A few years ago, when the mobile Internet was just emerging, animation avatar generation tools such as Mianmeng and Moman Camera were all the rage. Almost all young people who are at the forefront of the trend have customized comic avatars and use them as avatars on QQ, Weibo and WeChat. Since then, with the upgrading of visual effects technology, 3D avatar generation tools have gradually become popular.

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1. Genies entering the NFT field

At the beginning of this year, NFT showed great potential in the field of digitalization and tokenization of artworks, making it possible for each unique artwork to be traded on the chain in the form of "non-homogeneous tokens". Christie's auction house's first NFT auction price reached 450 million yuan, which reflects the enthusiasm for NFT in the art field.

Comics, portraits, photos of idols, or audiovisual texts of a wonderful moment are undoubtedly works of art in the eyes of fans. Under the wave of artworks on the chain, Genies also chooses to embrace NFT.

Last November, Genies released an SDK that helps users create 3D avatars and integrate them into different platforms. At the same time, through cooperation with Dapper Labs, a well-known blockchain game development team, Genies brings its customizable 3D digital image into the NFT public chain Flow.

At the end of April this year, when NFT became popular in European and American art circles, Dapper Labs announced plans to cooperate with Genies to launch the NFT trading platform "Genies Marketplace" on the Flow chain, and is expected to release a beta version in the third quarter of this year. Genies Marketplace is benchmarked against established NFT trading platforms such as OpenSea, Nifty Gateway, MakersPlace and Rarible. Its exclusive gameplay is that both celebrities and ordinary users can create and sell digital wearable NFT collections for their "digital doubles" on the platform. This is another milestone for Dapper Labs in the NFT field after NBA Top Shot.

2. The gameplay revolves around celebrities, famous brands and users

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In the later stage, users can also make different versions of their own digital doubles on the platform. In the future, Genies will also use VR technology to create a more fantasy and realistic virtual digital world. Users' digital avatars can walk and shuttle in different VR scenes. In order to meet the needs of idols, Genies can also customize the user's digital double, and the VR scene of walking or getting along with idols.

The avatars generated by users on Genies can be circulated on different social platforms such as Twitter, Snapchat, Fackbook, etc. to show their personal images. Currently, Genies are the most popular on Giphy, an online animated GIF image search engine.

Does this play feel familiar? Yes, this is very similar to the collective memory of everyone in adolescence - the QQ show. Similarly, Genies also set up a variety of wearable devices such as helmets (similar to outfits in QQ shows and weapons in games). However, the way to obtain these wearable devices is to recharge and purchase them, or participate in Genies official activities to unlock them.

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Wearable devices such as helmets

This innovative gameplay of Genies started to go out of the circle quickly and attracted the attention of entertainment giants. In early May of this year, Warner Music Group announced a partnership with Genies. Genies will develop 3D avatars and virtual props NFT for the stars of Warner Music Group. Fans can buy exclusive limited-edition props that match the star’s digital image, such as clothing, accessories, and tattoos, or NFTize highlights from songs or movies and use them on social media.

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Digital avatars of American football stars

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Digital double of Justin Bieber unveiled in Times Square

After the initial traffic effect, Genies started the road to commercial realization. Well-known brands that cooperate with Genies include Nike, Supreme, Gucci, etc. Allison told reporters that Genies is currently working with Gucci to create customized luxury wearable devices for users. Gucci integrates Genies SDK into different social software including Giphy, and users can make their avatars wear Gucci's latest clothing, helping the company generate revenue from digital product sales.

3. Metaverse across different entertainment formats

In addition to mining star resources in the entertainment industry, Genies has also expanded its radiation scope to the sports circle. Both the American Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Football League (NPL) have reached cooperation with Genies, and are committed to producing digital images and props for the stars in the league. Enhance interaction with fans.

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Genies×Pac-Man

The global fan base, the digital gameplay that suits the interests of Generation Z, and the NFT art circulation method have also attracted capital interest. In early May, Genies announced the completion of a $65 million Series B round of financing, led by Bond Capital, with participation from Dapper Labs, Polychain, Coinbase Ventures, Hashkey, NEA, NetEase, Breyer Capital, and Tull Investment Group. The funds will be used to invest in the technology behind the Genies avatar system and build the Genies Marketplace, an NFT trading platform.

The consumption habits of Generation Z will lead the logic of future product supply, especially in the entertainment industry. In an interview with Forbes, Akash Nigam said that Generation Z is keen to express themselves through 3D digital images, which is a new medium and can reflect their mentality. What Genies has done is to create a solution for Generation Z: in the metaverse, digital doubles that can represent themselves have some kind of "super power"-perfectly show their talents, and can be uninterrupted on social platforms such as Tiktok switch.

Allison also revealed to reporters that Genies once held an NFT sale event on Nifty Gateway and Opensea. Unexpectedly, it generated more than $500,000 in revenue within 10 minutes. Genies then donated all proceeds from the event to charity. She believes that Generation Z-based users and players are the foundation of Genies, and the most important thing for the platform is to create happiness for these users.