Lego CEO Talks Up Metaverse Plans

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• Lego CEO Niels Christiansen has been talking up the company’s plans for the digital realm
• The toy company was part of a group that backed a $2 billion fundraise for a metaverse project created by Fortnite maker Epic Games last year
• Lego has actively been expanding into the digital world in recent years

Lego CEO Niels Christiansen has been talking up the company’s plans for the digital realm as it seeks to take the physical into the virtual. The toy company, which has experienced a boom in recent years thanks to various marketing tie ins and the COVID pandemic, was part of a group that last year backed a $2 billion fundraise for a metaverse project created by Fortnite maker Epic Games. As a result it is looking for ways to “immerse consumers into the Lego universe” according to Christiansen, although the fruits of this project are still far from being demonstrated.

Lego and Epic Games Working on Child-centered Metaverse

Lego revealed its metaverse plans last year when the pair announced a “long-term partnership” to create a children-centered metaverse concept, with Tim Sweeney, founder and CEO of Epic Games, describing it as a place where “players can have fun with friends, brands can build creative and immersive experiences and creators can build a community and thrive.”

Few details have emerged since then, but Christiansen told the Financial Times this week that the digital world was still a major focus for the brick builder:

We are doing a lot of things on the digital side. That is where we are upping the investment. We know very well how to immerse consumers into the Lego universe in stores. We’re working very hard to create that feeling of getting into the Lego brand universe also digitally.

Lego has been taking steps in recent years to move away from the physical side of its business thanks to movie, TV and video game tie-ins, and its move into the next generation of this genre is not surprising and will be highly anticipated.