The race for the metaverse continues to heat up as companies compete to shape the virtual frontier. It's said to be the next iteration of the $336 billion gaming industry. Plenty of players are vying to take the lead. Ready Player Me, a creator of avatars for the metaverse, said Tuesday it has raised $56 million. The money came from a funding round led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (commonly known as a16z) and celebrity investors. Separately, on Friday, a subsidiary of blockchain video game maker Animoca Brands received a MegaGrant from Epic Games, the Cary, N.C.-based creators of Fortnite.
Ready Player Me develops personalized, 3D avatars for use in multiple virtual worlds and video games. The company's goal is to connect the metaverse through avatars. There, players have one individual identity across all of their various forms of online entertainment. The idea is similar to the premise of Steven Spielberg's movie, Ready Player One. Users need only to upload a picture and Ready Player Me generates a customizable avatar.
A16z' s GAMES FUND ONE and a16z crypto both participated in the $56 million Series B round. Other participants include Roblox co-founder David Baszucki and Twitch co-founder Robin Chan. Also Kevin Hart's Hartbeat Ventures and the D'Amelio family. Ready Player Me also completed an initial $13 million Series A funding round in December.
A Big Avatar Audience
Ready Player Me has more than 3,200 partners integrating its avatars into their Web2 and Web3 applications. That's more than triple the number from December. The group includes major companies like Adidas, Dior, Meta's Oculus and the massive online hit, VRChat. Ready Player Me says its 3D scanners have built up its proprietary database to include 20,000 facial scans. The Fast Company reports Ready Player Me created 5 million avatars to date.
"We believe in the future of an open and connected metaverse that is built by many developers and creators and is not controlled by one company," CEO Timmu Toke said in the announcement. He says that for the open metaverse to emerge, cross-world services and standards need to be built that enable virtual connectivity and interoperability.
"Avatars and identities play a huge role in that," Toke wrote.
Ready Player Me plans to use the funds to increase its workforce from the current head count of 51. Additionally, it will scale up its avatar creator and expand its content creation tools. The company also says it plans to include other avatars on Ready Player Me. That will enable developers to integrate their content across their partner network.
Other Metaverse Makers
Meanwhile, Grease Monkey Games, an Australian subsidiary of Animoca Brands, received a MegaGrant from Epic Games on Friday. Grease Monkey will use the grant to support its Torque Drift 2 motor sport game, which is currently under development. It's the latest step in Animoca and Epic Games' goals in developing the metaverse.
The MegaGrants offed by Epic Games range from $5,000 to $500,000. They cover game development, architecture projects, film production, academic uses and software development for projects using its proprietary Unreal Engine. Unreal Engine is a suite of 3D creation tools for developing games, creating television content and visualizing models. Grease Monkey didn't disclose the total amount of the grant. But it plans to use the funds to develop new drift physics for the upcoming game.
Torque Drift 2 is the latest in Grease Monkey's lineup of blockchain-based racing games. The newest iteration of Torque Drift includes functional NFTs (non-fungible tokens) of various cars that players can race. Grease Monkey said this is a "core feature to deliver true digital ownership of game assets to players."
Making the Metaverse
A16z, Animoca Brands and Epic Games are all heavily involved in developing the metaverse. A16z launched its $600 million GAMES FUND ONE back in May. And Animoca's portfolio includes more than 340 games and studios centered around blockchain technology and NFTs. Some of the names include Axie Infinity, The Sandbox and Yield Guild Games. While Animoca believes the future of the metaverse lies in Web3, Epic Games has a more traditional view.
Epic is supported by China-based internet company Tencent Holdings, which owns 40% of the company. And Epic has been building out its Fortnite game from just a battle royal free-for-all. It's expansion includes concerts, show screenings and other social events for players. Even if Epic doesn't become the biggest name in the metaverse, sharing Unreal Engine ensures it's at least built with Epic's technology.
Many companies are racing to establish dominance in the metaverse. Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, rebranded to reflect its new emphasis on virtual reality. Meta invested roughly $10 billion in the endeavor so far. However, its VR graphics are years behind that of Unreal Engine and many applications are far from everyday use. Others, like Roblox, allow players to create their own games and content within the preexisting video game for a more grassroots development of the metaverse.
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