Manchester City Is Coming Soon to the Metaverse, Thanks to Sony!

• Manchester City is set to enter the metaverse in partnership with Sony.
• The announcement was made at the Consumer Electronics Show 2023.
• Sony claimed that the experience is a Proof of Concept.

The English football club, Manchester City, is gearing up to enter the metaverse in partnership with the Japanese tech giant, Sony Corporation. The two companies are calling this experience a ‘Proof of Concept’ (PoC), which will offer fans the chance to participate in activities with their own custom avatars at a simulated Etihad Stadium.

Sony Global made the announcement, along with a brief glimpse of the metaverse experience at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023. Avatars, 3D images, and “other expressions unique to the metaverse” will allow players to communicate “in a new way,” Sony’s senior product planner Nami Iwamoto said during the tech giant’s CES 2023 keynote.

The Proof of Concept also includes virtual recreations of major highlights from multiple angles, including individual player perspectives. Reportedly, Sony recorded footage and volumetric data of Manchester City players using “just seven sensors” in order to digitally recreate them in this metaverse space.

Moreover, Sony’s spokesperson, Yo Kikuchi, revealed that the “app” will be released this year. However, it is unknown whether the avatar creation, virtual stadium, and highlights will be included in the application. Sony is currently focused on demonstrating its expertise on this project (as it did at CES in Las Vegas) without revealing many details about this new service.

Contextually, the partnership between Sony and Manchester City was initially announced in November 2021. Both companies described the work as a Proof-of-Concept and used the term “metaverse” at the time. However, a year later, it still isn’t completely clear when the fans will be able to use it or how it will enhance their connection with the fans.