Imagine that you organized a party and no one came. It’s every host’s nightmare, perhaps even more so when you’ve spent almost €400,000 on the venue.

Earlier this week, the European Commission’s Department of Foreign Aid hosted a party in the metaverse to try to sensitize the younger public to the work they do.

Only six people reportedly made a digital appearance at the event.

The department works to support countries around the world, whether it’s making grants to developing countries, making investments to reduce poverty, or contributing to climate finance.

It has spent €387,000 on its metaverse platform, designed to promote the EU’s Global Gateway initiative, which hopes to see €300bn invested in building new infrastructure…