© Reuters.
Investing.com – Epic Games, the game development studio, and Lego, the building set maker, have announced a partnership to develop a metaverse designed for children. This metaverse aims to empower children of all ages to become builders and design their own experiences.
In this sense, Epic Games announced to have raised 2 billion dollars, 1 billion dollars from Sony (T:) and 1 billion dollars from KIRKBI, the company behind Lego. Thanks to this new investment, Epic has reached a valuation of $32 billion.
Neither company has indicated what theme or characters the metaverse will include. However, they already have experience building metaverse-inspired worlds, with Fortnite being one of the most popular online games. Lego is also behind an online game called Lego Worlds, which was launched in 2015 as a direct competitor to Minecraft.
Child protection is a priority
To build this new metaverse, the companies have defined three important principles, namely “protecting children’s right to play by making safety and well-being a priority, preserving children’s privacy by putting their interests first , and give kids and adults tools to take control of their digital experience.”
On the importance of this guidance, Niels Christiansen, CEO of The Lego Group, said: “We have a responsibility to make these experiences safe, inspiring and beneficial for all. Just as we have protected children’s rights to safe physical play. For generations, we’ve been committed to doing the same for digital games.”