Party on Paris Hilton's digital island in Roblox this NYE

By now you’ve heard a lot about the metaverse, whether through NFTs (another word that became inescapable almost overnight) like The Bored Ape Yacht Club or by high-profile brands announcing forays into it. But another wave of metaverse announcements is about to be unleashed: the celebrity migration.

Micheal Jordan recently dipped his toes into the virtual space with his forthcoming athlete-focused NFT platform called Heir. Now, Reuters reports that Paris Hilton is set to launch a metaverse business of her own through the game Roblox.

The fit between Roblox and the metaverse is seamless. The former is an online game platform that allows users to create games and experiences; Roblox is essentially a giant digital sandbox that puts the onus on defining the game’s experience on the players. This malleability and intense personalization allows a brand like Nike to establish its own virtual world in the game, giving players the ability to play mini-games and suit up with digital sneakers. Similarly, Hilton has put her own spin on the idea with the introduction of Paris World, a virtual hangout that lets visitors “explore digital replicas of her Beverly Hills estate and its dog mansion, stroll a boardwalk inspired by the neon carnival wedding celebration she and husband Carter Reum hosted earlier this year at the Santa Monica Pier in California, and explore the island in a luxury sports car or Sunray yacht.”

To ring in 2022, players can tune into an electronic DJ set from Hilton, live on New Year’s Eve in Paris World. Even though this is her first virtual performance, the entertainment mogul has worked as a celebrity DJ in places like China, Dubai, and the Spanish island, Ibiza.

The OG Girl Boss — The former reality TV star has been quietly amassing an empire, with the launch of her own media company, 11:11, two concurrent shows in Cooking with Paris and Paris in Love, a podcast called “This is Paris,” and now a virtual island in Roblox.

Despite the game being free, users can opt to purchase virtual clothing (most likely customized or curated by Hilton) or book their own jet-ski rides. The venture will certainly aid Hilton as she closes in on billionaire status. Her success leveraging media fame into a sprawling network of brands, along with the documentary This is Paris, which shed a light on the abuse she encountered as a teenager, has done a lot to change her public perception.

“For me, the metaverse is somewhere that you can do everything you can do in real life in the digital world,” said Hilton, per Reuters. “Not everybody gets to experience that, so that’s what we’ve been working together on over the past year — giving them all my inspirations of what I want in that world.”