Without Apple, Meta, and other tech titans, a set of metaverse norms would be impossible.

The Meta (META.O), Microsoft (MSFT.O), and other tech titans racing to build the emerging metaverse concept have formed a consortium to promote the development of industry standards that would make the businesses’ nascent digital universes compatible with one another.

The Metaverse Standards Forum is made up of many of the top companies in the industry, such as chip makers and gaming companies, as well as standard-setting groups like the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the group said in a statement on Tuesday when it announced its formation.

Apple (AAPL.O) isn’t on the list of parts yet, even though many people think it will be a major player in the metaverse race when it releases a mixed reality headset this year or next.

Roblox and Niantic, two game companies, and new crypto-based metaverse platforms like The Sandbox and Decentraland were also taken out of the group.

According to Bloomberg, Apple is rumoured to have given its board of directors a sneak peek of a headset, though the company has not publicly acknowledged the product.It didn’t answer quickly when asked what it thought about the new metaverse gathering.

If Apple released such a device, it would be in direct competition with Meta, as Meta has staked its future on the creation of the metaverse and has invested heavily in hardware to make its vision of interconnected virtual realms a reality.

The company, formerly known as Facebook before changing its name as part of its metaverse transformation last year, has revealed plans for an augmented reality headset code-named “Cambria” to be released this year.

Apple has been actively involved in establishing web standards such as HTML5 in the past. Apple and Pixar worked together on the “USDZ” file format for three-layered content in the metaverse and made sure it met the standard.

Neil Trevett, a leader at chip manufacturer Nvidia who is leading the Metaverse Standards Forum, told Reuters that any organisation, including crypto community members, is welcome to join.

He stated that the group intends to engage in communication between different standards associations and organisations to establish “true interoperability” in the metaverse, without addressing what Apple’s absence would entail for this purpose.