SOLUTIONS
Gamefam | May 30, 2023
Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group and Gamefam, a leading metaverse game developer, are joining forces to create Cirque du Soleil’s first-ever immersive experience on Roblox, a global immersive platform where millions of people connect and communicate daily. In Cirque du Soleil Tycoon, users can build their own Cirque du Soleil universe filled with performers, artists, sell-out crowds and some of the most visually stunning performances in the metaverse.
Community members will have the chance to build and manage their own Big Top performance, try their skills in interactive challenges and mini-games, hire acrobats, and set the stage to create their very own custom Cirque du Soleil site. Inspired by Cirque du Soleil’s brand-new touring show, “ECHO”, which explores the relationship between humans and nature, the experience incorporates whimsical and fantastical Cirque du Soleil details and brings existing and new fans together for a behind-the-scenes look at how Cirque du Soleil productions work. Roblox community members will also have access to unique virtual items, such as animal head masks inspired by real-life ECHO costumes, allowing them to customize their avatar and express their creativity in true Cirque du Soleil fashion.
“Cirque du Soleil Tycoon will channel the influence of global online platform Roblox for immersive shared experiences and harness Cirque du Soleil’s high-end entertainment expertise, creative DNA, and multi-generational fanbase. To launch Cirque du Soleil’s first-ever digital experience on a major immersive platform like Roblox made a lot of sense for us – just like the story of ECHO which centers around connection, Roblox is all about bringing people together, and in this case, also enabling us to offer a coveted behind-the-scenes experience to millions of fans at once, sans distance or other physical limitations,” said Sébastien Ouimet, Head of Filmed and Immersive Entertainment at Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group.
This unique experience supports Cirque du Soleil’s newly defined mission to diversify its offering beyond live shows by bringing its world-renowned creative development engine to the immersive world of Roblox and allowing new and existing fans to engage with a first-of-its-kind metaverse experience. “With the creation of Cirque du Soleil Tycoon, we underscore the increasing importance of widening our portfolio of brand experiences across 3D immersive and filmed entertainment, premium content, gaming, and beyond,” notes Nickole Tara, Chief Growth Officer, Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group.
“It has been a privilege to bring one of the world’s most admired and magical attractions to Roblox and invite the community to experience Cirque du Soleil beyond the physical big top,” added Ricardo Briceno, Chief Business Officer at Gamefam. “Cirque du Soleil Tycoon serves as yet another great example of how beloved brands can extend their reach and engage new fans right where they are spending time each and every day.”
By tapping into Gamefam’s metaverse gaming expertise, Cirque du Soleil aims to engage some of the 66 million+ daily active players on Roblox, attract a new fan base, and provide people globally an easily accessible way to experience the creativity and universe of Cirque du Soleil. Cirque du Soleil Tycoon will be available for free on Roblox via most platforms and devices, including consoles, PCs, mobile, and tablets starting in summer 2023.
About Gamefam
Gamefam, a leading metaverse game developer and publisher that creates connected experiences with gaming communities and well-known brands, is building the next generation of pop culture franchises born from the metaverse. Our mission is to create dynamic experiences for an amazing community while we grow the next generation of super hit gaming and entertainment franchises from within the metaverse. Gamefam operates the largest network of games on Roblox with over 25 million daily game sessions and 115 million hours of engagement each month across 30+ live games in the company’s portfolio. Gamefam’s top franchises include Sonic Speed Simulator, Twilight Daycare, Tower of Misery, Funky Friday, Ultra Power Tycoon, Starving Artists, Hot Wheels Open World, Easy Obby and Weapon Fighting Simulator. The Gamefam experience also extends into metaverse destinations including its operation of the three leading Minecraft servers and development of Fortnite’s top 40 maps. With its headquarters in Los Angeles, the Gamefam team combines the business and production expertise of longtime brand experts and game industry professionals with the metaverse’s top creators.
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MEDIA AND BROADCASTING
PRnewswire | May 10, 2023
Cresset Asset Management (Cresset) and TRUE Capital Management (TRUE) announced today that they have merged, creating a multi-family office with nearly $33 billion in assets under management (as of 5/02/2023) and with offices in 19 locations around the nation. The strategic combination expands Cresset's presence in the sports and entertainment industry.
TRUE is a multi-family office that specializes in guiding a diverse roster of clients across sports, entertainment, and entrepreneurism to financial security and generational wealth. TRUE manages $1.7 billion (as of 2/22/2023) of assets on behalf of more than 350 clients, including Deandre Ayton, Robert Griffin III, Marshawn Lynch, Nneka Ogwumike, Kelsey Plum, Albert Pujols, Logan Ryan, Richard Sherman, Breanna Stewart, and Diana Taurasi.
Together with Cresset, TRUE clients will enjoy access to Cresset's scale and national footprint, including its extensive family office services, goals-based financial planning, institutional-quality private investments, and lifestyle services.
"We are thrilled to be joining forces with Cresset. Since we started TRUE in 2007, our priority has been to build relationships with our clients based on transparency and trust as they navigate the rare opportunities and unique challenges that come with wealth. That commitment will only be strengthened and enhanced with Cresset," said Doug Raetz, CEO of TRUE.
