Airtel Becomes India’s First Telco To Launch Multiplex In Metaverse

Telecommunications giant Bharti Airtel on Tuesday (June 14) unveiled the country’s first Metaverse multiplex on the PartyNite Metaverse platform.

Called Xstream multiplex, the 20-screen platform will be an extension of Airtel’s Xstream Premium offering. The platform will leverage Airtel’s content library and will offer multiple layers of engagement which will allow users to interact on the PartyNite Metaverse.

According to Airtel, the multiplex will offer sampling of original shows and movies in languages besides English and Hindi.

The company said that the idea was conceptualised by media agency Essence and developed by Gamitronics, the parent company of PartyNite.

“We all know people’s love for movies and entertainment in India. Through the metaverse, we are looking to tap into a larger audience, giving content enthusiasts an opportunity to sample Airtel’s Xstream Premium offering and, thus, aiding in driving higher adoption”, Airtel’s director of marketing Shashwat Sharma said on the launch. 

Gamitronics is a virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) startup based out of Hyderabad which operates its own Metaverse PartyNite. The company aims to scale up its Metaverse and plans to unveil its own token to sell its own NFTs in the near future. 

In a statement, Gamitronics said that the product could be scaled up in future to host live events and premium sports streaming. It further added that the partnership will shore up social engagement on the platform and will open up newer methods of immersive content delivery for users.

This follows a long list of OTT companies that have made a beeline for Web3.0 technologies. In May this year, ZEE Entertainment made its foray in the space, and announced that it will launch non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of its popular TV shows and movies. Automaker MG Motor also entered the space in June this year with its Metaverse platform MGverse. 

Many big Indian brands have also hopped on to the Web3.0 bandwagon. In February this year, IT major Tech Mahindra announced its Metaverse foray with the TechMVerse launch. Tata Group’s jewellery brand Tanishq also launched its jewellery collection on the Metaverse for the first time in April 2022.

According to a report, the global Metaverse market is estimated to reach the $38.85 Bn mark by 2022. This number is expected to further rise to $678.8 Bn by 2030 at a CAGR of 39.4% between 2022 and 2030.