Snap announced new upgrades to the AI and augmented reality (AR) tech for its Lenses platform as it prepares to launch a brand new set of Specs AR glasses next year. Among its goals: Leveling up social gaming on Snapchat.
In an keynote talks, Snap CTO, Bobby Murphy addressed the company’s global developer community, noting the ecompany is celebrating a decade of Lenses, which is a platfor for developers creating AR experiences that run on Snap’s AR glasses, branded as Specs.
The company is introducing a number of improvements to the platform now to enable developers to get ready for the launch of the next generation of Snap AR glasses next year. Snap said it is transforming developer workflow by integrating generative and agentic AI directly into the core platform, making it easier than ever to go from idea to published Lens.
“Since the very first Lens, our vision has been simple: to build technology that brings people closer together by helping them express themselves and connect with friends,” the company said. “Over the last 10 years, our developer community — 400,000 people who have built more than 4 million Lenses — have turned this idea into one of the largest and most advanced ecosystems for creative expression.”
Snap’s goal is to be the most developer friendly platform in the world. Today the firm is announcing major updates focused on three core areas: making Snap the best place to build, helping creators turn passion into business results, and giving developers world-class tools to push AR forward.
Leveling Up Social Gaming on Snapchat
Over 175 million people play Lens Games on Snapchat every month, and the number of Snapchatters sharing them has more than doubled – up 130% since just last year. We’re doubling down on giving you the resources to build fun, social games that bring friends together.
Snap is integrating Lens Games directly into Chat with its new Games Chat Drawer, placing games closer to where friends connect.
Snape also expanded the Games category in the Asset Library with components designed to streamline devs’ workflow:
- Character Controller: Switch between third-person, side-scroller, or top-down gameplay styles.
- Camera Controller: Change angles with presets for follow, orbit, and third-person views.
- Input System: Customize controls—blink to jump, or move with a joystick.
- Bitmoji Suite: Bring Bitmoji friends, animations, and props right into your game.
Snap introduced turn-based gameplay and leveled up the leaderboard with cleaner friend highlights and notifications. Next year, Snap will introduce live multiplayer matchmaking, a new foundation for real-time social play.
Unleashing Creative Power in Lens Studio
Snap added powerful new capabilities to Lens Studio that transform how people see themselves and the world around them, allowing people to create even higher-fidelity, personalized, and more engaging Lenses.
Here are some of the updates designed to give users more expressive power:
- Realistic StyleGen: Expanding on our fullscreen ML effects, this new option unlocks true-to-life fit, texture, lighting, and perspective, allowing you to create scenes with stunning, real-time detail.
- Enhanced FaceGen: The next iteration of FaceML, providing finer details and reliable control over hair, facial geometry, and expression for complex AR experiences.
- Selfie Attachments: Bringing state-of-the-art 3D asset generation to life with automatic, context-aware real-time AR placement.
- New Face Effects Editor: A streamlined, intuitive interface to quickly iterate and produce professional-quality makeup, sparkles, and gems.
- AI Clips (coming soon): Tapping into our ultra-fast video generative model, this will allow you to produce your own image-to-video Lenses for fun, personalized, and instantly shareable videos.
Turning Passion into a Business with Expanded Monetization
Building on the success of Challenge Tags and Lens Creator Rewards, Snap is rolling out major updates to monetization offerings.
After a successful pilot, Snap is expanding Lens Creator Rewards with Lens+ Payouts, allowing creators to make money based on engagement from Lens+ and Snapchat Platinum subscribers. Whether devs create games, AI experiences, or effects, they can now build a portfolio of monetized Lenses.
Beyond Snapchat, Camera Kit extends Snap’s leading AR technology to apps, websites, and AR mirrors across the globe, reaching more than 68 million monthly active users in Q3. Starting today, Camera Kit remains free, but now it’s fully for the devs. In response to developer feedback, Snap removed mandatory branding, giving devs the freedom to create flexible, professional, and zero-cost AR experiences that wow clients.
