What Did Amazon Do This Week? - 14-05-2023 [+40 LINKS]
AMAZON WANTS YOU TO BUY REAL GOODS IN AUGMENTED REALITY
Amidst the massive Google AI-fest, Amazon announced ‘Amazon Anywhere’. Amazon’s play to get people buying real goods from virtual apps. Steve Downer, Vice President of Consumer Electronics at Amazon, was the spokesperson Amazon threw at this; “This new offering enables immersive shopping experiences for video games, virtual worlds, and mobile apps, starting with the new augmented reality adventure pet game Peridot.” Niantic, the makers of Pokémon Go (which has nine million daily users and made $645.59 million in 2022) make Peridot, so expect this to be a success as these folks know how to juice the kids into participating. The game itself is akim to having a a fully AR, Tamagotchi-style pet sim that you have to look after.
Here’s what the Amazon Anywhere x Peridot integration looks like:
Niantic is launching three new games in 2023, NBA All-World, Peridot, and Monster Hunter Now, in addition to the integrated social app ‘Campfire’. So far, Peridot is the only title confirmed to use Amazon Anywhere, but Niantic looking for its next big hit before Pokemon Go inevitably goes cold so expect more as more games equals more money although it’s clear this is a test for both companies. Not all gamers are happy with the monetisation and gamification elements of Peridot, and the game only launched this week so this could all be short lived, but the test remains and Amazon will learn a lot.
SO WHAT?
Virtual world shopping is usually limited to virtual currency and in-game digital items, this move changes that. Expect Amazon to quickly bake this capability into other apps and games if successful and move on if not. Equally, even if not successful, this is a very nice play that could be used to train future AR headsets, points out Scott Stein (CNET).
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