Walmart Metaverse Expansion
Walmart’s entry into the metaverse began in September 2022 with the launch of two immersive experiences on the Roblox gaming platform. In September 2023, the company announced its intention to deepen its commercial involvement in “virtual worlds.” Over the past year, Walmart has been experimenting with immersive commerce in a variety of online environments, including a Roblox-based Supercampus gamified setup. Notably, three of these experiences were developed in Unity and successfully integrated with Walmart’s commerce API.
Experience powered by Unity
Among the experiences powered by Unity is the mobile game House Flip, developed by fun-gi. Players involved in renovating, decorating, and selling virtual homes can now purchase real-life in-game items. Another example is “Avakin Life” developed by Lockwood Publishing. Walmart has introduced a feature where players can get virtual twins of the latest apparel or receive virtual items as a free bonus when purchasing physical items. Additionally, Walmart launched CoreMood Collective, the first virtual clothing line in this virtual realm.
Walmart’s presence in Geppetto
On Naver Z’s flagship platform, Zepeto, Walmart has integrated both the Scoop and CoreMood Collective brands into a 3D avatar-based social space. The collaboration between Walmart and Zepeto is aimed at building immersive commerce capabilities into specific platform spaces for future brand integration.
Innovate with Metaverse Commerce
With more than 1.1 million developers using its editor each month and an average of 3.6 billion downloads of Unity-developed apps per month worldwide, Unity believes Walmart’s efforts will be a catalyst for innovation in metaverse commerce. I am. This partnership will enable Unity developers to unlock new revenue streams and facilitate seamless transactions for physical products while continuing to engage players in their games and experiences.
Walmart’s Store No. 8 Technology Incubator, led by Tom Kang, vice president and general manager of Metaverse Commerce, recognizes a unique opportunity to bridge the physical and digital realms. Kang emphasized that by exposing Walmart’s commerce API to his Unity development community, developers can enhance user engagement and simplify transactions for physical products without users leaving the gaming environment. Did.
Mark Witten, president of Create at Unity, expressed excitement about the announcement and expects it to be a catalyst for innovative commerce in games and virtual experiences. The collaboration between Walmart and Unity represents a pioneering effort to connect the realm of traditional retail with the evolving landscape of the metaverse.