Around all of this excitement are noteworthy products and services to support the gaming lifestyle. Rec Room combines gaming and creator-built items with pure social hangout rooms, because these spaces are where your friends are and where you can spend the most time with them.Īs much as games have become the pretext for other forms of interaction, they’re also becoming more artistic, with titles such as the indie hit Sable from Shedworks combining an ethereal open world with a gorgeous soundtrack. Epic Games’ Fortnite has extended into the fashion realm, while the company’s Unreal Engine advances what’s possible for creating more realistic clothing, hair, and landscapes. Roblox is the dream of the metaverse, today, and elite brands and musical artists are flocking to it to fashion interactive contests and add shopping for digital and real-world items. As gaming commands more time and attention-and as people derive more value from their digital identities-the experiences and tools supporting all this interest (and money) are growing in sophistication.ĭapper Labs has translated the fun of collecting and trading cards into a digital experience, and its Flow blockchain enables more digital games or game-like products. Non-fungible tokens were an obscure aspect of crypto culture until Dapper Labs helped them burst into the mainstream with NBA Top Shot. A concert in a video game such as Epic Games’ Fortnite or Roblox was a novelty two years ago now virtual spaces within games are a tour stop for the biggest stars such as Ariana Grande and Lil Nas X. People are flocking into game worlds for immersive entertainment and social connection, and celebrities and brands are following them. Players often change the appearance of their avatars, with 1 in 5 doing so daily, said Christina Wootton, Roblox’s vice president of global brand partnerships.Games have historically been an underrated corner of business and the culture-but no longer. Roblox reported 47.3 million daily active users in the third quarter. And branded items are fetching premium prices on the platform: A limited edition virtual handbag from Gucci Garden that sold for around $5 in May later resold for thousands of dollars just weeks later. There are now tens of millions of avatars wearing Ralph Lauren, Delahunt said.Īlthough Roblox has yet to use digital fashion to drive sales of physical merchandise, that might not be far off.
In August 2020, Ralph Lauren created shoppable digital apparel for Bitmoji avatars on Snapchat which could be ordered as physical outfits on the Ralph Lauren website. “With the trajectory we see it growing at, we really do believe in this as a future revenue stream,” said Delahunt, adding, “NFTs are absolutely part of our future roadmap.” Ralph Lauren sees the market opportunity for retailing in virtual spaces to be significant. Luxury brands like Louis Vuitton and Burberry have also been dabbling in the space. Morgan Stanley analysts including Edward Stanley said last month that luxury NFTs, which include digital fashion, may reach 50 billion euros (about $56 billion) by 2030, with collectible items growing in popularity. announced last month, has had more than 6 million visits. And traffic has been booming: VF Corp.’s Vans World in Roblox has had more than 50 million visits since its April launch. Universes like Roblox are attractive to companies because they introduce younger users to their brands and give them a chance to see their marketing vision before graduating to real-world products. Since then, Ralph Lauren has amassed 1.5 million unique visitors and sold 145,000 products, according to Alice Delahunt, its chief digital and content officer. In August, the New York-based company launched an experience on Zepeto, a virtual world backed by South Korean internet giant Naver Corp. It’s not the first time Ralph Lauren has ventured into the metaverse-the virtual worlds where video conferencing, gaming, social media and e-commerce blend together.