American Reality TV Star Paris Hilton Launches Metaverse Business On Roblox

December 28 (Reuters) – Paris Hilton orders up to $ 1 million a night as a famous DJ, entertaining revelers at clubs in China, Dubai and the Spanish holiday island of Ibiza.

This New Years Eve, she’ll be playing an electronic set for revelers heading to a place of a different kind – her virtual island on Roblox (RBLX.N).

Hilton has created an island in the online virtual world, dubbed Paris World, where visitors can explore digital replicas of his Beverly Hills estate and dog mansion, stroll on a walk inspired by the carnival wedding celebration. neon show that she and her husband Carter Reum hosted earlier this year at the Santa Monica Pier in California and explore the island in a luxury sports car or Sunray yacht.

Like other virtual hangouts, Paris World will collect small payments for the purchase of virtual clothing or the reservation of a jet ski ride.

“To me the metaverse is a place where you can do whatever you can do in real life in the digital world,†said Hilton, who has worked to create aspects of his globetrotting life for fans. . “Not everyone gets the chance to experience this, so that’s what we’ve been working on together over the past year – giving them all my inspirations of what I want in this world. “

Hilton, 40, joins a group of celebrities and brands rushing to embrace the metaverse, a broad term for a persistent virtual world. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg popularized the term this year, renaming the company to Meta to highlight the metaverse’s central role in the company’s future.

Brands such as the Tommy Hilfiger brand have launched a digital ready-to-wear line for Roblox avatars. Nike opened a virtual world called Nikeland in November, where visitors can play dodge ball with friends, don a pair of virtual Air Force 1 sneakers, and earn medals. Rappers Lil Nas X and Travis Scott also hosted concerts last year for millions of virtual viewers.

For the socialite and reality TV star turned entrepreneur, Paris World is the latest venture launched by her new media company, 11:11 Media. She and media veteran Bruce Gersh aim to capitalize on the burgeoning designer economy, in which celebrities like LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers leverage their influence to produce movies, TV shows and podcasts, do brand marketing and sell merchandise.

Hilton is best known for the reality show “The Simple Life”, in which she and socialite celebrity Nicole Richie ditched their limos to travel to America on a Greyhound bus.

Hilton says the stupid blonde act was a staging: “I was still in the game, but I knew exactly what I was doing. Behind the scenes, I was building a brand.

She leveraged the notoriety of her gossip pages across 19 different consumer product lines including perfumes, clothing, lingerie, cosmetics, sunglasses, shoes, handbags and jewelry. , which together generated an estimated $ 4 billion in revenue over the past decade, the company revealed.

Investment banker Reum’s husband introduced Hilton to Gersh, a former Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) and Time Inc executive, to build a media business around one of the original pop culture influencers.

Since those early discussions, 11:11 Media has launched “This Is Parisâ€, a podcast in which she talks candidly about her family and friends, and a pair of reality TV series, “Cooking With Paris†on Netflix and “Paris In Love”, about her engagement and her marriage to Reum.

Hilton has also harnessed the non-fungible token craze, working with designer Blake Kathryn to sell three unique digital artworks, one of which cost more than $ 1.1 million, according to the auction platform in Nifty Gateway line.

“The last piece of the digital space is the metaverse,†Gersh said. “We believe there is a real opportunity for Paris to influence, even at a younger level than who is its main client. We’ve built a fantasy, whimsical world that we think its fans and new fans will love.

Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski; edited by Kenneth Li and Nick Zieminski

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