Quick take:
- .Swoosh operates within Nike Virtual Studios.
- Members of the .Swoosh community will be able to collect and co-create Nike’s virtual goods.
- Now in beta, registration to join the platform begins today.
Sportswear giant Nike today announced the release of .Swoosh (pronounced “dot swoosh”), a new metaverse platform under Nike Virtual Studios that will house the brand’s virtual apparel, footwear and accessories.
Using blockchain technology, the platform allows community members to collect and trade Nike’s virtual creations. Members will also soon be able to wear the virtual apparel in digital games and immersive experiences. The virtual products come with utility. For instance, community members will be able to unlock access to physical products, go to IRL events with their token-gated virtual creations or have direct conversations with athletes or designers.
Operating within Nike Virtual Studios, led by general manager Ron Faris – formerly the VP of Nike’s own shopping app, SNKRS – .Swoosh looked to RTFKT for the best practices in launching a metaverse project. Faris said that .Swoosh will be Nike-only, and its releases will be wearable for RTFKT’s CloneX avatars.
“When you think of a virtual product like a virtual shoe, it’s not just a shoe; it’s the product and the experience, service or utility baked in. We don’t see that virtual product as the end of the purchase journey; it is the beginning of the journey,” Faris told Business Vogue.
Launching this Friday, registration to the platform begins today for those who have been invited to access the website via an access code. Nike selected the first wave of participants by prioritizing local communities that the company supports across its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, starting with the United States and select countries in Europe.
On Friday, users with access codes can claim their .Swoosh handle by registering their domains which will become their digital identity within Nike’s metaverse. The project has been in the making for months. In May, Nike bought the dotswoosh.eth Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domain for 19.72 ETH, approximately $38,000 USD at the time.
Nike’s NFT-related product has generated the company more than $185 million in revenue with the CloneX NFT avatars accounting for half of that revenue. Through RTFKT, Nike also raked in $1.29 billion in secondary royalties. This demonstrates the success of Nike’s Web3 strategy which .Swoosh will be expanding upon. With the platform, Nike hopes to onboard its own customers, who may be less Web3-savvy than RTFKT’s existing base, to Web3.
In the coming months, Nike will host events in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Charlotte, Tallahassee, Louisville and New York to distribute access codes, educate non-Web3 natives, make the platform more inclusive and level the playing field.
In 2023, Nike will debut its first digital collection for .Swoosh, shaped by the platform’s community. Shortly after the first digital collection drops, members will be able to enter a challenge to win the opportunity to co-create virtual products with Nike and earn a royalty on the virtual product they help co-create.
Starting in the new year, users will be able to buy the digital products, minted on Polygon, with a credit or debit card. According to Fast Company, Nike plans to sell the digital sneakers for less than $50 a pair.
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