Nov 19, 2024
At Genies, our mission has always been to power the digital identity layer for the internet's future. We see an inevitable convergence happening between AI, gaming, and XR, and we are positioning ourselves to push that convergence even further together with our avatar technology, which will serve as the connective tissue at the heart of this intersection. We live and breathe this fusion, fully committed to propelling these trends into the future together.
After years of innovating around this, we're thrilled to unveil Parties—next gen gaming platforms where user-generated content (UGC), dynamic AI-driven avatars, and personalized gameplay take center stage. This launch marks the culmination of over five years of technological advancement and creative exploration.
How We Got Here
We’ve been redefining digital identity since our early days, specifically around where we believe the youth will express themselves and spend time online. Yes, everyone still uses the classic social platforms of today, but the behavior on those platforms has shifted greatly. Gen Alpha and Gen Z are using social apps, such as Instagram and TikTok, primarily to consume media and information, but not a place to hangout and meet new people. It’s very one-sided, where people and brands put out content into an abyss hoping to shape their personal brand. The “social” in “social media” is increasingly disappearing.
What is gaining more and more popularity are UGC-driven gaming platforms like Roblox or Fortnite, which have become central hubs for engagement and self-expression. These platforms aren’t just games—they’re dynamic social spaces where Gen A and Gen Z users can synchronously hang out, express themselves authentically, and meet like-minded people. With Disney’s $1.5 billion deal with Epic Games signaling a major shift toward UGC-driven platforms, it’s clear that this model is becoming a central pillar for brands to create a two-way dialogue and relationship with their audiences. We’ve bet our avatar tech stack on the rise of these ecosystems, enabling brands and IP owners to create their own UGC worlds and unlocking limitless creativity to power this next era of digital engagement.
We believe that in this new era, the driving philosophy will be “everything working with everything” and that this philosophy will lead to successful new use cases and products. It will be entirely UGC driven with a layer of interoperability that will truly allow everything-to-work-with-everything. Two-sided experiences will become the norm, where it’s not just a single person or brand pushing content out to a dormant audience, but rather a place where the audience and brand can create together and connect in unique ways.
In 2019, we released this vision tree to our internal employees, highlighting our vision and roadmap at the time:
Back then, we coined the term “avatar ecosystems” to represent a virtual space like Roblox. As you can see, an avatar ecosystem is a makeup of all these different components, ranging from the avatars themselves, to the spaces they exist in, to the experiences they partake in. The roots represented the foundational components that made up an ecosystem while the branches were aspirational concepts to reach for.
Today, we refer to these “avatar ecosystems,” as Parties, as we’re finally able to realize the full vision of this tree encompassing both roots and branches.
It all began with a different demographic from the average consumer, though. It began with celebrities. Thousands of culture’s most iconic tastemakers, among the likes of Justin Bieber, Rihanna, and J Balvin, using their Genies across a wide range of digital activations and experiences. These were the first adopters of Genies and ultimately led us to where we are today - creating tools and capabilities to power the digital identity layer for the internet’s future and ultimately to unlock the creative potential for any user creating and interacting with avatar experiences.
Today, our launch of Parties and the technology stack we’ve been building to power Parties is the culmination of this vision tree and years of development - setting the foundation for how people will create, socialize, and interact online.
The next evolution of the internet is already here, driven by the convergence of AI, gaming, and XR. As these technologies advance, we expect mobile apps to evolve into platforms resembling "mini Robloxes," centered around two major trends: Smart Avatars and user-generated content (UGC). Traditional usernames and profiles will transform into intelligent Smart Avatar identities, while fans will play a more active role as co-creators of a brand's IP through UGC. At the core of this shift are dynamic identities, UGC, and interoperability, shaping the foundation of the next layer of the internet.
This generational shift in tech advancements and digital consumption define three core trends that underpin our vision for the future of digital interaction through mobile apps and gaming:
Smart Avatars: Dynamic, AI-powered avatars will replace static profiles, offering personalized interactions that resonate deeply with users.
User-Generated Content: Communities crave active roles in shaping their experiences, driving demand for tools that make creativity accessible.
