Quick take:
- Qualcomm is ramping up its extended reality offering with a $100M Snapdragon Metaverse fund.
- The US technology giant has partnered with Square Enix to create content for its AR platform, Spaces.
- The company said the fund will invest in companies building immersive XR experiences, as well as in AR and AI technologies.
Qualcomm has announced a $100 million Snapdragon Metaverse fund that will invest in extended reality (XR) experiences, augmented reality (AR), and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The San Fransisco, Calif-based technology giant has already inked a deal with Japanese gaming giant Square Enix to create content for its immersive AR platform called Spaces.
Speaking at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2022 on Monday, Qualcomm said its Snapdragon Metaverse Fund will target companies building the next-frontier technologies like XR, AR and AI, among others.
Commenting on the announcement, Qualcomm President and CEO Cristiano Amon said “we deliver the groundbreaking platform technology and experiences that will enable both the consumer and the enterprise to build and engage in the metaverse and allow the physical and digital worlds to be connected. Qualcomm is the ticket to the metaverse.”
The capital will be drawn from a combination of venture investments by Qualcomm Ventures— in XR companies, as well as, grants from XR developers working in the gaming industry, health and wellness, media, entertainment, education, and enterprise.
“Through the Snapdragon Metaverse Fund, we look forward to empowering developers and companies of all sizes as they push boundaries of what’s possible as we enter into this new generation of spatial computing,” Amon added.
The company’s partnership with Square Enix thus comes at an opportune time, as it looks to expand its Snapdragon Spaces product pipeline.
Commenting on the partnership, Ben Taylor, Technical Director at Square Enix highlighted his company’s commitment to delivering memorable experiences to fans whilst pushing the boundaries of storytelling.
“We think the time is right with XR to innovate on games of a classic genre we are especially known for, and we look forward to sharing them with the world to further our mission to help spread happiness across the globe,” Taylor said, adding that his company was looking forward to building on Snapdragon Spaces as it continues to invest in XR.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Spaces has also partnered with TikTok parent, ByteDance to create XR hardware and software.
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