Epic Games recently announced it had entered a long-term partnership with the LEGO Group to create a space designed for children and families in the Metaverse.
The announcement seems to be part of Epic Games' vision and "future growth opportunities" that involve the Metaverse.
The LEGO Group and Epic Games did not mention when kids and families can expect this new space to become available.
Epic Games-The Lego Group Partnership Details
According to Epic Games' announcement, both companies will team up to build "an immersive, creatively inspiring, and engaging digital experience for kids of all ages to enjoy together." This digital experience will benefit from Epic Games' expertise in building creative tools and immersive worlds that are open and accessible to players and developers and LEGO's ability to create safe digital play experiences for children.
A testament to LEGO's ability to create safe digital play experiences is the recently released action-adventure game Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. LEGO was able to re-create the events that happened in a galaxy far, far away while being family-friendly and humorous at the same time for the game.
The companies' partnership may mean that Epic Games and LEGO will build a family-friendly digital world where children will have all the tools and opportunities to become "confident creators" while in a "safe and positive space."
LEGO Group CEO Niels B Christiansen said that LEGO believes there is a huge potential for children to develop life-long skills like creativity, collaboration, and communication through digital experiences. However, he added that the company and Epic Games have the responsibility to make the children in the digital world they will be in safe, inspiring, and beneficial.
"Just as we've protected children's rights to safe physical play for generations, we are committed to doing the same for digital play," Christiansen said. "We look forward to working with Epic Games to shape this exciting and playful future."
The two companies also agreed that the digital world they are creating would have three principles that will ensure engaging play opportunities safely:
- 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.
Epic Games and LEGO didn't announce a definite or estimated release date for this digital world in their announcement nor what the digital world could look like, per The Verge. However, Engadget believes that the partnership between the two companies may create a virtual world that could compete against Mojang Studios' Minecraft on equal footing.
Years in the Making
Epic Games previously announced in April 2021 that it completed a funding round worth $1 billion, which would allow the company to "support future growth opportunities."
Back then, Epic Games expressed its gratitude to its new and existing investors who supported its vision for the company and the Metaverse.
Kenichiro Yoshida, Sony's Chairman, President, and CEO, mentioned that he strongly believes that Epic Games' plans for itself and the Metaverse align with Sony's purpose to fill the world with emotion "through the power of creativity and technology."
"Epic continues to deliver revolutionary experiences through their array of cutting edge technologies that support creators in gaming and across the digital entertainment industry," Yoshida said. "We are excited to strengthen our collaboration to bring new entertainment experiences to people around the world."
Sony previously invested an additional $200 million during Epic Games' funding round in April 2021.
