Why Wolf3D Went All-In on Avatars With Ready Player Me

Everyone will need an avatar (at least one) in the metaverse, or so the thinking goes. That’s probably one of the few things that the tech giants, startups and non-profit groups driving toward its creation can agree upon. But while making convincing digital humans is one notoriously hard problem, building customizable avatars that can move from app to app isn’t any easier. The avatar creation platform Ready Player Me is taking steps to solve the problem.

Created by Wolf3D, a startup that previously built avatar systems for firms such as HTC and Vodafone, Ready Player Me lets people make free avatars that can be used across many different virtual worlds, including Spatial and VRChat. Ready Player Me doesn’t let people move seamlessly between these worlds, but their base avatar can be identical across games and apps that support the platform. The company claims to have signed over 1,000 partnerships and raised $13 million in a Series A funding round last month. It’s not a bad start for a 30-person company that wants to flourish with the metaverse. But as co-founder and CEO Timmu Tõke said in an interview with Reality Check, there are still numerous details to iron out.