Walmart has formed a strategic alliance with Unity, a leading creator of real-time 3D content, to integrate Walmart’s commerce APIs into games and applications developed on the Unity platform. This collaboration aims to seamlessly blend virtual and physical lifestyles for customers by allowing creators to promote physical products within real-time 3D experiences across more than 20 platforms. By leveraging Unity’s extensive user base of over 1.1 million monthly developers, Walmart seeks to bring its retail capabilities into the virtual realm, presenting new commerce opportunities within digital platforms.

The collaboration empowers developers to create engaging user experiences by enabling in-game transactions for physical products, enhancing the immersive nature of digital environments. Tom Kang, Vice President and General Manager of Metaverse Commerce at Walmart’s Store No. 8, sees an opportunity to connect physical and digital realms uniquely, offering authentic experiences to customers where they already engage. Unity’s President of Create, Marc Whitten, sees the partnership as fostering commercial innovation in games and virtual experiences, providing Unity developers with an additional revenue stream while keeping players engaged within their games and experiences.

Walmart’s recent immersive commerce initiatives have included collaborations on Unity-based experiences such as ‘House Flip,’ ‘Avakin Life,’ and ZEPETO. In these experiences, users have the option to purchase real-life versions of in-game items, creating a seamless connection between virtual activities and physical shopping. Walmart’s Unity Software-Development Kit (SDK) will enable creators to integrate Walmart’s Commerce APIs into their projects, enhancing gaming experiences, allowing in-game purchases of physical goods, and introducing affiliate commissions as a new monetization method. This innovative partnership signifies the growing convergence of gaming and e-commerce, opening new horizons for user engagement and monetization strategies.