Interoperability: As UGC capabilities advance, the ability to seamlessly move identities, assets, and experiences across ecosystems, while still maintaining fidelity and compatibility, is imperative.
So, what is a Party?
Parties are customizable mobile platforms, driven by AI avatars, personalized gameplay, and user-generated content (UGC) - all built around your IP. This creates an ecosystem that transforms user engagement into next-gen creation, social interaction, and immersive play via Smart Avatars and Games. Using Genies' technology stack, IP owners and creators can:
Build avatars with unique personalities, behaviors, and aesthetic styles - we call these Smart Avatars because they are powered by AI.
Enable users to create games, fashion, props, and digital goods.
Ensure seamless interoperability so that assets adapt and function across different Party environments, from anime-style to Pixar-level realism.
This ecosystem empowers IP partners and creators to redefine engagement, enabling fans to co-create games, fashion, and avatars while building a shared, ever-evolving digital presence.
Foundational Components For Any Party
Bringing IP to Life Through Smart Avatars
Genies transforms IP into Smart Avatars—interactive characters powered by AI with distinct personalities and roles. These avatars serve as foundational characters, enriching gameplay and creating meaningful user connections.
A UGC-Driven Ecosystem
Parties thrive on an endless stream of user-generated games, avatars, and digital goods. IP owners retain control over content curation while empowering their communities to shape the experience, driving deeper engagement and loyalty.
Interoperability Across Ecosystems
Avatars across Parties are persistent digital identities. They evolve to fit the aesthetic of any Party app, whether it’s 2D, 3D, or XR. This flexibility ensures a cohesive and immersive experience for users where they can bring their avatar from one experience to the next.
Distribution via Talent Partnerships
Through our Talent Network, IP owners can collaborate with the biggest icons across music, sports, and entertainment to create shared experiences, driving distribution and uniting fan bases in innovative ways.
Our Technology That’s Needed to Bring Parties to Life
At Genies, we’ve invested in building UGC tools and interoperable frameworks that empower limitless creativity. Take a look under the hood at our tech stack, which brings Parties to life and enables user-generated Smart Games and Smart Assets.
Our Avatar Framework - Our robust technology leverages machine learning and computer graphics to power an ecosystem where everything is customizable and compatible across Parties— including avatars, fashion, props, and more.
Avatar Framework - Automation Capabilities
Auto Avatar Generation: Users can quickly create highly stylized avatars resembling their likeness by uploading a photo, enabling appealing avatar creation at scale. Imagine guiding the style of your avatar by uploading an image of your favorite fantasy character or icon. The system could generate an expressive cartoon-like version of your fantasy character or a dramatic stylization of your icon. It’s all about creating unique, instantly recognizable avatars from the images you love.
AutoRigging: Upload any 3D creation and our tech automatically transforms it into a game-ready asset compatible across all Parties. Whether you create a dragon your avatar can ride, a sword your avatar can hold, or a dress that it can wear, our AutoRigging system will ingest any of your creations to automatically work within a Party - unlocking a wide variety of creation at scale.
AIGC Asset Pipeline: Generate fully rigged 3D assets using simple text or image prompts, removing technical barriers to creativity. You could type in "leather biker jacket" or upload an image of a classic motorcycle. The system could generate game-ready fashion for your avatar or a 3D motorcycle to use in your space. It’s all about turning ideas into action-ready 3D assets with ease.
UGC Animation Pipeline: Effortlessly design animations using facial and body tracking via mobile cameras or uploaded videos, making avatars walk, dance, or move like their creators. Imagine recording a video of yourself waving or uploading footage of your cat jumping. The system could replicate your wave in an avatar or bring your cat’s jump to life through your avatar as a stylized, animated character. It’s a seamless way to turn real-world motion into captivating digital animations that can be applied to any avatar in any Party.
Avatar Framework - Interoperable Tech
Smart Assets & Equipping: Uploaded user-generated assets dynamically adapt to avatars and gameplay environments, ensuring seamless integration and personalized utility across all Parties. If your avatar has a pair of wings with a “speed” attribute, they might increase the speed of a vehicle in one game while increasing your avatar’s running speed in another game.
