation.

Fils-Aime's book, Disrupting the Game, is set to release on May 27, 2022, detailing his life and his success while serving as Nintendo of America's president from May 2006 to April 2019.

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Source: Bloomberg