Ready Player Me Announces Premium Skins Catalog

Avatar platform, Ready Player Me, has announced the Premium Skins Catalog, which will allow developers to sell premium avatar skins to their players, unlocking new revenue streams.

The Catalog will bring content from Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group's merchandise arm Bravado, Rovio's "Angry Birds," McLaren Racing, and ITV Studios' "The Voice" (in collaboration with the Virtual Brand Group) to thousands of games and apps already integrated with the Ready Player Me platform. Through Ready Player Me's partnerships and new monetization tools, developers can quickly start selling branded skins to their player base to encourage avatar personalization and grow revenue.

"Ready Player Me aims to make it easy for every developer to add avatars to their games, just like big AAA studios can," says Timmu Tõke, chief executive officer, co-founder, Ready Player Me. "These same game studios, who produce mega-hits like 'Fortnite' and 'Roblox,' earn billions of dollars a year by selling premium branded skins and other assets to their players. Now, with the release of the Premium Skins Catalog, every Developer has the ability to sell skins featuring some of the biggest brands in the world with just a few clicks."

"At Warner Music Group, we are committed to enabling our artists and songwriters to connect with their fans wherever they may be, and in the interactive formats they demand," says Jillian Rothman, vice president, new business and ventures, Warner Music Group. "Through this partnership with Ready Player Me, we're empowering thousands of developers to offer fans a way to express their unique identities in digital spaces. The creative possibilities are endless, and we look forward to seeing what they build."

Two of the first skins made available by Bravado are by German metal band Electric Callboy and by Stoked, a Warner Music Group-owned hip-hop lifestyle brand.

"Many music fans are gamers and most gamers are music fans, so it feels obvious to make official merchandise available digitally to allow users to express themselves and show off their fandom just like in the real world," says Holger Christoph, senior vice president, Digital Business Central Europe.

Warner Music Group Germany recently launched its interactive fan platform YOUniverse Berlin, which uses Ready Player Me avatars.

Premium Skins Catalog will be available soon.