Pocket Worlds acquires AI-based UGC team Infinite Canvas
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Pocket worldsmaker of the popular social gaming app A tall building has acquired An endless canvasan AI-driven user-generated content (UGC) development team.
Infinite Canvas has created AI-powered experiences on UGC platforms like Roblox and Discord, peaking at 19 million monthly active users. This acquisition positions Pocket worlds to enhance its creator tools, enabling more specialized, dynamic experiences for its diverse Highrise community.
Highrise has generated more than $250 million in revenue and 40 million players (as of June 2024). And those Highrise users are mostly women in their 20s.
Infinite Canvas has developed its own proprietary AI technology to create accessible, never-before-possible gaming experiences that resonate with diverse players and audiences. The successful Infinite Canvas team joins Pocket Worlds to focus on game, world and tool innovation on Highrise, Pocket Worlds’ flagship platform.
Highrise is a creative virtual world uniquely designed for young people seeking community and creative self-expression. It empowers users to make avatars, express themselves, engage in shared experiences, and build deep friendships.
Pocket Worlds said Highrise’s marketplaces are successful because of the most accessible creator tools and design submission programs. It launched Highrise Studio, a suite of development tools for creating and publishing games and experiences on the platform through Unity.
“No one understands this generation of gamers and user-generated content better than Infinite Canvas,” said Anton Bernstein, CEO of Pocket Worlds, the creator of Highrise, in a statement. “Their team has a proven track record of building leading platforms, combining exceptional creativity, expertise and efficiency to deliver highly personalized experiences that stand out in a competitive sea of options. Highrise is a thriving world of players who come from all walks of life and enter their twenties, and this acquisition is part of our promise to continue serving this extremely diverse community and their interests around the world.
Highrise also caters to an audience that has aged out of platforms like Roblox, providing a space where young people can continue to explore creativity and connection. By integrating the Infinite Canvas team’s expertise in high-quality content creation and proprietary AI tools, Pocket Worlds will expand Highrise’s game library while continuing to serve its diverse and highly engaged audience.
“I’m incredibly proud of what our team has built at Infinite Canvas, a library of over 100 games tailored to create immersive experiences across platforms, from mobile to Discord,” said Sebastian Park, co-founder of Infinite Canvas, in a statement. “With our proprietary technology, we’ve developed new AI-driven formats that unleash user creativity, all powered by a custom engine that enhances the way AI models like LLMs interact with players to deliver personalized, consistent and delightful experiences. “
Park added, “When we started building on Highrise, it became clear that this platform embodies the same innovation and tools that enable creativity and connection. Highrise’s developer tools are some of the best we’ve seen in the space, giving the team more flexibility and efficiency in bringing ideas to life. Joining Highrise is a natural next step that allows our team to deliver even more meaningful and personalized experiences to a growing community and help Highrise reach a diverse audience at scale.”
Pocket Worlds is a Y Combinator-backed company with over 50 million users and 10,000 creators. The company currently has two platforms: Highrise, the leading mobile platform that allows anyone to easily create immersive worlds and immersive games, and Everskies, the leading pixel doll community where users dress up avatars and chat with friends. Pocket Worlds builds cutting-edge technology for developers and hobbyists to create immersive experiences and worlds in our virtual universe.
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