European companies, investors and talent compete for a ticket on the metaverse train. Even the political heavyweights are making moves, or at least pronouncements.

French President Emmanuel Macron wants to build “a European metaverse” to challenge the American and Chinese tech giants. Meanwhile, the EU’s chief digital officer, Margrethe Vestager, is considering a new antitrust regulation. But her ambitions are far from being realized.

“The reality is that there is no big European tech player of relevance in the entire future metaverse,” says Rolf Illenberger, co-founder of Munich’s. VRdirect, a virtual reality platform for companies. “He is being defined by American and Asian players. Those are the two regions where this technology is going to…