Are you intrigued by the idea of a metaverse? A digital space where social activity, multiplayer online gaming, and shared creativity merge into one single experience? Do you think Fortnite when you think of this concept? Lego Ventures’ head of value creation and marketing Robert Lowe does and said as much during GI.biz’s Investment Summit Online event. And, yes, “head of value creation and marketing” is apparently a real job title.
“We see Fortnite taking a pretty good stab at making the first credible metaverse, where people can play and watch and share and socialize together,” said Lowe in his presentation. “There will be others, and this idea of a hybrid social platform, gaming platform, creative platform, is something that we’re extremely interested in being involved with through investment, through partnership.”
The stabs that Fortnite has taken at metaverse creation are likely in reference to the game’s wildly successful digital Travis Scott concert and the creation of the non-combat Party Royale social space. As for just what the heck Lego Ventures is, readers will recall that it’s the investment arm of the Lego brand which invested in the colony building MMO Seed as part of an overall $22.3 million fundraising effort.
Lego Ventures appears to be extremely interested in investing in MMOs that value social play while not directly involving the Lego brand itself. “We are investigating ideas around creativity and play, but not ones focused on the brick,” Lowe said. “We feel that, potentially, working with and investing in companies outside of Lego could be the best way of finding future digital systems in play […] rather than building inside-out, which we’ve tried to do in the past and not succeeded.”
One can only assume that if a true metaverse takes shape, it will have lots of activities for visitors. Maybe even a brothel.
