Think the metaverse is just about gaming? Think again. Meta is using their Horizon Worlds platform to focus users on four key areas: Horizon Worlds is structured primarily around gaming, but now incorporates social, entertainment and fitness experiences.
When it comes to the metaverse, Meta has staked a big claim in leading the way to making virtual environments mainstream. The company committed to a 5-year metaverse plan, investing in virtual reality and even changing the parent company’s name (formerly Facebook) to reflect the new strategy.
As talk of the concept of the metaverse becomes more widespread, it makes sense that Horizon Worlds is becoming better-known and carving a path for brands. In Horizon Worlds, individual creators can make worlds for people to explore, and you can jump between worlds or have parties with friends.
Plus, having been invite-only for a while, it’s now free to join Horizon Worlds – if you’re over 18 years old. You’ll need one of their Quest VR headsets, although web and mobile versions are currently in development. In all, the user base in Horizon Worlds is steadily growing, making it the perfect setting for brands to explore opportunities for new ways to connect with customers.
Connect and create
The Horizon Worlds virtual universe is about connecting and exploring with others. Whatever your brand focus, there’s a world among the 10,000 that have been built already where you can engage or facilitate users as they host games across time zones, watch lives events or join a community of creators to bring ideas to life.
Opening the app, users see three options: play, attend and hang out. But while there’s a lot of range, currently only a handful of global consumer brands are pioneering virtual experiences with Horizon Worlds creators – so it’s a great time to get in on the action.
Staying social
The first opportunity for brands comes in the form of a new type of social engagement that goes well beyond Instagram and TikTok. Horizon Worlds makes up a network of community-created environments called worlds, embodying the idea of the metaverse as an infinite and highly social environment. Visitors can explore 10,000 and growing worlds, meeting and making friends along the way.
There are lots of opportunities to get your brand involved on this level. One way is creating a world or you can get involved in all sorts of other ways: creating zones for people to hang out in, gamifying spaces, or creating immersive experiences where people can have parties.
Fast food chain Wendy’s continued their metaverse campaign after their success in Fortnite, where they created a character of their mascot who destroyed freezers in a Twitch-livestreamed rampage against frozen beef. Wendyverse takes a more sedate approach in Horizon Worlds, setting up the first virtual Wendy’s restaurant in their new world. Here visitors can explore behind the counter, interact with objects, meet friends and go on a mouth-watering adventure – all through their Quest headsets.
Fender, meanwhile, has created Stratoverse, which they describe as “a Stratocaster guitar-shaped island surrounded by floating islands, giant Fender guitar amps and planets floating high above in the stratosphere”. The environment features an innovative co-play audio experience where users can create original music riffs. Evan Jones, CMO of Fender, says, “Collaboration and experimentation are essential ingredients to the musical journey, and we’re looking forward to seeing what creators can do with the unlimited potential of the metaverse”.
Gaming that’s on another level
Hundreds of games and experiences are available in Horizon Worlds, from dance-offs and escape rooms to laser tag and shooting games – including one of the most popular shooting games, Arena Clash. Brands can even create their own gaming experiences, as Horizon Worlds includes a range of tools to create your own games.
MINIverse is where fans can wander the showroom, engage with other fans and race unique MINIs. Rah Mahtani, Brand Communications Manager for MINI USA, highlights how they’re bringing the brand to life in “cheeky and unconventional ways”.
Fitness has its own unique approach on Horizon Worlds, too – and it’s mostly tied into gaming. With the newest VR headset, Meta Quest 2, you can do lunges on a glacier, be inspired by coaches and a community of supporters, and burn calories hunting zombies.
Live shows and bingeworthy shows
Meta is positioning Horizon Worlds as a virtual alternative to the real world. Which means visitors will be able to binge-watch series, go to gigs and more. All from the best seat in the house – their own.
As a brand, big opportunities come from lots of users being in one place and Horizon Block Party is the perfect setting, making up a series of summer events with a calendar full of artists and free content. It kicked off with a ‘Post Malone’s Twelve Carat Toothache: A VR Experience’. This pre-recorded show was a VR-first creation to showcase his latest album, with set design, practical effects and camera framing made with a 180 VR headset display in mind.
For movie fans, Jordan Peele, director of ‘Us’ and ‘Get Out’, launched ‘Nope World’ – a creepy environment based on his upcoming movie. Users can fully immerse themselves in Peele’s cinematics in the Western-set thriller by hopping on board a virtual train to explore a VR version of the ranch from the film. There, visitors can play minigames, interact with each other and discover elements in the environment like playing records, riding a motorcycle and getting scooped up by an ominous cloud. ‘Get Out World’ and ‘Us World’ are coming later this summer.
Katie Jones, North America studio partnerships lead at Meta, recognises this as “a unique opportunity for moviegoers to explore this world with fellow fans, and for our partners to connect with their audiences in innovative ways.” Even brands outside the movie space can find inspiration from ‘Nope World’.
What does the future hold?
It seems inevitable that a major element of the metaverse will be ecommerce: in a video, Mark Zuckerberg said, “The ability to sell virtual items and access to things inside the worlds is a new part of [the] e-commerce equation overall”, with a long-term plan of creating spaces for not just digital goods, but also services and experiences. Brands could build a virtual shopping space where visitors can buy items and even interact with virtual salespeople, or more simply companies could take out ad space to reach users globally.
But bigger rewards in terms of engagement will come for brands that experiment with something different, something that reflects the environment and its users rather than simply trying to exactly replicate how people shop in real life or on the internet. Brands trying something new will likely be rewarded – or learn something. Coca-Cola creating wearables is a great example of this; other opportunities could come in the form of exclusives, whether that’s access to special worlds or spaces. Brands could also collaborate with creators to reach new audiences in a more relatable way.
Networks focused on collaboration and creation are blossoming, too. A utopian view of the metaverse focuses on community (while dystopian visions are filled with invasive ads). Brands can think about expanding into business spaces, showcasing their services in immersive environments where they can give presentations and talks, or connect with other industry professionals.
Opportunities are evolving as quickly as Horizon Worlds itself – and whatever Horizon Worlds grows into, the potential for brands grows with it.
