Kids’ favorites Lego and Thunderbirds are set to join the metaverse, having recently signed partnership deals with Epic Games and Sandbox respectively. At the same time, collectibles game Pokémon is seeking an expert in blockchain, NFTs, and the metaverse to join its team as children’s brands strive to keep up with the rapid pace of technological innovation.
With children often quicker to adapt to and adopt new technologies than their parents, children’s brands can’t afford to miss the opportunities the metaverse presents.
Lego builds metaverse dream
Danish toy company Lego has teamed up with Fortnite’s parent firm Epic Games to enter the metaverse market. The plan for Lego is to begin offering its products within the virtual realm and to allow creative minds to start building in the metaverse.
Lego ceo Niels Christiansen revealed the company would take its signature brand and philosophy from traditional shops into immersive 3D.
“We know very well how to immerse consumers into the Lego universe in stores,” said Christiansen to Yahoo Finance on Monday.
“We’re working very hard to create that feeling of getting into the Lego brand universe also digitally.”
The toy company is no stranger to innovation. In 2022, 48% of its toy line consisted of lines launched that year. The same philosophy of renewal should serve the company well in the digital space.
Lego will utilize Epic Games’ Unreal Engine after a significant $2 billion investment with the firm. Last year, Lego recorded a surge in profitability with revenues of 7.7 billion, a 17% increase over the previous year.
Christiansen has credited the company’s previous efforts in digital media for the rapid growth. It hopes to increase that growth yet further thanks to its partnership with Epic Games.
Thunderbirds are go
British television group ITV Studios has partnered with Web3 firm Reality+ to take the Thunderbirds into the metaverse
Tracy Island, the not-so-top-secret international rescue headquarters, will be available in the Sandbox metaverse from Monday, March 13. The experience will consist of 15 quests and mini-games and will of course feature Thunderbird NFTs.
Lucie Stoffers, the head of brand and licensing at ITV Studios, was keen to street the importance of the deal.
“We are super excited to work with Reality+ and The Sandbox team to take the next step in our partnership and bring Thunderbirds to The Sandbox,” said Stoffers on Monday.
“This will allow Thunderbirds fans from around the world to discover Tracy Island and complete new rescue missions, as well as get access to a bespoke NFT collection.”
Just a couple of months ago in a court case about NFTs, TPCi's counsel specifically stated that they have specifically avoided doing Pokémon NFTs, so I'm not too worried
Job description itself has no mention of them, but does require knowledge of developing technologies.
— Joe Merrick (@JoeMerrick) March 13, 2023
Pokémon for blockchain, NFTs, and the metaverse
While some brands find their audiences more than ready to jump into the metaverse, others are slightly more cautious.
The perfect example of this is Pokémon. A recent job posting for ‘Corporate Development Principal’ indicates the company is seeking to further explore the convergence of these technologies and what they could bring to it moving forwards.
Pokémon’s job posting states that it requires someone with “deep knowledge and understanding of Web 3, including blockchain technologies and NFT, and/or metaverse.”
Augmented reality game Pokémon Go was arguably well ahead of its time. First launched in 2016, at its peak it was played by over 230 million players. Today Pokémon Go averages around 9 million daily players.
There are many reasons why Pokémon could be in a great position to exploit the current technology wave and turn it to its advantage. Now, all it needs to do is convince its skeptical fan base (see above tweet) that it’s the right move.
and then