"As we've worked closely with Cresset, it has become clear that the entire Cresset team shares our goals and values. It's an excellent cultural fit, and we are excited to explore new ways to create and deliver success stories for our clients," added TRUE COO Heather Goodman.
"When we first met the TRUE team several years ago, we found kindred spirits in terms of how we believe clients should be treated and the positive impact wealth can have," said Avy Stein, Cresset Co-Founder and Co-Chairman. "Our mutual dedication to providing access to a full suite of sophisticated family office services and private investment opportunities makes this an ideal partnership."
About TRUE Capital Management
Founded in 2007, TRUE Capital Management is a wealth management firm that specializes in guiding its diverse roster of clients to financial security and generational wealth. The firm has built a reputation for serving high-profile clients across all major sports worldwide, the global entertainment industry, and entrepreneurs innovating in our ever-evolving business world.
About Cresset
Cresset is an independent, award-winning multi-family office and private investment firm with nearly $33 billion in assets under management (as of 5/02/2023). Cresset serves the unique needs of entrepreneurs, CEO founders, wealth creators, executives, and partners, as well as high-net-worth and multi-generational families. Our goal is to deliver a new paradigm for wealth management, allowing clients to pursue what matters most to them.
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VIRTUALIZATION
businesswire | May 29, 2023
Strivr, the leading platform for enterprise-scale Virtual Reality (VR) solutions, announced the evolution of its offering to accelerate content and solution capabilities using Generative AI (GenAI) for enhanced storyline development, animation and asset creation, and optimization of visual and content-driven features. Staying true to its roots in using cognitive science, data science, and artificial intelligence, Strivr will also be using GenAI to intelligently derive unique insights from immersive user data to support HR and L&D leaders in making critical business decisions.
With nearly 60,000 hours of content creation experience, Strivr has driven measurable impact for its enterprise customers through a best-in-class content library in the areas of cost savings, increased sales, and faster onboarding. Along with advancements like the use of GenAI to accelerate the content creation process, Strivr is able to drive further value for customers with advanced capabilities and a broader library of experiences including a critical area of today's enterprise: employee well-being.
“The demand for high-quality, scalable VR experiences that deliver meaningful and impactful results is at an all-time high,” said Derek Belch, founder and CEO at Strivr. “Our customers are among the largest companies in the world, and they are seeing firsthand the impact immersive technology can bring to employee engagement, retention, and performance. They want more, and we’re listening. Along with GenAI to accelerate content creation, we’re also going beyond training and partnering with one of the world’s leading financial institutions to offer immersive meditation to support the mental health of its workforce. This is just the beginning of how VR will continue to impact the employee experience, and we're excited to see our customers embracing it."
“Immersive and generative AI technologies are taking over the corporate learning landscape,” said Josh Bersin, Global Industry Analyst and CEO of The Josh Bersin Company. “Strivr, through its deep experience with immersive and VR implementations in the market, is clearly a leader to watch.”
Expanding the Strivr Content Library
In recognition of Mental Health Month, Strivr is hosting its first in-headset mental health and well-being applications on the platform in partnership with Reulay and Healium. According to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, meditation can help reduce anxiety just as well as drug therapies, while practicing mindfulness has also been shown to help employee productivity, focus and collaboration. Strivr customers can now offer safe mental health “breaks” to their employees as part of their VR-based immersive programs and training curricula, addressing reskilling for emotional well-being to tackle increasing levels of employee burnout, depression, and anxiety.
Building on this newly expanded offering, Strivr also offers customers choice when it comes to sourcing content to build out their VR libraries. Whether it’s Strivr-created content, content developed by Strivr-certified partners, or content developed in-house, Strivr’s open platform enabled by the Strivr Software Development Kit (SDK) allows customers to choose how they want to source content. Similar to Strivr’s Solutions team, content partners have the potential to leverage Strivr’s enterprise-scale platform to impact millions of learners, and the opportunity to make a lasting impact on the global workforce. For content developers interested in Strivr’s assessment and certification process, please visit developer.strivr.com.
Introducing Strivr Home
Enabling learners to navigate their own experiential learning path, Strivr has also introduced Strivr Home, a virtual in-headset performance hub focused exclusively on employee experience. As the central hub to upskill, reskill, and recharge, Strivr Home simplifies, unifies, and personalizes the in-headset experience by transporting users into a tranquil home setting to access world-class immersive content. With features including single sign-on and a central hub where people can browse premium training content, Strivr Home is also designed to guide the user’s journey and will evolve to offer insights on learner performance and recommendations on future experiences.
Strivr Home is available today with the latest release of the company’s in-headset Player product. To experience Strivr Home and new content offerings.
About Strivr
With over 1M learners trained in VR, Strivr is transforming the employee journey through experiential learning. Incubated at Stanford, Strivr’s platform empowers enterprises to build, manage, experience, and measure VR-based learning to optimize workforce performance. With a premium content offering based on nearly 60,000 hours of content creation experience since its inception in 2015, Strivr customers gain unique learning and assessment data to measure training effectiveness and predict learning outcomes at scale. With nearly 2M sessions conducted in VR from hiring to training and upskilling, Strivr is proud to partner with elite sports teams and Fortune 1000 companies to elevate performance through immersive experience.
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