What Lockwood Publishing does

Lockwood Publishing Limited is a UK-headquartered, privately-held mobile game developer founded in 2009 and registered in Nottingham, England (company number 06242481). The company operates additional offices in Newcastle (UK), Lisbon (Portugal), and Vilnius (Lithuania), with personnel in South America and the United States, and maintains a headcount of 101-250 employees. Lockwood's business is concentrated on a single core product, Avakin Life, a 3D social metaverse platform launched in 2013 and distributed globally through the iOS App Store, Google Play, and Amazon Appstore. Avakin Life enables users to create 3D avatars, explore virtual environments, socialize, and personalize their experience using a catalog of more than 30,000 virtual items and accessories that includes real-world brand collaborations.

The underlying platform supports 200+ million registered users with engagement disclosed at 1.6 million monthly active players and 220,000 daily active users in 2025, and cumulative lifetime downloads exceeding 500 million. Revenue is generated primarily through virtual currency-based in-app purchases of items and accessories (with virtual currency expiring after 12 months of inactivity), supplemented by in-game advertising. A secondary product feature, Avacraft, provides AI-generated image creation via a third-party integration with Stability AI's API. The company has raised $25 million in Series A funding (November 2020) from Novator and Tencent, with Tencent as lead investor, and has received multiple industry awards including the Financial Times 1000 Europe's Fastest Growing Companies, the Sunday Times Tech Track 100, and Deloitte Fast50 UK.

The company's go-to-market is product-led and marketplace-distributed: Avakin Life is free-to-download, with monetization driven by virtual item purchases within the app. Distribution relies exclusively on third-party app store platforms, with no direct e-commerce storefront. Marketing channels include app store presence, in-game community engagement, press and media relations, and brand partnership activations. The customer base is a horizontal long-tail of consumer mobile gamers and metaverse enthusiasts seeking self-expression and social interaction, segmented by persona rather than industry vertical. Operational headquarters remain at 14 Park Row, Nottingham, with the company describing itself as independent and multi-award winning in its public positioning.

Name

Lockwood Publishing

Legal name

Lockwood Publishing Limited

Website

https://lockwoodpublishing.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Lockwood Publishing is a Nottingham-based mobile game developer (founded 2009) whose sole product, Avakin Life, is a 3D social metaverse platform with 200+ million registered users, 30,000+ virtual items, and revenue from in-app purchases and advertising distributed via iOS, Google Play, and Amazon app stores.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Mobile Gaming / 3D Metaverse Platform

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Virtual Goods & Digital Item Commerce (skins, cosmetics, DLC) (MPAFAJAF)

Keywords

• Mobile game development
• Social metaverse platform
• Virtual world software
• Avatar-based gaming
• In-app purchases

Headquarters

HQ city

Nottingham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Virtual Items and In-App Purchases: Users purchase licenses to use virtual currency including virtual goods, services, coins, tokens, or points for use in Avakin Life applications. Virtual currency expires after 12 months if not redeemed. Virtual items expire after 5 years of inactivity.
2. In-Game Advertising: Avakin Life applications contain in-game advertising in accordance with the Avakin Privacy Policy, generating revenue from advertisers reaching the platform's large user base.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Lockwood Publishing develops and operates Avakin Life, a 3D social metaverse mobile platform where players create avatars, explore virtual worlds, and socialize with other users. The platform monetizes through virtual currency purchases for in-game items and accessories (30,000+ items including real-world brands) and through in-game advertising. The company's products are distributed exclusively through the iOS App Store, Google Play, and Amazon Appstore.

Product overview

Lockwood Publishing operates as a mobile game developer with a single core product portfolio centered on Avakin Life, a 3D social metaverse platform. Avakin Life serves as the primary offering, while Avacraft is an integrated AI feature within the platform that enables image generation from text prompts using the Stability AI API. The company also offers virtual items and accessories as in-app purchases within Avakin Life.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Avakin Life: A 3D social metaverse platform where players become avatars that explore, create and socialise in an ever-changing world. The platform has over 200 million registered users and serves 1.3 million daily users with more than 30,000 virtual items and accessories.
• Avakin

Products and services

• Avakin Life Avakin Life is a 3D social metaverse platform for mobile devices where players create 3D avatars to explore, create, and socialize in a virtual world. The platform features over 30,000 virtual items and accessories (including real-world brand collaborations) and serves individual consumer players globally through the iOS App Store, Google Play, and Amazon Appstore.

Quantifiable outcome

• 500+ million lifetime downloads achieved
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability4 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Stability AIcoreTechnology or IntegrationStability AI provides AI technology for the Avacraft feature in Avakin Life, enabling AI-generated content creation. Both Lockwood and Stability have rights to block certain text prompts and blur resulting user content. User content generated using this feature may be used by Stability AI to develop and improve their services.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Zepeto (Naver Z): Mobile avatar social metaverse operated by Naver Z, with similar 3D avatar customization, brand collaborations, and virtual item commerce. Most comparable global peer targeting Gen Z mobile users.
• VRChat: Avatar-based social virtual world with user-generated content and virtual goods. While VR-forward, its social/metaverse positioning and avatar commerce overlap with Avakin Life's category.
• Highrise (Pocketworld): Mobile avatar social world with virtual rooms, avatar customization, and in-app purchases — directly comparable to Avakin Life's core loop and target user base.
• IMVU (Together Labs): Mobile-first 3D avatar social platform with virtual goods commerce — the closest direct competitor to Avakin Life in target audience, business model (virtual item purchases), and metaverse positioning.
• Second Life / Linden Lab: Pioneering 3D virtual world with avatar-based social interaction, user-generated content, and virtual goods commerce. Predecessor category leader with overlapping business model and audience.

Emerging players

• Rec Room: Cross-platform social metaverse focused on user-generated games and avatar interaction. Targets a younger audience but overlaps with Avakin Life on avatar-based social virtual worlds.
• Sine Space / Sine Wave Entertainment: Smaller 3D social virtual world with avatar customization and user-generated content. Niche competitor with comparable product mechanics but limited scale relative to Avakin Life.

Broad incumbents

• Roblox Corporation: Larger social gaming/metaverse platform with user-generated 3D worlds and avatar commerce. Competes for the same mobile social gaming audience but operates at vastly greater scale and capital intensity.
• The Sims FreePlay / EA Mobile: Mobile virtual life simulation franchise from Electronic Arts. Broader incumbent offering avatar/social gameplay on mobile with in-app purchases, sharing target audience and monetization mechanics.

Others

• Decentraland Foundation: Web3-based virtual world with avatar identity and virtual goods commerce. Adjacent/metaverse category overlap but distinct blockchain-based model that does not directly compete with Avakin Life's non-Web3 platform.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks3 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/lockwoodpublishing
• Xx.com/lockwoodlkwd
• Facebookfacebook.com/LockwoodLKWD
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lockwood-publishing-ltd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Lockwood Publishing