{"id":22380,"date":"2023-09-26T17:51:18","date_gmt":"2023-09-26T17:51:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microloannexus.com\/news\/softbank-backed-improbable-slashes-losses-by-85-says-pivot-to-the-metaverse-has-paid-off\/"},"modified":"2023-09-26T17:51:19","modified_gmt":"2023-09-26T17:51:19","slug":"softbank-backed-improbable-slashes-losses-by-85-says-pivot-to-the-metaverse-has-paid-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microloannexus.com\/?p=22380","title":{"rendered":"SoftBank-backed Improbable slashes losses by 85%, says pivot to the metaverse has paid off"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Virtual reality startup Improbable said Wednesday that it reduced losses by 85% in 2022, a year that saw the company pivot its focus to powering new “metaverse” experiences.<\/p>\n

The British company said in a press release that its revenues more than doubled last year to \u00a378 million ($95 million), as its work on metaverses expanded significantly.<\/p>\n

It recorded a loss of \u00a319 million in the 2022 fiscal year, but this compared to a \u00a3131 million loss the year prior.<\/p>\n

Improbable CEO Herman Narula said the company had reported its “best financial year” on record which reflected how its bet on the metaverse had paid off.<\/p>\n

Improbable has historically burned through lots of money as it attempts to make its vision for vast virtual worlds a success. Critics have raised questions about the commercial sustainability of the business.<\/p>\n

Improbable said that part of the reason behind the company’s reduction in losses was a dramatic reduction in the cost of running mass-scale virtual events.<\/p>\n

Whereas initially it took millions of pounds to host one event, it now takes hundreds of thousands of pounds, the company said, and it anticipates this to continue to fall.<\/p>\n

The year also saw Improbable divest two of its games studios, Inflexion Games and Midwinter Entertainment, and sell off a business unit focused on servicing defense clients.<\/p>\n

Improbable finished the year with \u00a3140 million cash in the bank, signaling ongoing support from shareholders, the company said.<\/p>\n

Improbable’s backers include the likes of SoftBank, Andreessen Horowitz.<\/p>\n

Full accounts for Improbable are yet to be released on Companies House, the U.K.’s official register of companies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Metaverse pivot<\/h2>\n
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In 2022, Improbable unveiled its ambition to become a major player in the so-called “metaverse” \u2014 the concept for a vast world, or worlds, in the digital sphere where people can work, buy and sell things, or just hang out.<\/p>\n

The company has been working with players in the digital asset sphere, including Yuga Labs, which it worked with to build out the Otherside metaverse, where people can make their own digital avatars, attend events, and more.<\/p>\n

The company doubled down on its metaverse strategy earlier this year with a white paper detailing its vision for MSquared, a “network of interoperable Web3 metaverses.”<\/p>\n

MSquared, which is a separate business entity from Improbable,\u00a0raised $150 million from investors\u00a0last year.<\/p>\n

The service \u2014 a complex piece of technical engineering with significant computing requirements \u2014 is intended to be accessible via cloud streaming, meaning you won’t have to download any software to jump into one of its worlds, similar to how movies and TV shows are accessed on Netflix