While many brands rush headlong into certain virtual worlds to market digital products, Epic Games and LEGO are working together to create a metaverse for children.
Their ambition? Create a digital experience to allow children to express their creativity by playing and creating content in complete safety.
A LEGO metaverse for kids
LEGO and Epic Games want to open the metaverse to children. In a joint press release issued this Thursday, March 7, the two companies announced that they had entered into a partnership to create a fun virtual world for the little ones. This alliance will leverage both the popularity of the brick builder and the expertise of Fortnite’s creators in game design.
The goal is clear, to create a “fun and entertaining” family-friendly metaverse that will give children ” access to tools that will empower them to become confident creators and provide amazing play opportunities in a safe and positive space “, explain the new partners in their press release.
Create a safe place
We imagine that the considerable success of Roblox is undoubtedly not foreign to this new initiative. Still vague, the term metaverse can mean many things. It can be a game where players participate in various activities through their avatars, or a social gathering space like Decentraland. Epic Games and LEGO have not commented on what form their virtual world will take. One thing is certain, the two companies insist on the safety of this future gaming space
To achieve this, the two partners have agreed on three founding principles:
Guarantee children’s right to play by making safety and well-being a priority;
Protect the privacy of children by putting their best interests first;
Give kids and adults tools that put them in control of their digital experience.
” We have a responsibility to create a safe, inspiring and beneficial place for all. Just as we’ve protected children’s rights to safe physical play for generations, we pledge to do the same for digital play. explains Niels B Christiansen, CEO of the LEGO Group. For its part, Epic Games recalls its recent acquisition of SuperAwesome, a company specializing in technologies designed to provide a safe digital space for children under 16. It remains to be seen how this project will materialize and especially how the two companies will use the data collected.
Source : Epic Games
27