Metaverse studio Karta launches brand new studio for immersive social universe ZEPETO

12 February 2024 - Press release

 

• Karta creates dedicated studio enabling bespoke branded experiences on Asia’s largest metaverse platform

• With this expansion, Karta will help brands and artists target a more diverse, female-focused audience in the metaverse

• This marks the latest expansion for the UK-based startup, which launched its own Fortnite studio just 6 months ago

 

Karta, an award-winning metaverse studio pioneering the world of in-game experiential marketing, has launched its own studio dedicated to creating bespoke in-game experiences in ZEPETO - Asia’s largest metaverse platform. This comes after Karta launched its own Fortnite studio six months ago, headed up by gaming personality Leven2K. 

Karta aims to bring its signature of visually stunning experiences and results-driven approach to the fashion-focused avatar platform, with the first project for a global major brand already in production. The new studio is headed up by Lead 3D artist Dominique Sosseh, who has played a key role in Karta's growth over the past year. 

ZEPETO, the largest Metaverse platform in Asia, boasts a user base of over 400 million and an average of 20 million monthly active users. What sets ZEPETO apart from other leading metaverse platforms is its predominantly female audience. The platform's meteoric rise as a global virtual fashion marketplace is fueled by its dynamic community of 3.6 million creators. Since its inception in 2018, ZEPETO has revolutionised the digital fashion landscape, with over 2.5 billion virtual items sold. 

Luxury fashion giants Gucci, Christian Dior, Nike, Ralph Lauren, makeup brand NARS Cosmetics and others, have all integrated their line of products onto ZEPETO for users to try on virtually. Since ZEPETO’s initial collaboration with Gucci in 2021, over 800K Gucci items have been sold and Christian Louboutin showcased its SS21 collection exclusively on the platform. 

ZEPETO offers an engaging virtual space where users can freely experiment with diverse fashion styles and self-expression. Its fashion-themed virtual worlds have attracted more than millions of visits and provided a venue for fun virtual styling competitions and runways for fashion enthusiasts around the globe. Through its dedicated studio, Karta can now offer its bespoke services to such global fashion and designer brands, targeting ZEPETO’s fashion-conscious user base. 

Erik Londré, CEO of Karta, said: “We’re thrilled to announce the launch of our latest expansion - our new ZEPETO studio. We see huge potential in the platform and the studio team we are building around Dominique Sosseh. Just like the other platforms Karta works on, ZEPETO has a passionate community with its own culture and expression that we can not wait to help our clients and partners connect with it in a meaningful way.

Dominique Sosseh, Lead 3D artist of new ZEPETO studio, said: “I am so excited to be part of the team working on ZEPETO. ZEPETO is different to other metaverse platforms, allowing us to work with a different range of clients and focus on a different audience than that of Fortnite or Roblox. I love its visual style, and its focus on self-expression. As the biggest virtual fashion marketplace in the world, I think it is a platform every brand, especially those with a strong focus on a female audience, should be aware of.”

The ZEPETO studio marks another chapter of growth for the London-based startup. Karta enjoyed a busy 2023 with the success of the TWICE Square fan-hub, built for K-pop megastars TWICE, which has been the most popular music experience of 2023 with over 50m visits. Last year the metaverse studio also worked with other K-pop giants BLACKPINK. This was to design BLACKPINK THE PALACE in Roblox, before working with Spotify on their iconic global campaign, Spotify Wrapped, to gamify the listening habits of Spotify users and bring this into the metaverse. Most recently, Karta announced the launch of Nicki Minaj’s Gag City on Roblox, to celebrate her Pink Friday 2 album launch on December 8th 2023.

Jay Lee, Chief Ecosystem Officer at ZEPETO, said: "The achievements of Karta in crafting outstanding Roblox experiences alongside K-pop artists such as Blackpink and Twice make me highly optimistic about their venture into ZEPETO. Their profound understanding of artists and their fan communities, combined with an adept approach to engaging the younger audience who grew up with games and virtual realms, sets the stage for continued success."

 

For more information, go to https://www.karta.game/