Bitmoji Paint, Snap’s Latest Game, Allows Millions of Users to Play

Sam Blake

Sam primarily covers entertainment and media for dot.LA. Previously he was Marjorie Deane Fellow at The Economist, where he wrote for the business and finance sections of the print edition. He has also worked at the XPRIZE Foundation, U.S. Government Accountability Office, KCRW, and MLB Advanced Media (now Disney Streaming Services). He holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson, an MPP from UCLA Luskin and a BA in History from University of Michigan. Email him at samblake@dot.LA and find him on Twitter @hisamblake

Bitmoji Paint, Snap’s Latest Game, Allows Millions of Users to Play
Snap Inc.

Snap just made its largest push yet into social gaming with Bitmoji Paint. The new game lets millions of users collaboratively paint a pixelated canvas and marks an expansion of Snap's gaming division, which launched in 2019.

Players can communicate with each other in Bitmoji Paint, though only through a limited set of preloaded messages. Snap's games previously could only be played by oneself or with one's Snapchat friends. But Bitmoji Paint can accommodate millions of players. Gamers tend to play Snap's games longer when they play with others rather than alone. Since launching its Games platform, the company says 100 million users have played.


Snap has primarily monetized that through six-second advertisements that run before a game starts. The nine-year old company hopes more games and more user engagement will translate into profitability.

Mobile gaming comprises the largest piece of the $160 billion gaming industry. Much of that comes from advertising and in-app purchases.

Snap is including in-app purchases for Bitmoji Paint on Android. Users can purchase tokens to buy digital goods for their avatars, such as roller skates, a hoverboard or a paint roller. Such in-app purchases are generally easier to implement on Android than on iOS.

Snap's first original game launched last year along with a new push to bring games to its young-skewing user base. Most of the games on the app are still developed from third parties.

Snap acquired Bitmoji in 2016 for a reported $64.2 million and has since sought to exploit those user-lookalike avatars in numerous ways. Like Bitmoji Paint, Bitmoji Party – Snap's first internally developed game – enabled users to play as their avatars. Snap also allows authorized external game developers to let players play as their Bitmoji avatars by using Snap's software development kit.

In addition to ramping up its gaming team and offering, Snap, which began as a disappearing-messaging app, has recently ventured into music, including launching a TikTok-like feature called Spotlight. That is part of a broader trend of the rising prominence that music plays in social media.

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LA Tech ‘Moves’: Mapp Gains New CPO and CTO, Prodoscore Taps Boeing Exec

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

LA Tech ‘Moves’: Mapp Gains New CPO and CTO, Prodoscore Taps Boeing Exec
LA Tech ‘Moves’:

“Moves,” our roundup of job changes in L.A. tech, is presented by Interchange.LA, dot.LA's recruiting and career platform connecting Southern California's most exciting companies with top tech talent. Create a free Interchange.LA profile here—and if you're looking for ways to supercharge your recruiting efforts, find out more about Interchange.LA's white-glove recruiting service by emailing Sharmineh O’Farrill Lewis (sharmineh@dot.la). Please send job changes and personnel moves to moves@dot.la.

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This Week in ‘Raises’: GITAI Lands $30M, Steno Gains $15M

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

Raises
Image by Joshua Letona

A local space robotics startup raised fresh funding to expand the flight model manufacturing facilities throughout the U.S. and increase employment, while a remote litigation platform raised more funding to continue growing its footprint in new markets across the country, develop service channels for its clients and continue expanding its tech team.

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Gitai Raises $30 Million to Expand Manufacturing Footprint in Los Angeles

Samson Amore

Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.

Gitai Raises $30 Million to Expand Manufacturing Footprint in Los Angeles
\u200bPhoto: Gitai

Space robotics company Gitai raised a $30 million Series B extension this week, bringing the total value of the round to roughly $47 million.

The funding will be used to further develop Gitai’s suite of space robots as well as build out its manufacturing footprint in Torrance. Previously Gitai announced it raised a $17.1 million Series B in March 2021; this additional raise is still part of that round.

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