Facebook’s name change challenged by Meta PCs; owners ready to sell the name for $20 million

This decision comes as the company battles criticism from lawmakers and regulators over its market power, algorithmic decisions and policing of abuses on its services.

In virtual worlds, users can walk around as an avatar, meet friends and play games. Some features that are based around blockchain also allow users to speculate on virtual real estate.

However, early adopters of the virtual worlds known as the metaverse criticised Facebook's rebranding as an attempt to capitalise on growing buzz over a concept that it did not create, reported Reuters.

The term metaverse has become a tech buzzword this year, with companies and investors keen to be a part of the next big thing. But users have for years been spending time in these fast-growing but obscure virtual worlds.

Artur Sychov, who founded metaverse Somnium Space in 2017, said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's announcement of the rebrand felt "rushed... kind of like trying to insert themselves into the metaverse narrative which is happening right now."

Dave Carr, communications lead at the organisation that runs the virtual world Decentraland, said Facebook's move might meet resistance from metaverse users who are wary of its control over content.

"People who want to determine the future of the virtual worlds they inhabit, maintain ownership of their creative output and move freely between them will choose the decentralised version," he said, describing Decentraland's metaverse environment as decentralised and Facebook's plan as likely centralised.

With agency inputs