Virtual Worlds Roadmap

For policymakers and decision-makers

Five strategic pillars, ten key actions, and six policy recommendations; turning three years of evidence into a phased programme.

Download the full Roadmap (PDF)
Please note that the Roadmap deliverable document linked above is still in final draft status, pending official approval.

Five Strategic Pillars

Five mutually reinforcing pillars connecting policy intent to action.

A — Trust and Safety by Design

Effective, proportionate safeguards and accessibility, measured by concrete indicators such as time-to-remedy and risk-assessment coverage.

B — Interoperability and Data-Readiness

Identity and asset portability, usage control and policy-enforcement signals, via conformance profiles, plug-fests and open reference stacks.

C — Skills, Financing Tools & SME Scale-up

Creator toolchains and asset libraries linked to Digital Innovation Hubs and financing pathways (EIC, InvestEU, EIT, ESIF), plus procurement to create first markets.

D — Science–Industry Testbeds & Sector Adoption

Cross-border demonstrators in health, manufacturing, education, cities and security, drawing on OPENVERSE and Virtual Worlds Association use cases.

E — Foresight-in-the-Loop

Regular scanning, tripwires and annual refreshes, feeding deployment lessons back into standards, funding and guidance.

Ten Key Actions

Phased overall: enablers front-loaded to 2026, then broader adoption, financing consolidation and sector-scale outcomes.

KA #1 — Culture, creativity and social life

The EU must reinforce creator-centred pipelines, maker-led workstreams and aligned skills systems to sustain XR/VW innovation. Motivated creative communities across sectors and borders are the core strategic asset for Europe's virtual world future.

KA #2 — Professional-grade applications

The EU must shift from entertainment to high-value XR/VW uses — digital twins, industrial XR, smart cities and human–machine collaboration. Building ROI-driven, sectoral testbeds and flagship initiatives is essential for technological sovereignty.

KA #3 — Key standards and interoperability

Open, measurable interoperability standards for avatars, assets, identity and data formats are a strategic necessity. Coordinated EU–global action and incentives are required to counter proprietary pressures and ensure sovereign deployment.

KA #4 — Innovative partnerships

The EU must scale cross-sector, cross-border science–industry partnerships and community-driven collaboration models. Strengthened pipelines (HE/DEP/EIT/ESIF), DIHs and PPPs are vital to build value chains and counter US venture dominance.

KA #5 — Innovative financing schemes

The EU needs a coherent, navigable funding continuum to overcome structural gaps for SMEs and start-ups. A public-to-private financing chain is essential to move beyond pilots and enable real scaling in XR/Virtual Worlds.

KA #6 — Individual & organisational skilling

The EU must address persistent talent shortages with modular, continuous upskilling across technical and functional roles. Retention, financing and alignment of skills with deployment and partnerships are urgent as AI accelerates demand.

KA #7 — Societal stakes

Virtual worlds raise major societal risks — trust, cybersecurity, misinformation, privacy, divides and environmental impacts. EU guardrails must be strengthened while preserving enough freedom for creators and companies to innovate and scale.

KA #8 — AI integration

AI now drives front-line creative enablement in XR/VW, requiring AI-literate creators and robust safeguards. Regulation must be paired with capacity building and open innovation to harness fast-evolving GenAI and embodied AI.

KA #9 — Geo-political stakes' watch & governance

The EU's XR/VW strategy must integrate geopolitical dynamics shaping tech competition and digital governance. Continuous anticipatory governance is needed to balance protection and promotion through diplomacy and alliances.

KA #10 — Sovereignty issues and phasing

The EU must reduce dependence on foreign actors across the tech stack through phased, long-term sovereign strategies. Investment in niches of excellence and dynamic value chains is essential — "a marathon with many sprints."

Six Recommendations for Policymakers

Six recommendations distilled for decision-makers.

The Roadmap singles out three of these as particularly urgent levers for the rest; the other three follow a longer-term or continuous timeline.

  1. 1 Top priority
    Prioritise public-value niches and existing strengths.

    Focus on manufacturing, healthcare, education, security, culture, tourism and citiverse applications, supported by partnerships, skills pipelines and trusted data spaces.

    What makes the difference: Real demand pull, and concentration instead of dispersion: strengths to protect now, not to build later.

    Pillar D Pillar C Pillar E KA 4 KA 2 KA 10 KA 8

    An ongoing effort — continue and reinforce partnerships and sector targeting already under way, starting now.

  2. 2 Top priority
    Support partnerships that create value and scale.

    Favour financing that delivers medium-term returns, while federating today's fragmented European initiatives.

    What makes the difference: XR/VW players, SMEs and public–private partnerships actually plugging into the new EU financing continuum.

    Pillar D Pillar C Pillar A Pillar B KA 4 KA 5 KA 2 KA 3

    Led jointly by EU policymakers, industry, research and financing providers; a 5–8 year effort starting now.

  3. 3 Top priority
    Focus AI support on public-value innovation and EU strengths.

    Direct AI support to boost XR/VW specifically where it drives public-value innovation and plays to the EU's existing areas of excellence.