Avatar Customization & Compatibility: A powerful editor enables precise adjustments to avatar features and styles, ensuring assets integrate perfectly. If you want to make your belly bigger, adjust your nose to be longer, or even layer a skirt over pants, our avatar editor allows for unlimited self-expression.
DIY Fashion Tools: Within our avatar editor, we’ve created highly customizable fashion tools that puts the creative power in the hands of any user, letting them DIY and completely re-imagine any digital fashion item that exists in their closet. Whether you want to crop a shirt, change the patterns on the patches of your pants, or add a layer of lace to your sleeves, our DIY Fashion Tools empower users to modify their avatar’s style as they please.
Wearable Refitting: Any fashion item or accessory is automatically adapted to avatars of any size, shape, or form. Whether a user wants their avatar to have a hulk-like figure or they want to be a mermaid with a tail, they can upload a shirt that will configure seamlessly to either avatar across any Party, giving them a full range of possibilities when creating and styling their avatar.
Shader System: Uniform aesthetic control ensures all UGC aligns with the unique art style of any Party, from anime to Pixar-level realism. Our shader tools provide the option to automatically adjust UGC assets so there is a cohesive aesthetic within a Party, while also allowing an avatar to travel from one Party to the next and their assets instantly evolve to match different styles.
Developer Platform - Our tools empower developers to build smart Smart Games that support UGC and interoperability from the ground up.
Experience SDK: Offers building blocks such as Login, Avatar, Inventory, and Multiplayer tools, to enable developers to build and launch their own Smart Games into any Party.
Native Avatar Framework: Ensures persistent, interoperable avatars across Parties, platforms, and devices.
Genies Login: Enables users to maintain their avatar and inventory, giving them a universal entry point across any Party.
XR Compatibility: Our SDK supports development for immersive XR use cases, whether on mobile or wearable devices, broadening creative possibilities for new age games and experiences.
AI Avatar Systems - Smart Avatars are at the heart of our Party ecosystem. Powered by AI, our avatars are personified in order to create dynamic and highly personalized interactions.
Smart Avatars: AI-powered NPCs with personalities evolve and build relationships with users, enhancing engagement. Imagine an NPC that starts as a helpful guide but, over time, becomes a trusted companion—remembering your preferences, joking with you, or even challenging you in gameplay. These AI-powered avatars grow and adapt, creating dynamic, meaningful connections that keep users engaged.
Traits Framework: Persistent, dynamic identities allow avatars to carry preferences and histories across games. Developers can use the framework for user data interoperability across Smart Games, allowing them to tailor a game that evolves based on a user’s preferences and actions.
Behavioral AI: Smart Avatars react in real time to conversations, interactions, and gameplay contexts, creating bespoke animations and responses. Imagine a Smart Avatar that frowns when you give it bad news, cheers you on during a victory, or adapts its movements to match the intensity of gameplay. With real-time reactions and bespoke animations, every interaction feels natural and deeply immersive.
Insights Dashboard: Provides IP partners and developers with actionable data on user behaviors, enabling continuous improvement.
This cutting-edge tech enables IP partners to chart new territory for how they can empower their audiences to engage and create alongside them, redefining how creators, brands, and fans interact in the digital age.
What’s Next?
With Parties, we're setting the stage for a new era of digital creativity and collaboration. Our technology will look to power some of the biggest IP owners (exciting updates coming soon), and we're working with developers to launch the first games within their Parties. Soon, we’ll open the platform to indie developers, allowing them to create their own mini Parties and down the line, anyone—regardless of technical expertise—will have the ability to design and launch their own version of a Party.
We’re aiming to empower creators at every stage of the internet’s evolution. This isn’t just a tool—it’s a platform built for high-quality UGC and seamless interoperability. As mobile apps shift toward dynamic, immersive platforms, we’re equipping creators with the tools to redefine digital identity and UGC.
The groundwork is set, the first IP partnerships are on the horizon, and this is just the beginning. The future of Parties is here, and we can’t wait to build it with you guys. If you're an IP owner or brand and are interested to launch your own Party, we'd love to hear from you HERE.