The Fresh Prince Steps into the Metaverse
Will Smith who it seems has not been out of the headlines since the notorious Oscars incident is now ready for a new frontier. The Fresh Prince (who rose to fame starring in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) in a leaked post on Instagram is set to tackle the Metaverse. Will Smith actor, comedian, musician and film producer has released a teaser video entitled “Will Smith Steps into the metaverse”. The rapper and actor is seen jumping into a virtual world in a video posted by NFT artist @toomuchlag. Last year “Fortnite” collaborated with Will Smith to produce a “Bad Boys” skin and Epic Games could be behind Will Smith’s Metaverse. Epic Games Fortnite hosted metaverse concerts DJ Marshmello, Travis Scott and Ariana Grande to huge success with over 12million people live streaming events. Travis Scott grossed $20 Million from his Fortnite collaboration with Ariana Grande reportedly earning a similar amount.
The Metaverse has become increasingly popular since Facebook announced its name change to Meta in October 2021. As investors scramble to get on board, we see a virtual “gold rush”. Last year Epic Games raised over $1 Billion in funding to develop its metaverse platform. Sony and other tech companies backed Epic Games vision for the metaverse. In addition to investors, platforms compete to attract celebrities to the metaverse. Epic Games are reportedly partnering with Paramount in the metaverse, a deal that soon could see “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles “ come to “Fortnite”. In an interview with Bloomberg, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said that “no company can own” the metaverse and called the technology a “multi-trillion-dollar opportunity”.
Other celebrities have recently entered the metaverse besides Will Smith. The Sandbox and Snoop Dog created a metaverse called Snoopverse. This virtual world has 598 lands. As a result of the partnership, a premium plot was sold for $450,000 to a fan wishing to live next to Snoop Dog in the virtual world. In addition to launching the NFT collection, Snoop Dog intends to hold private pool parties and concerts in the metaverse. Paris Hilton hosted a new years eve party in Roblox, where she was the DJ to an electronic music set. There is an island called ‘Paris World’ in the Paris metaverse. It is a replica of her Beverly Hills estate, complete with dogs.
Elsewhere on the Metaverse Horizon Venues has been streaming Billie Eilish concerts, and she features in the popular metaverse VR game Beat Saber. Justin Bieber partnered with Wave to bring an interactive virtual reality music concert featuring Biebs avatar. For New Year’s 2022, Meta’s Horizon Venues hosted a star-studded lineup, including rapper Young Thug, DJ David Guetta, and The Chainsmokers. As the Metaverse enters the mainstream we will see more collaborations between Metaverse Platforms and celebrities.
