(You can read more of our original ideas in our archive. You can order a business plan of this idea here.)
Problem: Expressing myself fully in reality through things like clothing can occasionally be difficult because of the cost. However, online avatars are not robust enough to fully allow me to express all aspects of myself.
Solution: On September 1, 2020 the Biden-Harris campaign launched official Animal Crossing: New Horizons yard signs. The signs are designed to give in-game players the chance to show publicly who they’re supporting for the election. Broadly, this trend of in-game concerts, in-game events, in-game add-ons to characters, and other in-game perks have proven to be extremely popular with Gen Z individuals and video game players. Whether it was Travis Scott’s or Marshmello’s Fortnite concerts or artists like Idles and Cherry Glazerr hosting virtual festivals in games like Minecraft, the digital worlds of friendship are only growing.
This business would focus on creating and facilitation partnerships and developments to allow bitmojis, and in-game avatars to become even more customized. Michelle Nie wrote a great piece about “The Future of Social for Millennials” on August 12th that I’d like to quote for the majority of this post because it greatly describes the opportunity area:
Gen Z is increasingly spending on virtual goods for their gaming avatars (in-game global spend in 2018 was $93Bn) so there’s opportunity for both brands and gaming platforms to capitalize on this new marketing and distribution channel. Large brands, who are typically slow movers, are already testing out this new channel — LVMH has partnered with League of Legends to introduce custom skins for purchase and KFC released a dating simulation game through Steam for free. Marshmello, a popular DJ, held a virtual concert in Fornite last year that over 10 million players attended.
As a result, gaming is no longer just a content play — it’s becoming a social network, and as Gen Z becomes more comfortable with avatars, the next social/gaming platform may be in the virtual world. AR/VR could be the catalyst here, but there’s a chicken and egg problem as this new hardware platform may also simultaneously need multi-platform support for a breakout game to drive adoption, similar to what Fortnite has enabled.
Despite positive feedback on the tools themselves, avatar creation companies will likely have a hard time given the strong monetization pushback they have seen from their user bases.
One update from COVID-19 is the staggering success of Animal Crossing: New Horizons with many social media accounts popping up to catalogue the clothes and items users are creating for themselves and others in the social game. Its popularity highlights this digital persona phenomenon.
Nie said it all: a large market ($93B), with no clear leaders, and proven examples of this working in the world.
Monetization: Selling these add-ons or the consulting services to help regular gaming companies craft and sell avatar-based features.
Contributed by: Michael Bervell (Billion Dollar Startup Ideas)