Why Online Theme Parks are All the Rage
| Fans love to visit places that are connected and important to their fandom. There are fans from all over the world visiting Seoul to take pictures in spots where famous dramas have been filmed, where their favorite artist has grabbed a coffee, etc. Stan World strives to be THE platform that provides fandoms with that experience digitally, and more united than ever, with fans able to hang out with others from all over the world! |
People have always loved immersing themselves in imaginary worlds: what started from storytelling and theater evolved into books, movies, games, theme parks, and now, online theme parks. Because no matter how nice it is to imagine yourself as the main character of the story from a movie, there is only so far, the imagination can go: be it looks, personality or actions; everyone is different. To allow imagination and creativity to truly run wild, “Agency is the key” — according to Donald Mustard, the Chief Creative Officer at Fortnite. The huge popularity of games where people have agency over the world they are in and the stories they create shows when we look at the numbers of what Matthew Ball describes as digital theme parks: Roblox, Minecraft, GTA Online, and Fortnite.
If the MAU numbers don’t look appetizing enough, maybe the playtime will: each of these platforms separately has about 1.2~1.5 billion hours of playtime EACH MONTH, and to top it off, incredible retention rates.
Besides agency being of key importance, there are many more advantages of online theme parks for the user, for example, that it is always open and accessible anywhere, that it’s easy to hang out there and share your imagination with like-minded people and friends, and especially the infinite amount of possibilities, be it self-expression through creating attractions or customizing the user’s avatar.
Then what exactly are the advantages of going into the online theme park business for companies? Besides it being hugely popular among many users, Matthew Ball says there are other important factors that are helping this business thrive now, and will help it to continue to thrive even more in the future! These factors consist of (but are not limited to):
- Growing userbases
- Growing per user engagement
- The growing number and diversity of experiences created by the community
- The growing ease of creating an experience
- The growing ease of discovering different experiences
- The growing technical and experiential abilities of engines/tools/experiences
- The growing ease of monetizing individual creations
- And last but not least: the growing importance of virtual worlds to the overall future of the internet
Does Stan World have a future as an online theme park platform? Absolutely.
We see a future for Stan World as THE online theme park for fandoms, where fans can easily come and hang out with their like-minded peers. Stan World is always open, and it is easily accessible anywhere and anytime through users’ mobile phones. It allows fans to watch their favorite music videos and dance together, no matter the physical distance between them. Best of all is that Stan World’s future plans are focused on letting users’ imagination truly come to life through many options, for example, their avatar’s clothing, and decorating their fandom’s Party Rooms to their liking. And best of all, in Stan World, users will always be able to share their imagination with others, allowing for a flourishing theme park with joyful experiences for everyone. Add to that all the factors that help a digital theme park platform’s growth, and it’s easy to see that Stan World is well on its way to success!
