Few digital concepts have seen a rise and fall as rapid as that of the Metaverse. After a short-lived, almost feverish hype, it vanished from the headlines, eclipsed by the next wave – generative AI. But make no mistake: the Metaverse is far from dead. Bitkom’s latest 2025-report makes it clear – the development has not stopped, but matured. And for legal professionals, this is precisely the moment to look again, because the truly complex legal questions are only now emerging.
From Hype to Maturity: Where We Really Stand
Bitkom delivers a sober analysis. Yes, the early enthusiasm for many consumer-facing Metaverse projects was premature. Many initiatives failed due to immature technology, underdeveloped hardware, or lack of a meaningful use case. What remains, however, is a solid foundation: the industrial and enterprise Metaverse is steadily evolving. Digital twins, immersive training environments, and virtual planning spaces are no longer futuristic dreams – they are already being used productively.
The report highlights concrete use cases in industry, education, infrastructure planning, and public administration. Here, the Metaverse reveals its true potential as a “walkable internet” – an environment where digital processes become not only visible but experientially tangible.
A Technological Platform – With Legal Blind Spots?
The real challenge from a legal perspective lies deeper. The Metaverse is not just a playground for developers and creatives – it is an emerging layer of digital infrastructure where a multitude of legal domains collide: data protection, intellectual property, civil and contract law, labor law, tax law, and even criminal law.
Bitkom only briefly touches on this legal complexity – but the need for thorough legal interpretation is obvious. In my own scholarly article on the Metaverse, I emphasize this point: While the formal legal framework exists (primarily through EU regulations like the GDPR and DSA), we still lack interpretative guidance, application experience, and harmonized enforcement tools that meet the demands of these new digital environments.
A New Boost Through AI?
Interestingly, Bitkom describes a mutual reinforcement: AI technologies are accelerating the Metaverse – and vice versa. Generative AI can create content, avatars, and virtual environments. The Metaverse gives these entities a form, a place, a social dimension. Conversely, the Metaverse enables AI to unfold in immersive human-machine interactions – such as through AI-driven avatars or lifelike simulations.
This is legally relevant in multiple ways: Who is liable for AI-generated content within the Metaverse? How can AI systems be integrated in a data protection-compliant way? What does it mean when legally significant interactions (e.g., contract negotiations) increasingly occur between avatars, some of which are AI-controlled?
Interoperability, Standards, Regulation: The Next Construction Site
Bitkom openly acknowledges that a unified, open Metaverse is still a long way off. Interoperability is lacking, common standards are still emerging, and global governance remains a vision. Instead of a seamless digital space, proprietary islands dominate.
Legally, this resembles the early days of the Internet. Back then, normative order had to be established through experience, case law, legislation, and public debate on values and boundaries.
Without early legal and regulatory engagement, there is a danger of asymmetry: while companies and platforms are already positioning themselves, users (and their representatives, such as lawyers) often lack the tools to enforce their rights – whether to access, intellectual property, or privacy.
While everyone is busy talking about AI – which in truth often just means large language models fed with massive datasets – the Metaverse is quietly fading from view. But that’s a mistake. I firmly believe that our digital future will not only be shaped by machine intelligence, but by immersive, networked environments – a Metaverse that will fundamentally transform how we live and interact online. That’s why I focus on its legal dimensions. Because the Metaverse raises fascinating legal questions that still lack clear answers. In my article published in AnwZert ITR 25/2024 Anm. 2, I’ve outlined some initial legal perspectives – and I’m far from finished.
Conclusion: The Metaverse Endures – Just Not as Many Imagined
Bitkom’s report is not a manifesto for starry-eyed visionaries, but a sober status report. And for that very reason, it is important: it shows that beneath the surface, a technological infrastructure is taking shape that will deeply impact the economy and everyday life – and will be legally significant.
For us in the legal field, this means one thing: we must not lose sight of the Metaverse. While AI may have shifted the conversation, it has not displaced the Metaverse – in fact, it is likely to fuel its evolution. After all, what good is powerful AI if it lacks a social, immersive environment? That is precisely what the Metaverse provides. And it must – if we do not want digital interaction to be forever limited to text boxes and menus.
Our law firm specialises in criminal defence, white-collar crime and IT law / technology law. Note our activity in digital evidence in IT security and software law.
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