    What makes the difference: Pairing adoption with AI literacy and guardrails: AI is double-edged.

    Pillar A Pillar C Pillar D Pillar E KA 8 KA 2 KA 4 KA 7 KA 10 KA 1

    Act immediately, with frequent review as the technology and its applications evolve.

  4. 4 Launch phased sovereignty programmes across the stack.

    Reduce dependence across the XR/VW stack through coordinated EU programmes. This includes interoperability and standards (Pillar B / KA3): coordination and incentives for identity and asset portability, conformance profiles, plug-fests and open reference stacks aligned with European data spaces.

    What makes the difference: Clear phases with objectives, assessment and deadlines, coordinated above the level of XR/VW players alone.

    Pillar B Pillar C KA 2 KA 3 KA 9 KA 10

    Led top-down by the EU and Member States, with professional associations and maker communities; a 5–8 year effort — the sooner the better.

  5. 5 Strengthen trust and safety (Pillar A / KA7).

    Build in privacy, cybersecurity, child protection, accessibility and auditable moderation, tested through sandboxes and procurement; track risk-assessment coverage and time-to-remedy, and pursue international governance alliances while preserving room for innovation.

    What makes the difference: Safeguards that are tested and measured, with international governance alliances.

    Pillar A Pillar B Pillar E KA 3 KA 4 KA 9 KA 10 KA 1

    Led by the EU and Member States together with NGOs, professional bodies and multilateral organisations; an ongoing effort to continue and diversify alliances over time.

  6. 6 Maintain an anticipatory, foresight-based mindset.

    Use scenario-based foresight to anticipate challenges such as BCIs, smart robotics and GenAI's environmental pressures, feeding lessons back into policy updates.

    What makes the difference: Real foresight (designing and confronting possible futures), not just trend-watching.

    Pillar E Pillar A KA 1 KA 2 KA 3 KA 4 KA 7

    Led by EU and Member State policymakers together with the scientific community; a periodic, ongoing exercise, not a one-off.

Timelines and Types of Constructive Processes

How the six policy recommendations unfold over time, from the end of 2026 to 2050: six different rhythms, from fast sprints to long marathons.

Policies 1–3 · the top priorities, run as sprints Policy 4 · sovereignty & independence Policy 5 · multi-level international governance Policy 6 · prepare for the next challenges

Scroll sideways to see the full timeline.

Wake-up callsTo be repeated if needed, with the gap to evaluate
e.g. smart robotics
Increasing problemsGradual evolutions to watch: action will be needed at some point — when is the question
e.g. quantum computing pressure e.g. environmental pressure ?
SprintsStart now and be fast: policies 1, 2 & 3 as game changers
3 priority policies, with high leverage expected

+ sovereign cloud services and AI capacities, embodied AI

Sprint priorities

  1. 1Pull innovation, services & partnerships
  2. 2Financing value-added creation & productivity
  3. 3AI support for public-value innovation
Everyday exercisesContinuous, routine effort
e.g. open-source promotion, cybersecurity fight, creative initiatives
MarathonsLong-haul build-up over decades
e.g. interoperability standards build-up, sovereignty issues
Policy 4
Cross-cutting themesRecurring topics at a mixed pace
e.g. BCIs, AI & XR/VW for emotions, children protection, EU values, skilling issues, international governance
2030 2035 2040 2045 2050 End of 2026 Time

Source: OPENVERSE D2.5, Roadmap for Open and Co-created Virtual Worlds (V2/M36), Fig. 16. Timings are indicative.

How the Roadmap Was Built

This Roadmap is not a wish list. It is the result of a structured process, co-designed with experts and stakeholders over the three years of OPENVERSE, and it rests on a method that can be applied again as new challenges emerge.

12 Project contributions

Results from OPENVERSE tasks and work packages, consolidated into a shared knowledge base.

40+ Foresight experts

Four technology foresight workshops produced three contrasting futures for 2030, with insights for 2040.

48 + 38 Co-creation participants

Two stakeholder workshops: 16 October 2025, which led to Roadmap 1.0, and 2 July 2026, which prepared this update.

42 Survey respondents

Experts who could not attend the July 2026 workshop contributed through a dedicated survey.

Sep 2026 Public Summit

Brussels and online, 10 September 2026, with a full session in which experts discussed the Roadmap.

Actionable by design

Each key action is checked across five practical dimensions (technologies, products and applications, markets, capabilities, and regulation and stimulation support) and linked to who should lead and over what time horizon.

Prioritised, with a replicable method

A prioritisation rationale that can be replicated and adapted singles out three policies as levers for the others.

Built to be revised

Foresight-in-the-loop (regular scanning, tripwires and annual refreshes) keeps the Roadmap a living document rather than a snapshot, to be taken up by relevant players after the project ends.

Want to provide comments, suggestions, or collaborate to the Roadmap? Reach out to [email protected], we're keen to hear from you!

Want the full detail behind these recommendations?
Download the full Roadmap (PDF)
Please note that the Roadmap deliverable document linked above is still in final draft status, pending official approval.