Zuckerberg's Metaverse dream implodes, social ad spending plummets, layoffs, and tech stocks crash. Elon Musk is acting out his mid-life crisis in real time with the botched takeover of Twitter. Meanwhile newcomer TikTok stomps all over the American social media giants’ home turf. This week the Futurists looks at the turmoil in social media with guest futurist Katie King, AKA Miss Metaverse. Find out what’s next in social media and the future trends for online community.

Co-hosts Brett King and Robert Tercek interview journalist Dean Takahashi, who has been covering innovation in the game industry for three decades. Dean gives The Futurists a post-CES roundup of new trends and genres that span a dizzying array of evolving technologies.  Games have expanded beyond a niche category of entertainment to dominate mainstream media. Games now foster new story franchises that attract tens of millions of fans daily. Dean explains how game tech is blurring the boundaries between the classic game industry and other media, such as motion pictures and television series. He tells us why game developers are most likely to lead the way into the metaverse. And he anticipates interoperable game economies where any player can also be a creator of generative worlds that are photorealistic. Topics include: core gamers, casual games, free-to-play, cloud gaming, blockchain games, VR and AR, Roblox, Fortnite, PUBG, digital twins and game communities.  Websites:  @DeanTak on Twitter GamesBeat.com VentureBeat.com

On this weeks futurist we have the return of New York Times Bestselling Author, Kevin J Anderson. In this week’s episode Kevin takes on a journey as to how technology has dramatically changed his connection with his readers for the publication of new books, including multiple very successful Kickstarter campaigns. We talk writing for the Dune and Start Wars Universes, and dive into Dan Shambles, the detective every zombie needs.