JD Sports enters metaverse with game launch

The campaign features 32 superstars, from sport, entertainment, and music culture, including Kano, KSI, Chunkz, Tobi Brown and Anthony Joshua as they step into a virtual neon-fuelled arcade in a shopping centre.

Consumers can also step into the virtual arcade themselves after a grassroots community of creators reconstructed the setting using Meta’s game platform.

The metaverse game will allow streetwear fans to build custom avatars and discover minigames within its virtual arcade and play table football, pinball, claw machines and other classic arcade games with friends. They can collect golden JD coins and the highest coin collectors will be entered into a national leader board.

In October, French department store chain Printemps opened its first store in the metaverse, designed as “an in-between space halfway between the physical and digital world”.

Meanwhile, Gucci has named Robert Triefus as CEO for the luxury house’s metaverse and Vault ventures.