Virtual worlds agency Millions Of Us has launched a new division, Virtual Greats, which will focus on making branded virtual goods based on celebrities including Justin Timberlake, Elvis Presley, Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton, Tila Tequila and The Incredible Hulk. An eclectic list, I think you'll agree. Initially, the company will be selling items based on these celebs in virtual worlds including Second Life, Habbo and Gaia.
The items could be virtual forms of traditional merchandise - clothing, bags etc - or they could be hairstyles, dance moves or other actions, in worlds that support them. Millions Of Us CEO Reuben Steiger estimates that the virtual items market is worth $1.5 billion, yet there’s very little “high-value copyrighted material”.
Variety reports that Virtual Greats aims to eventually offer its goods within 60 virtual worlds and social media platforms - so the deal may include rights to sell them on Facebook and MySpace, for example, as virtual gifts. It’s all kicking off with Gaia Online according to the press release, although there’s been some confusion around the news - with sites that reported it taking their stories down.
I’m predicting that these items will be more successful in the youth-focused virtual worlds like Habbo, where users are keen to identify themselves with their favourite celebrities, but possibly not so well in Second Life, where there’s a big creative community focused on making their own items (or buying them from people who do).
Still, Virtual Greats is an intriguing move. Of course, the first question that springs to mind is how the revenues will be shared, and whether these celebrities expect upfront payments as well as royalties for granting these virtual rights…
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