Starbucks closes down Odyssey, its NFT-supported virtual reality program

In Sept. 2022, Starbucks officially unveiled its highly anticipated foray into the metaverse: Starbucks Odyssey. At the time, NFTs and the metaverse were the trendy tech innovation of the moment, with businesses across many sectors scrambling to figure out how to cash in on the popularity of Web3, which was promised to be a more immersive “Internet of the Future.” Eighteen months after unveiling Starbucks Odyssey, the Seattle-based coffee company has confirmed that the program — which has been in beta mode for 15 months — will officially end at the end of the month.

“On March 31, 2024, we will sunset Starbucks Odyssey Beta so we can focus on the program’s future and bring experiences to a broader audience,” a Starbucks spokesperson said in a statement. “We’re looking forward to applying our learnings to the future of this program and are grateful to the Odyssey community for their participation in the beta experience. We’re excited for what comes next, but don’t have details to share about the future of the program at this time.”