New Nike Web3 platform will soon allow users to “help co-create virtual creations”

Nike has been wading into the Web3 waters for a while now. In December 2021, the brand acquired RTFKT, a metaverse collectible studio delivering “collectibles that merge culture and gaming” via Web3. The brand then launched its first NFT, or virtual sneaker collection, using RTFKT in April 2021, followed by a second AR hoodie drop in July. While the brand is building up momentum in this area, it’s also clear it wants to position its offerings to be as collaborative and community-based as possible. Nike continues this aim with the launch of its newest Web3-enabled platform, .Swoosh.

.Swoosh, a Nike release states, is an “inclusive digital community and experience and a home for Nike virtual creations” – such as interactive digital objects like virtual shoes and jerseys. Like its first NFT sneaker collection, which Nike launched via a series of treasure hunts that users had to unlock collaboratively, Nike says the first .Swoosh collection, debuting in 2023, will be “shaped by members”.

Though it is not specified exactly how the community will be able to add their input and “help co-create” the first digital collection, Nike states that following its drop members will be able enter a community challenge to win the opportunity to co-create another virtual product with Nike. “Those winners can earn a royalty on the virtual product they help co-create,” the release states.

.Swoosh is currently in beta mode, registration to join will open later this month (November 2022). For the rest of 2022, Nike says it will grow the platform by “inviting in a community that is as diverse and equitable as possible. That means prioritising local communities that Nike supports across its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives”.

Ron Faris, GM of Nike Virtual Studios states: “We are shaping a marketplace of the future with an accessible platform for the web3-curious. In this new space, the .Swoosh community and Nike can create, share, and benefit together.”