MSquared, an immersive 3D internet platform that spun out of Improbable, has started a partner program with the builders of popular brand experiences including games.
The partners are part of a trusted network of creative and technology partners ready to deliver high-quality virtual experiences using MSquared’s platform.
The program launch partners include Dubit, Karta, The Gang, Command Line and Imporium, said Andrew Douthwaite, MSquared’s new vice president of commercial, said in an interview with GamesBeat. Each brings a proven track record of delivering innovative, large-scale digital projects with global brands, including FIFA, L’Oréal, NASCAR, Gucci, Spotify, Amazon, Unilever, Vans and more. What they’re working on with MSquared will be announced later.
“We’re announcing this partner program for MSquared as part of our brand-facing opening event for MSquared,” Douthwaite said.
MSquared has remarkable tech that is accessible to users via a web link. The tech has been used more for powering virtual concerts or create huge online events with up to 20,000 people in the same experience for Yuga Labs’ Otherside. It’s hard to build such things inside Roblox or Fortnite, where the limits are more like scores of people sharing the same experience. To get to 20,000, those platforms would replicate servers with perhaps 50 to 100 people in the same space.
In this case, the program partners aren’t likely to use MSquared to make Roblox, Fortnite or Minecraft experiences. Rather, they could branch out onto the web or extend direct-to-consumer brand experiences.
The good thing about creative web experiences that are not on top of closed platforms is that you remain as the brand operator, Douthwaite said. You could build someting for a musician and connect to Spotify without running into extra fees.
“You control the front doors, you control the monetization. You’re not bound by the platform rules. And it can be posted on social media with a link, and it can be easily accessed,” Douthwaite said.
MSquared is an independent infrastructure company building the backbone of the immersive internet. It was incubated inside Improbable and is now a separate company based in London, Douthwaite said. It’s backed by $150 million from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, SoftBank, Ethereal Ventures, and Mirana, MSquared enables developers and brands to create scalable, interoperable virtual ecosystems, without giving up control of data, content, or audiences.
The company launched at the beginning of the year. With a growing team and years of technical development, MSquared provides core technologies for identity, asset management, and interoperability, trusted by some of the most ambitious players in virtual experiences.
A clear path to long-term virtual brand ownership
The partner program gives brands a new way to move beyond temporary campaigns hosted inside closed platforms. Instead, brands can create persistent, interactive 3D worlds they control and grow over time – with full ownership of audience, data and content.
These web experiences are built for open interoperability, meaning they can connect into a broader ecosystem and integrate with other virtual destinations, ensuring they remain valuable brand assets well into the future.
Partners also get access to Catalyst, MSquared’s in-house innovation studio with its technology team driving industry-first projects. From the BBC Philharmonic’s live streaming Sound of Gaming web-based performance, to Web3 worlds built on the Somnia blockchain with Chunk’d that generated over 250 million on-chain transactions in 30 days, to breaking Guinness World Records with Otherside.
Catalyst provides the blueprint for what’s possible in virtual worlds. Through the partner program, its breakthroughs become a shared advantage, giving partner studios early access to innovations, opportunities to co-develop flagship projects, and the confidence to push boundaries supported by the team behind MSquared’s most ambitious work.
“Through our new partner program, we’re opening the door for brands and agencies to go beyond siloed campaigns and develop truly innovative work,” Douthwaite said. “With our partners, we’re enabling the creation of fully owned, interactive 3D worlds and events – spaces brands control, host and grow as long-term destinations, rather than short-term activations or campaigns locked within closed platforms.”
Douthwaite said he has heard from a lot of brands who feel like they’ve done Roblox and Fortnite with great numbers for results, but they still have some friction.
“Our view is that in order to actually embrace virtual worlds gaming, there’s much more you can do than just put some billboards in games. You can actually build it into your own website, your own apps, and create the content that’s more native to that audience that you’re trying to reach through Roblox, so that when they come over to your website, it feels similar and not as disconnected between a virtual world and a standalone website,” Douthwaite said.
Technology built for scale and accessibility
MSquared’s platform delivers high-quality, interactive 3D experiences where up to 15,000 people can gather and interact live in the same world or space at the same time — something that far exceeds the limits of existing 3D platforms and games. It not only enables all participants to interact with each other in real-time and share the same experience, it’s also accessible instantly through a web browser without downloads.
MSquared includes the Morpheus game engine developed by Improbable. The tech is based on Unreal, so it can be used to make more realistic experiences than is common to see on Roblox. Those experiences can scale to tens of thousands of players in one environment, accessible on any device.
“As our tooling has matured and we found new use cases with brands, we’re opening up our partner program with some inaugural members that mostly build in the virtual world space across Roblox, Fortnite and other standalone platforms,” Douthwaite said.
While the company is a tech provider, MSquared can assist with the creations as well.
