A company that bills itself as the “world’s largest cosplay platform” is turning to blockchain to help the industry develop a sustainable economy — tackling issues such as harassment and copyright in the process.
Cure WorldCosplay is an international community with more than 720,000 members in 180 countries. Available in 12 languages, the company says it offers a platform for talented cosplayers, photographers and prop makers to showcase their work. More than 6.5 million images have been shared on its service to date, and in excess of 430,000 people follow the platform’s official social media accounts.
In its white paper[1], Cure WorldCosplay explains that cosplayers have different goals for the future. While some aspire to become professional or gain more fans, others simply want a place where they can share their work with like-minded individuals. The company believes that satisfying all of these motivations can be an uphill struggle at times, with “challenges and roadblocks” often making it difficult for dreams to be fully realized.
Addressing cosplay challenges
According to the company, its years of experience — as well as ongoing feedback and anecdotal evidence — has led it to conclude that there are five main issues which are stopping the cosplay industry from reaching its full potential.
One of them is monetization. Cosplayers can struggle to make a living at times because they do not have the financial infrastructure to receive payments — and to compound the problem, their young fans don’t always have access to credit cards or PayPal[2] accounts — two of the most common methods for making purchases. Growth in the cosplay industry has also been stymied by issues concerning copyright and revenue sharing, making it harder for professionals to capitalize on
