Quick take:
- The partnership includes a training program in which WPP creatives can learn to create custom brand experiences in Fortnite.
- WPP creatives will learn how to use Unreal Engine for real-time 3D creation and virtual production.
- The new metaverse curriculum will consist of three separate tracks for executives, creative practitioners, and media experts and strategists.
Global advertising company WPP has announced today a partnership with Epic Games, the interactive entertainment company and developer of Fortnite and Unreal Engine, to help WPP agencies deliver custom brand experiences in the metaverse.
The partnership will include a new training program in which WPP creatives will learn how to use Unreal Engine for real-time 3D creation and virtual production. The new metaverse curriculum will consist of three separate tracks for executives, creative practitioners, and media experts and strategists.
As part of this partnership, WPP teams will work closely with experts at Epic to learn how to build next-generation interactive experiences leveraging Unreal Engine, an advanced real-time 3D creation tool used across a range of industries including games, film, architecture, fashion, automotive, music and live events.
WPP teams will be able to make use of the training and its tools to create new experiences in Fortnite, where creators can build imaginative virtual worlds for brands inside one of the most globally popular online games.
This partnership was forged as WPP hopes to provide brands with production capabilities and sound strategies for amplifying digital experiences, along with expert knowledge of the complex online safety and privacy landscape.
“We think of WPP as the creative transformation company, one that embraces new environments like the metaverse and sees the potential for clients. Epic’s technology is world-class, and we are delighted to partner with it to raise the bar for social experiences in virtual worlds on behalf of our clients,” said Nilufar Fowler, Executive Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at WPP.
WPP has previously collaborated with SuperAwesome, an Epic Games company, to create the immersive island in Fortnite for Adidas and its Ozweego sneaker line. WPP will continue to work with SuperAwesome to deepen its understanding of online safety and privacy so that its campaigns can engage younger audiences safely.
“The collaboration between Epic, WPP, its clients and the creator community will accelerate the building of diverse social entertainment experiences that players across the world will love. This partnership with WPP bolsters our mission to educate more trailblazing brands and creators on how Epic’s tools across Fortnite, Unreal Engine, and 3D marketplaces like ArtStation and Sketchfab can be used to bring their metaverse visions to life,” said Matthew Henick, Vice President of Metaverse Development at Epic Games.
Epic Games recently raised $2 billion Sony and KIRKBI to build a kid-friendly metaverse with The LEGO Group
This partnership follows WPP’s recent announcement of The Metaverse Foundry, which will be launching through WPP’s specialist creative content production, Hogarth. The Foundry’s team will deliver brand experiences for WPP’s clients in the metaverse.
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