How Highrise is cultivating a UGC platform driving $250m in marketplace sales

• Highrise’s main demographic is females around the age of 20, which sets it apart from many other UGC platforms
• Highrise recently introduced the ‘earn program’ which gives users new ways to monetise creations

User-generated content has become a growing trend over the years in the games industry, powered by the success of titles like Fortnite and Roblox.

Highrise is another user-generated content game to emerge, which has now surpassed 45 million users amd $250m in marketplace transactions. It features social elements, the ability to create and build content, and the exploration of other users’ creations.

In this interview, we speak with Pocket Worlds‘ CEO Anton Bernstein, who tells us all about the evolution of the Highrise platform, why UGC is becoming more popular, and what the future of the market may look like. 

PocketGamer.biz: Can you tell us a little about Highrise and how things have been going over the past few years? 

Anton Bernstein: Sure! Highrise is a mobile-first, creative metaverse that’s the easiest place to create rooms, cosmetics, games, and worlds, whether you’ve never created something before or have been creating for years.

Our users are a little unexpected for a UGC gaming platform; on average, they are about 20 years old and female. We’ve cultivated a culture that we’re extremely proud of, where players can be their authentic selves with customisable outfits and decor, make true friendships with our social features, and have exciting experiences such as attending a book club, performing karaoke, racing in marathons, and more.

It’s actually the most exciting time ever at Highrise. In the last few years, we’ve reached over 40 million registered users worldwide and surpassed $250 million in marketplace transactions.

So, things have been going well, but we believe Highrise can be the largest and most impactful social games platform in the world, so we have much more work to do.

User-generated content has seen a massive increase in popularity from platforms such as Roblox; why do you think this is? 

We’re at a point where people know what they want and are smart enough to create it rather than wait for someone else to. This applies to everything from cosmetics to games.

We’re long past the point where studios, as talented as they may be, can exclusively tell users what they should wear to celebrate a holiday or the most fun ways to play together.

Our users change outfits more than five times a day, and they know how they want to dress better than we do, so our job is to create the tools for them to express themselves. That’s the idea behind Highrise Ideas, which lets anyone submit a photo of something they doodled. If it gets enough community attention, our internal team will create it as an in-game item.

It took a while, but social media has finally reached a point where people are becoming sillier, more transparent, and unfiltered. I think gaming has finally reached that point, too.

Creators want tools to make a funny marathon game based on the newest hit show or a sophisticated karaoke tournament that actually pays out the best performer with real cash. They don’t want studios to spend two to five years developing something that reflects the culture at the time the project was greenlit internally.

They want to experience things that reflect their culture’s current state, and their culture’s current state, and doing so together brings them closer together. I think this is all driven by human connection and the pace at which people are looking to connect with others nowadays.

And what trends are you seeing in Highrise in terms of UGC? 

It’s funny because we listen really closely to what our users want and pride ourselves on constantly delivering new tools, monetisation models, and contest programs. Every time I think we’ve caught up with our community, they surprise me and use our tools to build something that I never could have guessed.

We recently launched the Highrise earn program, which gives users new ways to monetise creations so they can break the mold of how they earn income and make more diverse games and experiences. They’re creating fashion shows where you buy in to compete, and the winner of the runway gets to cash out real currency so that there’s real reward and skin in the game.

We’ve seen a really popular speakeasy where users join to play card games, but we’ve also observed a lot of gardening, obstacle course competitions, and open mic nights where you can tell jokes, sing songs, read poems, and show people what you’re all about.

What’s interesting is that in these experiences, they’ve done things like build their own cameras that allow you to make sophisticated 3D spaces while using all of your cosmetics as a 2D avatar. We’re working on a new avatar system, but they’ve already built this really cool solution, so we’re actually making an official version of that camera so everyone can use it easily.

So right now, showing off your talents and competing in races, obstacle courses, or marathons is what’s hot in Highrise.

At the end of the day, our community is really supportive, and right now, they’re building things that are, on the one hand, a bit deeper and, on the other, a little competitive but sillier. And I love that since it reflects friendships in real life where we are vulnerable with our closest friends, but we also have the most exciting and fun experiences with them. 

You’re developing an app called Style Snap. Can you tell us a little about how this came about?

Half the fun of Highrise comes from style and expression, so we know our users love to design wigs, shirts, and shoes and show off those outfits wherever they can.

We have a lot of fun with our users on social media sites like TikTok, so we wanted to provide a way for them to be in the Highrise world, design, create, and show off in different ways.

We then created multiple versions of fashion filters, and one really took off, so we took those mechanics and momentum and used it as a basis for our next app. And it came from testing ideas with filters. So now, in the new standalone Stylesnap app, users have this ultimate dress-up experience that takes place directly through the camera.

There are millions of combos with more than 100,000 items that can be customised, recorded, and shared across platforms, and it’s inspired by the experience our users loved from a filter.

What can you tell us about the cross-over we’re seeing between game development and social platforms? And how can these platforms help with aspects such as UA? 

Social networking, games, and media are converging. Fortnite, Roblox, and World of Warcraft are deeply social games, and in many ways, they are social platforms.

However, social platforms really aren’t that social. They’re single-player experiences where you watch what other people do and get affirmation. Games are much more deeply social – they’re interactive, create spontaneous play, and facilitate deeper connection.

That’s why games are increasingly becoming social spaces, and developers are investing more in social features and tooling around game experiences.

How do you think UGC and social aspects will shape the next generation of the games industry? 

The members of communities know best what people in communities want. UGC tools are getting more democratised and easier, especially with AI help.

Solo developers can now make super feature rich worlds and experiences, whereas that required teams before. Even the concept of UGC will change – there will be fewer janky mini-games and more entire open worlds built by teams of one aided by AI and open-source tools.

It does mean distribution will be more and more important. If content is infinite, then distribution and curation matter a lot, so platforms will likely dominate even more. So, there will be many more UGC creators, but they’ll also be more beholden to platforms that can distribute their content.

Finally, is there anything else we should know about or something we should be on the lookout for?

Look out for more unique experiences that more creators earn an income by building things you haven’t seen before, for your next favourite experience to be the first thing someone has ever built and experiences that increasingly prioritise social connections.

If you have an idea, try it out in Highrise. We’ve made it so easy to design cosmetics, games, and worlds.

You might find it easier than you think, and who knows, you could go from someone who’s never built something before to an earning creator in a month or two. We’re seeing it happen. It surprises me every day. The future of UGC belongs to us all, so be on the lookout for the next exciting idea to come from anyone on any platform! Including TikTok.