“Toward the end of last year, Imrobable became a venture builder of providing services and investment to startups and existing businesses. So MSquared is effectively the underlying tech that’s been built over the last 12 years by Improbable,” Douthwaite said.
The platform’s Avatars provide fully interoperable, customisable and high-fidelity digital identities that work across web, mobile and major game engines. Complementing this, MSquared Atlas is a scalable asset network and moderation service that unifies tokenised and user-generated content into a verified, reusable library with built-in governance – trusted by organisations including Major League Baseball to protect IP, maintain consistency and support a more open, secure virtual economy.
“The quality base is high and can achieve greater things. But we have our own avatar system that isn’t the same as Roblox, and we’ve done some, some work with other platforms where we’ve been able to ingest their avatar style into our avatar system. So there’s ways you can create similar things,” he said. “The challenge with this idea of an open experience, formerly known as metaverse, is that you have all these different visual styles. How do they connect together?”
MSquared can also be used to build lightweight experiences with simple avatars that are part of experiences embedded in web sites. Those can have interaction, loyalty programs and more.
In practice, for agencies and creative studios, the platform enables the creation of immersive, scalable experiences. Using Avatars and Atlas, partners can then design interoperable, interactive 3D spaces that engage audiences, maintain control of assets and data, and evolve over time, opening new opportunities for innovation and meaningful brand experiences.
He added, “At its core, MSquared is still a platform of connecting virtual experiences. We’ve got Bored Ape Yacht Clubs avatars. They can go into an experience built by, say, Karter, or The Gang or Dubit and be interoperable in those experiences as well. So these avatar systems can carry across our platform and our network, but whether it will replicate the visual you know style of Roblox is dependent on the creator.”
What partners receive
- Early access to new MSquared features, tools and updates, giving partners a competitive edge in innovation.
- Direct technical support from MSquared’s engineering teams, ensuring seamless delivery of high-quality, scalable worlds.
- Strategic and creative insight to design authentic, brand-aligned experiences that drive measurable engagement.
- A collaborative network to exchange ideas, test concepts and push the creative and technical boundaries of virtual worlds.
MSquared’s new partners are equipped with platform expertise, advanced virtual world tools and over a decade of deep technical and creative experience from Improbable, enabling brands to have a clear path to bring visionary brand-owned ideas to life. MSquared is not making investments in its partners.
The partners
The Gang has worked with brands like Gucci and Vans in creating Roblox experiences.
“Our brand partners are increasingly interested in creating immersive experiences that are truly ownable and interconnected with their broader digital ecosystem which is why we’re really excited to join the MSquared partner program,” said Max Proctor, CEO at The Gang, in a statement.
Imporium worked with Major League Baseball to make stadium experiences for thousands of fans at once using the MSquared technology.
Isabelle Riva, CEO at Imporium, said in a statement, “As the film, sports and movie industries look to future-proof and stay relevant to new audiences, MSquared is unlocking the potential of interactive, shared entertainment through scalable new digital formats. We’re very excited to be partnered with them on several projects.”
Douthwaite used to work with Dubit, which has been making games inside Roblox for years. It has worked with brands like H&M, L’Oreal and UEFA.
Steph Whitley, CCO at Dubit, said in a statement,”MSquared’s focus on open interoperability and long‑term brand ownership aligns with how Dubit views the future of virtual experiences. The ability to build persistent, brand‑owned 3D experiences, with full control of audience, data and content, changes the way brands can invest in virtual worlds. With Catalyst’s Innovation team and MSquared’s platform, we are excited to begin creating scalable, future‑proof virtual destinations for brands that consumers will return to again and again.”
Karta has created experiences for brands like NASCAR or various hiphop artists.
Erik Londre, CEO at Karta, said in a statement, “At Karta, we’re passionate about creating meaningful, connected virtual experiences for brands and their communities. Our mission is to make brands playable, and partnering with MSquared allows us to bring this vision to life at a new scale, while being part of an ecosystem that shares our vision for the future of digital worlds.”
Command Line has worked on Bathroom Blitz with Yuga Labs, which created the Otherside platform with 20,000 users at once on MSquared in the Bored Ape universe.
Matt Shouse, COO at Command Line, said in a statement, “We love building on MSquared because it scales with us. Whether it’s a tight 20-player shooter like Bathroom Blitz or an event with thousands of people, the platform just works. As a team of Unreal Engine developers, we’re stoked to be part of the partner program and to keep pushing what’s possible in the metaverse.”
The partner program is open to creative studios, agencies and technology providers. Those interested in joining can get in touch here: https://msquared.io/contact. MSquare has over 50 employees. MSquared does not take transaction fee, but it does charge a monthly subscription fee to build with its tools and flat fees for operating worlds. You could think of it like Amazon Web Services in that respect.
Douthwaite believes some of the new experiences could launch as early as the first quarter of 2026.