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The metaverse is often presented as a technological breakthrough driven by developments in virtual reality, blockchain, and artificial intelligence. While these technologies are essential, they do not by themselves generate sustainable economic value. This article argues that media content is the true engine of value creation in the metaverse economy. It is media that attracts users, sustains their engagement, and enables monetization within immersive virtual environments. Drawing on the concept of the attention economy, the metaverse can be understood as a media-centered economic system in which value emerges from users’ time, interaction, and participation rather than from technical infrastructure alone. Economic activity in virtual worlds depends on how long users stay, how deeply they engage, and how actively they participate. Media content-such as games, virtual concerts, immersive storytelling, social spaces, and user-generated experiences- plays a central role in this process. These forms of content function simultaneously as cultural expressions and as economic inputs. By capturing attention and encouraging prolonged engagement, media content creates demand for virtual goods, digital ownership, advertising, and platform-based services. The more compelling the content, the greater the opportunities for economic exchange. In addition, participatory media transforms users from passive consumers into active contributors who create content, build communities, and exchange digital assets. Based on a conceptual review of existing literature, this article demonstrates that media content serves as the foundational infrastructure of value creation in the metaverse. Understanding this role is essential for assessing the metaverse’s long-term economic sustainability and potential.