Eric D. Tidwell

Eric D. Tidwell (managing director and general counsel for the King Estate) stated in a statement that "We always strive to get Dr. King out of the history books" and "place his legacy in their lives." "Presenting his most well-known speech in such an interactive format helps us achieve that goal."

Why Silicon Valley is betting on making this dystopian sci-fi fantasy a reality

Fortnite is trying to be more than just a videogame. This is the latest example of Fortnite bringing experiences to its gameplay. It hosted performances by Marshmello, Travis Scott, and three films by Christopher Nolan last year.

The metaverse was initially conceived as a setting for dystopian science fiction books, where virtual universes provide an escape from crumbling societies. However, the tech industry has painted a more positive image of the concept in recent months. The idea is to create a world that is similar to the internet but one that users (via digital avatars) can walk around inside of and interact with one another in real-time.

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney made a concerted effort to present Fortnite as a metaverse and an "social experience" when he took the stand in the company's highly-publicized lawsuit against Apple earlier this year over the commissions that the iPhone maker takes from app developers. Sweeney's argument was intended to prove that Fortnite is more than just a game. My cms challenged Apple's claims that Fortnite is not a monopoly, as Fortnite players can play the game on other devices other than iPhones or iPads.

Epic, on the other hand, wanted to present itself as one of the millions of apps available on Apple's App Store that are subject to the company's onerous restrictions and commissions on in-app purchases. (A decision in the case is pending.)

Fortnite is not the only game that relies heavily on the concept of the metaverse.

One of the most well-known examples is Roblox which has games-within-games created by users and has also expanded into television shows and concerts in recent months. Minecraft, owned by Microsoft (MSFT), has also been working to expand its own metaverse, with the organization Reporters Without Borders recently creating a virtual library inside the game that contains articles that have been banned around the world.

Roblox is determined to rule the metaverse

Big Tech is also more open to the metaverse. The term was mentioned almost two dozen times during Facebook's recent earnings call. As it seeks to go beyond video calls that are two-dimensional the social media giant has been making use of virtual reality features and services for quite a while.

For many reasons, a full-fledged metaverse is likely to take several years before it becomes feasible. However, the gaming industry is currently leading the way.