Disney’s ginormous collection of original IPs has the potential to create the ultimate metaverse experience.
Disney needs no introduction. Perhaps the biggest movie franchise in the world, the production house has brought us innumerable iconic films and animated characters that eventually became household names. Considering its collection, Disney could well be regarded as a distinct realm of princesses, princes, warriors, superheroes, and much more. Making the apt use of this vast repertoire, The Walt Disney Company has recently announced that they will be soon joining Facebook (Meta) in creating their own metaverse. The branded metaverse will be a combination of Disney’s physical and digital worlds. Using the company’s wide collection of IPs universe, achieving this vision is just a matter of time. In this venture, the company is planning to bring together all its popular franchises together, including Marvel, Star Wars, Disney Animation Studio, and much more. Soon, Disney fans will get to see all the iconic characters on one platform–from the Marvel superheroes to Buzz Lightyear, from Princess Elsa to Merida, from Woody to Olaf, everyone will come together to make a dream come true.
The movie franchise has been dabbling in AR and VR technology for the last couple of years. In 2008, Disney Imagineers, the creative wing of the company, successfully built an animation tool called PoseVR that enables animators to create in virtual reality. Further, they also developed an AR puppeteering tool called MotionStick, as well as a tool called Force Jacket that can generate physical feedback in VR. They also launched an AR app that allows users to lay Star Destroyers over popular landmarks and locations.
Apart from AR & VR tools, Disney has also created several exciting VR experiences such as Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge and Vader Immortal series. Both VR experiences were made for Facebook’s Oculus Quest VR headset. Very recently, Facebook collaborated with ILMxLAB and brought a preview of Star Wars: Tales from The Galaxy’s Edge to the Disneyland Resort’s Downtown Disney District.
During a recent Disney corporate result call, CEO Bob Chapek stated that the Walt Disney Company is one of the pioneering companies to adopt new technologies that help to improve the entertainment experience for the viewers. To date, the company has successfully connected the physical and digital worlds more closely. However, according to Chapek, that was a mere prologue to what comes next. The creators and producers at The Walt Disney are now looking forward to leaping the boundaries of storytelling and heading into Disney’s own metaverse.
The goal of the project is to create an unparalleled opportunity for the audience to experience everything Disney has to offer in one place. They will have access to all the products and platforms instantaneously, regardless of where they are.
Currently, Disney Plus has approximately 118 million subscribers. The company views the metaverse as a potential tool to expand the subscriber base while establishing their stake in the evolving AR/VR industry. However, for the viewers and developers, the metaverse is going to be a platform with endless potential and possibilities.
