Maxis, maker of the game Spore, and Zcorp, makers of the only 3D printer capable of multi-color production have announced a partnership that will allow players to have the creatures they created in game printed in 3D. This is a major announcement, making Spore the first mainstream game to enable on-demand production of video game avatars. The price is high for an action figure ($49.50), but less than the $140 Figure Prints charges for a WarCraft model and it is hard to put a price on one-of-a-kind.
It may seem gimmicky, but this announcement will be instructive in a number of ways, answering long standing questions about custom manufacturing:
Is Vertical Integration The Future Of Mass Customization?
Many people think that 3D printing and mass customization will come to the masses via a Kinko’s style environment. I think it is more likely that brands will integrate custom manufacturing processes into their offerings instead. Custom products require specialized equipment/processes and will likely need to be constrained to ensure quality. This will be tough to do in an open environment, but companies like TechShop may make it work.
Will The Quality Of Custom Manufacturing Shock Customers?
ZCorp’s technology is by far the best in the industry when it comes to colored parts, but the finish is still very “sandy” (Imagine you sprayed a toy with glue and dusted it with a thin layer of sugar). Print quality is ever improving but is nowhere near the polished appearance of injection molding and may disappoint people who have never seen a part in real life.
How Will A Virtual Shopping Environment Impact Sales?
Shopping in a virtual environment introduces a lot of variables that may confuse people unfamiliar with manufacturing processes. When you shop on Amazon you have a physical reference of whatever you are buying. In an on-demand environment there may be no reference. For instance, in this environment, there is no data on the scale of the product, the time required to build and ship the model, or even if your character is buildable.
Mass Customization In The Toy Market
Spore is a great test bed for this service since most of the players who will shell out $50 bucks for a toy are fairly web-savvy and will be buying as much to test the technology as for the end result. If video game companies and ZCorp can continue to improve the offering Hasbro and Mattel could be in big trouble.
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