Supercharging workflow with Lens studio AI and blocks
Snap said Lens Studio AI makes building a Lens as easy as having a conversation.
Just describe what you want, and Lens Studio AI helps you bring it to life. It can write code, guide you step-by-step, generate full Lenses, debug, and even suggest assets. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned pro, Lens Studio AI meets you where you are to get you from idea to published Lens faster than ever.
Snap is also launching a new framework called Blocks, allowing devs to build directly at the platform layer for the first time ever. Blocks are modular, AR-ready components, like scripts, assets, and effects, that come together to build a Lens, all accessible through Lens Studio AI. Devs can create their own custom, private Blocks, or publish them to share their innovations with the community.
The company is also making sure you can create on the go with the updated Lens Studio Mobile & Web, which now leverages Blocks and includes a powerful chat-based creation tool so devs remix a Lens or create from scratch with a simple AI-powered request.
The Future, with Spectacles
One year ago, Snap introduced its fifth-generation Spectacles, a new kind of computer featuring real-time AI-powered experiences that invite people to interact naturally with the world using their hands and voice.
As the company prepares to launch Specs publicly in 2026, it has introduced Snap OS 2.0, which includes a revamped operating system for faster performance, a native browser with WebXR support for immersive experiences, plus a new UI Kit and Mobile Kit to simplify interface design and development.
Everything you’re building today for the current version of Spectacles will be compatible with the new Specs, ensuring your work is future-proof from day one.
Snap also added new system-level features that make Spectacles more seamless and easy to use. Travel Mode lets you enjoy AR experiences as a passenger on the go, whether you’re in a plane, train, or car, without tracking interruptions, while EyeConnect allows instant setup of shared, co-located Lenses by simply looking at the person next to you.
For developers, Snap is unlocking new ways to grow business with Commerce Kit, enabling select creators to accept payments directly inside Lenses. Whether it’s digital goods or premium features, this marks the beginning of monetization on Spectacles.
On the partner front, Snap announced the Star Wars: Holocron Histories experience from Industrial Light & Magic, Synth Riders, and Paramount’s Avatar: The Last Airbender are now available on Spectacles. Stay tuned to see more Lens experiences from products like Figma, brands like Tripadvisor, and research from Mastercard coming soon.
Lastly, to power this new era of AR and AI, we’re introducing Snap Cloud, built in partnership with Supabase. Snap Cloud provides developers with instant APIs, edge functions, secure storage, real-time capabilities, and more in their builds. This makes it easy to offload heavy assets and build richer, more dynamic, and privacy-safe projects. From full-length games to immersive, location-based experiences, Snap Cloud represents a long-term commitment to giving devs the infrastructure to build world-changing Lenses.
Build and Scale with Snap
At Snap, the company said its mission is to make computing more human. With more than a decade of AR innovation, a full augmented reality technology stack, and a global community approaching one billion people on Snapchat, Snap said it is building the platform where creativity scales.
From Lens Studio to Camera Kit, Snap OS to Snap Cloud — and soon, Spectacles — if you can imagine it, you can build it here. We can’t wait to see what you create next.
Snap’s AR technology and Spectacles platform offered us an entirely new canvas for storytelling,” said Ian Bowie, Lead Experience Designer of Star Wars: Holocron Histories. “Holocron Histories is a glimpse into how Star Wars can evolve in the era of spatial computing – allowing you to put on a pair of glasses, and gain the power of the Force.” – ILM Immersive
“We’re thrilled to expand our partnership with Snap. Building on our existing integration into Snap Maps, partnering with Snap on Spectacles allows us to reimagine how travelers experience the world. Tripadvisor’s trusted insights will now appear in real time, right where discovery happens – in your line of sight. It’s a powerful step toward smarter, more connected travel, powered by the voices of real people who’ve been there before.” Ariella Morik, Director, Strategic Partnerships, Tripadvisor
you can imagine it, you can build it here. We can’t wait to see what you create next.