A new Metaverse-flavored Coca-Cola was announced as part of their Coca-Cola Creations marketing campaign as part of a new promotion involving Coca-Cola and Fortnite.
Users can enter Island Map Code 8565-0287-3178 into Fortnite to access Pixel Point Island, a Creative map made in collaboration with PWR that the beverage company refers to on their website as Coca‑Cola® Zero Sugar Byte Island.
The name is inspired by their upcoming Coca-Cola Zero Sugar Byte soft drink, which they claim will enable consumers to “discover the taste of pixels” when the Metaverse-flavored Coca-Cola hits shelves on May 2.
Already one of the most popular and influential video games in the industry, Fortnite has undergone several changes with each season and chapter of their free-to-play battle royale.
Many of these changes copy mechanics from other popular titles, such as Among Us and Apex Legends, which encourages users to spend more time and money in their ecosystem.
The player-driven Creative mode that enabled the partnership between Coca-Cola and Fortnite is just one example of this development strategy in action, as the 2018 update is presumably inspired by Roblox.
Avid Fortnite gamers will note that Epic Games has made several high-profile collaborations with other companies and intellectual properties, including Marvel, DC, Microsoft, Naughty Dog, Capcom, and the estate of Martin Luther King Jr.
They’ve also expressed an interest in the vague but heavily invested concept of the Metaverse, as seen in their recent partnerships with LEGO and Sony.
All things considered, Epic’s ongoing game as a service is the closest thing to a tangible representation of the Metaverse and its potential as it relates to gaming.
In a similar vein to Microsoft’s interpretation, and in stark contrast to Meta’s VR-driven approach and Niantic’s AR-focused approach, this is the most functional and profitable example of the three most commonly-used definitions of a Metaverse:
- “A network of 3D virtual worlds focused on social connection.” (Wikipedia)
- “A highly immersive virtual world where people gather to socialize, play, and work.” (Merriam-Webster)
- “The internet considered as an imaginary area without limits where you can meet people in virtual reality.” (Cambridge Dictionary)
In this context, the promotional efforts between Coca-Cola and Fortnite can be seen as a genuine attempt at connecting the physical beverage with the virtual world via their new Metaverse-flavored Coca-Cola— which actually sounds pretty stupid when you put it that way.
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