News and Research articles on Varieties

Varieties of interoperability in the metaverse

Carolina Aguerre, Universidad Católica del Uruguay and CETYS, Universidad de San Andrés
Joaquín Maquieira Alonzo, Fudan University
PUBLISHED ON: 24 Sep 2026 DOI: 10.14763/2026.3.2120

This work discusses the emerging concept of the metaverse from a lens of interoperability. By drawing on literature from the political economy of digital platforms, varieties of capitalism, and cybergovernance it proposes a framework based on openness and closure as well as security and economic interests to illustrate four models based on examples from the infrastructure layer comprising metaverse technologies.