An industry without a market: Funding policies, publics and the immersive economy

This article examines how the metaverse’s promise of immersion is being actualized in cultural and creative industries through extended reality technologies. Following Meta’s 2021 rebranding and the subsequent retreat of metaverse discourse, we analyse how XR creations persist through alternative pathways. Drawing on 33 interviews with industry professionals in France and Canada, alongside observation of immersive installations, we investigate the emergence of an industry without a market, a sector characterized by significant production activity but uncertain economic viability. Using actor-network theory and market agencements approaches, we demonstrate how hybrid public–private funding mechanisms function as governance devices that shape innovation pathways. Our analysis reveals that market consolidation relies on three distinct yet interdependent audiences: lead users who experiment with emerging technologies, professional intermediaries (festivals, specialized media and collective organizations) who legitimize and circulate works, and the public targeted through Location-Based Entertainment venues. The article contributes to understanding how cultural industries navigate technological uncertainty, constructing markets through iterative experimentation rather than established business models, revealing broader tensions between artistic ambition, technical constraints and economic sustainability in digital cultural production.