Lego and Epic Games Unveil Metaverse for Children Plans
Lego and Epic Games have teamed up to design a child-friendly metaverse. The resulting virtual world will offer a fun and safe experience for kids, according to the two companies. The idea appears to be to build on Lego’s record of kid-friendly games and Epic’s MetaHuman Creator platform, as well as its background in developing the popular Fortnite video game.
Metaverse Jr.
The two companies are still in the initial stages of outlining what they want their metaverse for kids to look like and haven’t given many details beyond their goal of an immersive and creative digital experience for kids. They also laid out a trio of foundational principles for the project, emphasizing children’s safety, privacy protections, and ensuring that kids and adults have the means to control their experience.
“Kids enjoy playing in physical and digital worlds and move seamlessly between the two. We believe there is huge potential for them to develop life-long skills such as creativity, collaboration and communication in both,” Lego Group CEO Niels Christiansen said. “We have a responsibility to make digital play safe, inspiring and beneficial for all, and just as we’ve protected children’s rights to safe physical play for generations, we are committed to doing the same for digital play. We look forward to working with Epic Games to shape this exciting and playful future.”
Playing Meta
Connecting video games to the metaverse is a logical step for Epic, as evidenced by its virtual being engine. Rivals like Korean video game developer Krafton have their own hyperrealistic virtual humans to use in the metaverse. And Lego isn’t the only major family-friendly brand exploring the metaverse. Disney unveiled its metaverse strategy earlier this year when it appointed veteran media executive Mike White as senior vice president of next-generation storytelling and consumer experiences. He is overseeing the overall project of connecting digital environments and AI-powered characters for the entertainment giant. Relatedly, former Disney CEO and Chairman Bob Iger recently invested and joined the board of metaverse avatar platform Genies. In that context, partnering with Lego to make a metaverse experience for kids makes perfect sense for Epic.
“The Lego Group has captivated the imagination of children and adults through creative play for nearly a century, and we are excited to come together to build a space in the metaverse that’s fun, entertaining, and made for kids and families,” Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said.
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