Nike Opens SWOOSH Web3 Community Platform

Nike, one of the world’s biggest sportswear brands, unveiled its .SWOOSH Web3 platform to host digital creative content. Powered by the blockchain, the novel platform will provide visitors with a digital space for creatives, consumers, and athletes., it announced on Monday.

Nike will host the website as a community for learning about Web3 technologies, including digital creations such as shoes and jerseys, for visitors to collect and wear in games and other experiences.

Collectors may also use the NFTs to unlock additional physical products or global meetups with athletes and NFT designers, the company said.

Ron Faris, General Manager of Nike Virtual Studios, said the new platform would allow consumers to play and shop for sport items.

He added,

“We are shaping a marketplace of the future with an accessible platform for the web3-curious,” Faris says. “In this new space, the .SWOOSH community and Nike can create, share, and benefit together”

Currently, the SWOOSH platform remains in beta and is set to open registrations later in the month. The company aims to expand its website with diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

Registrations will open in the United States and some European member-states, it added. It plans to drop its first digital collection next year with a community challenge to co-create an NFT with Nike.

Co-creators will also win royalties on their products, according to the contest.

Nike Goes Virtual, Globally

The news comes after Nike opened a concept store in Seoul’s Hongdae district, allowing visitors to create XR experiences at a boutique content studio via the company’s Nike Rise mixed reality (MR) experience.

The new Nike Style studio will also deliver augmented reality (AR) experiences and gender-neutral clothing designs, with plans to expand across South Korea, Shanghai, and other global locations.

The Beaverton-based enterprise also partnered with Roblox, one of the top metaverse platforms on the market, to host its NIKELAND virtual space to showcase products, competitions, games, and other immersive experiences.

Other sportswear firms such as Under Armour and Timberland have launched their own platforms on Luna Market and Epic Games’ Fortnite, respectively.

Under Armour teamed up to offer a limited-edition Curry Brand set of trainers to celebrate Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry’s record-breaking number of three-point shots. Timberland’s platform aims to provide users with its latest shoe prototypes and compete for prizes on the Fornite metaverse.