The LEGO Group and Epic Games have announced earlier today that they are entering a long-term partnership that’ll shape the future of the metaverse. Both behemoth companies aim to make the metaverse a safe and fun platform for children and their families.
Their link up will create an immersive, creatively inspiring and an engaging digital experience for kids of all ages to enjoy. The family-friendly digital experience will grant kids access to tools aimed to make them confident creators, delivering play opportunities in a safe and positive space.
“Kids enjoy playing in digital and physical 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 through digital experiences,” says Niels B Christiansen, CEO of The LEGO Group. “We have a responsibility to make them safe, inspiring and beneficial for all. 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.”
A team-up of Epic proportions
Epic Games CEO and Founder, Tim Sweeney stated, “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.”
The metaverse continues to grow and evolve. As more companies dive into it, it is reshaping how people meet, play, learn, work and interact with other people in a virtual 3D world.
Epics Games are known not only as the developers of the acclaimed battle royale game Fortnite, but its creative tools and Unreal engine are the power behind countless gaming smash hits.
Meanwhile The LEGO Group needs no introduction, inspiring generations of creators for the past 90 years. The company is a leader in defining safe digital play in experiences for children including the development of an industry-standard Digital Child Safety Policy with UNICEF.
Three steps to success
The pair have agreed to three principles for the digital spaces they develop:
- Protect children’s right to play by making safety and wellbeing a priority.
- Safeguard children’s privacy by putting their best interests first.
- Empower children and adults with tools that give them control over their digital experience.
While it’s hazy as to how this metaverse will work, it’s clear that child safety concerns are paramount with the intention to create a familiar, trusted ‘LEGO’ world free from the slightly ‘wild west’ attitudes that you might find in a rival metaverse from, say, Roblox…
As to what it will look like… We’re imagining an awful lot of small plastic bricks…
Isa Muhammad is a writer and video game journalist covering many aspects of entertainment media including the film industry. He's steadily writing his way to the sharp end of journalism and enjoys staying informed. If he's not reading, playing video games or catching up on his favourite TV series, then he's probably writing about them.
