I assume they're trying to take the same approach most game consoles take (Nintendo is an exception here from what I understand) where they sell the hardware at a loss, and make their profit on licensing on game publishers. Here that'd be monetizing the "metaverse" to make their money. It's the razor and blades business model.
It's a whole other thing whether this will actually work out for them, because it depends on there being a captive market for the profitable half of the business model (the "metaverse" content).
> Nintendo is an exception here from what I understand
Tangential, but they're an exception because the only games worth a damn on their consoles are always just a few first-party releases and they keep it that way intentionally. Nintendo is a bully with few friends.
It's a whole other thing whether this will actually work out for them, because it depends on there being a captive market for the profitable half of the business model (the "metaverse" content).