By Oliver Kern, Chief Commercial Officer at Lockwood Publishing

Provide an intro into Lockwood Publishing, creators of the global phenomenon Avakin Life?

Lockwood is the creators of Avakin Life – the world’s most inclusive mobile metaverse. With over 200 million registered users, Avakin Life is a community that is centered around creativity, inclusion and expressionism. Lockwood builds unreal experiences for authentic people and by focusing on creativity, not competition has created a virtual world where everyone can express their true self.

What is the metaverse?

At its core, the metaverse is a virtual world based on the real world which users can socialise in and help shape – whether that’s by attending events, creating clothes and artwork or even contributing ideas about future locations.

It’s often talked about as the next evolution of the internet – a living breathing world which will replace 2d websites. Although the original concept comes from Neal Stephenson’s dystopian fiction, the way the metaverse is being realised today represents a huge sense of hope and optimism. It’s digital nature means it’s a space where everyone can explore their passions and interests – even if those are things they aren’t ready to explore in the physical world.

What are the benefits of a mobile metaverse?

Mobile rules the world: The majority of internet traffic and social connections happen on mobile.* The beauty of the metaverse is its ability to remove the limitations we are faced with in the real world – a mobile metaverse takes this one step further. Being able to transport your digital world around with you wherever you go unlocks another level of freedom and creativity that simply wouldn’t be possible otherwise. Players are able to stay connected at all times, and it’s this blurring of the lines between the on/offline spaces that means the metaverse is able to adopt another layer of realism.

*https://techjury.net/blog/mobile-vs-desktop-usage/#gref https://www.broadbandsearch.net/blog/mobile-desktop-internet-usage-statistics https://wearesocial.com/blog/2020/01/digital-2020-3-8-billion-people-use-social-medi a

https://datareportal.com/social-media-users

How important is community when considering innovation and design of the metaverse?

The success of the metaverse is built by the community, for the community. Many of Lockwood’s most successful tweaks and innovations have come off the back of taking on board what their users need. The relationship between user and developer has never been more important. With the rise of the metaverse, users have never been in such close contact with those responsible for developing their digital space. Users have never been more willing to speak up for what they want from their experiences and developers have never been so willing to listen. The future of the metaverse will be underpinned by how this relationship continues to grow.

How does Avakin Life provide an inclusive, safe environment for users to enjoy the game and connect with millions around the world?

The safety of players always remains of the utmost importance. Lockwood understands the importance of privacy and has outlined a clear Privacy Policy to ensure that a player’s personal details aren’t ever jeopardised. As well as this, Lockwood welcomes and celebrates players from all backgrounds – it’s something they view as one of their greatest strengths.

The Avakin Life creators also have a clear stance on any form of online abuse and will always seek to take strong action against those caught. The metaverse Lockwood has built is empowered by its diversity and will always look to celebrate it. No player should feel like they can’t express the most authentic version of themselves.

How do brand partnerships with fashion, lifestyle and music brands impact engagement?

In game brand partnerships have gone from being a vision into the future to being something very much in the here and now. Unsurprisingly, this was accelerated by the pandemic, as brands realised they couldn’t rely on traditional advertising techniques to reach their audience.

The metaverse was the perfect replacement – somewhere brands could create experiences for people to enjoy while stuck at home. From in-game concerts through to iconic fashion items, the metaverse gives brands a chance to create meaningful moments, rather than easily forgettable ads. We’ve worked with some great brands to create unique experiences for our audience – most recently working with TheSoul Publishing to host a launch party for the new single from digital artist Polar.

Brands are now looking to the metaverse to lead the way as opposed to being a couple of steps behind as it previously might have been. The digital world is being seen as the perfect stage to introduce new products. The metaverse’s ability to instantly connect people all over the world gives it a serious edge when thinking about engagement.

What does the future of digital events look like?

In a word – limitless! There are no boundaries as to how far and wide the future of digital events can grow. It seems like with each passing month the metaverse is expanding. We’ve already seen in some cases the rise of digital events superseding real life ones. Players are attracted to the never-ending sense of possibility, as are developers. It’s an exciting future, and one that can only bring us closer together!