**News Flash: Metaverse Hype Revisited**

Matthew Ball, ex-global head of strategy at Amazon Studios, is re-releasing his 2022 book, "The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionize Everything," under a new title: "Building the Spatial Internet." The updated edition, launching on July 23, reflects a shift in expectations around the metaverse.

Despite the hype, Ball asserts that major players remain committed to the metaverse. Meta, for instance, has scaled back its budget for Reality Labs but continues to innovate with new hardware. Similarly, Google is eyeing a stake in Ray-Ban's parent company and revisiting its partnership with Magic Leap.

The metaverse, like AI before it, may still be in its early stages, but the tech industry’s iterative nature suggests there's more to come.