Photo Credit: Triller Inc.
Triller launches ‘Metaverz’ for live concerts and sporting events in its plan for profitability by 2023.
Short-form video platform Triller has dived into the metaverse with the launch of its own new platform, Metaverz. The company says its Metaverz provides virtual spaces where users can gather to watch live music and sporting events and interact with artists and other fans.
The first event in Metaverz will occur on October 22, with DJ Sam Feldt performing a set from the Netherlands. After the virtual performance, Feldt will drop into Metaverz’s virtual nightclub in avatar form to mingle with guests. The event is the first of 2,000 that Triller and its subsidiaries plan to host within the next year, with many featuring real-world and Metaverz components.
The Metaverz is accessible through a browser on any internet-connected device. Visitors can enjoy virtual environments Triller built over two years, including a sports arena, beach houses, and a nightclub with projection screens, laser lights, and marble floors. Users can talk to one another either as avatars or through livestreamed video that appears as a dialog box on-screen.
“We’re carefully curating all our events and experiences so people understand what they’re doing,” says Christopher Taurosa, head of Metaverz. “It’s not like you walk around aimlessly. You get to engage around an event.”
The company is working to enable games within Metaverz, where players can earn digital currency. That currency can then be used to buy virtual apparel and customize their avatars or to purchase tickets to events hosted by Triller and its creators.
Triller recently raised $310 million from Luxembourg-based Global Emerging Markets, a private investment group, in anticipation of going public by next month. Mahi de Silva, Triller’s CEO, said the company is currently losing money but expects to achieve profitability by 2023.
The app launched in its current form in October 2019 with an eye on its larger rival, TikTok. Triller added new features with the acquisition of livestreaming music platform Verzuz, founded by producers Timbaland and Swizz Beatz. They’ve also acquired combat sports brands Bare Knuckle Fighting and Fite.tv, as well as Fangage, Julius, and Amplify.ai technologies, which help creators connect with and monetize their fanbase.