Avatar creation platform Ready Player Me has revealed its Premium Skins Catalog which enables developers to sell premium avatar skins to their players and unlock new revenue streams as well as tap into the avatar economy.
The Catalog will add content from Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group’s merchandise part Bravado, Angry Birds by Rovio, McLaren Racing, and ITV Studios ‘The Voice’ (working with Virtual Brand Group) to lots of games and apps connected to the Ready Player Me platform.
Through its collaborations with various brands and monetisation tools, Ready Player Me is providing developers with the tools they need to start selling branded skins to their respective player base. The platform believes that the Premium Skins Catalog is an important step for any developer to get into this market regardless of size.
Ready Player Me CEO and co-founder Timmu Toke said, “Ready Player Me aims to make it easy for every developer to add avatars to their games, just like big AAA studios can. And, these same game studios, who produce mega-hits like Fortnite and Roblox, earn billions of dollars a year by selling premium branded skins and other assets to their players. Now, with the release of the Premium Skins Catalog, every developer has the ability to sell skins featuring some of the biggest brands in the world with just a few clicks.”
Empowering developers
The Premium Skins Catalog also allows developers to sell avatars from famous brands and artists. According to Ready Player Me, the direct-to-avatar economy and in-game purchases is a multi-billion dollar industry that developers now have the opportunity to tap into.
“At Warner Music Group, we are committed to enabling our artists and songwriters to connect with their fans wherever they may be, and in the interactive formats they demand,” says Jillian Rothman, vice president, new business & ventures, WMG. “Through this partnership with Ready Player Me, we’re empowering thousands of developers to offer fans a way to express their unique identities in digital spaces. The creative possibilities are endless, and we look forward to seeing what they build.”
UMG’s merchandise arm Bravado released two of the initial skins. The first being from the German metal band Electric Callboy, and STOKED, a UMG-owned hip-hop brand. “Many music fans are gamers and most gamers are music fans so it feels obvious to make official merchandise available digitally to allow users to express themselves and show off their fandom just like in the real world,” explains Philippe Koenig, senior director A&R, operations and strategy at Bravado Merchandise Germany. UMG Germany also recently launched their own interactive fan platform YOUniverse Berlin using Ready Player Me avatars.
Ready Player Me says the avatar customisation choices that are currently available might change before the public release, both for developers and users. While there’s no specific release date, developers can sign up and create their Developer account and be notified once the Premium Skins Catalog becomes available.
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.
