Snapchat Launches New Incentives for AR Developers

Snapchat is launching a new way for AR creators monetize your effortswhile also looking to help students get into AR, via a new pricing model for its AR glasses.

First of all, about funding creators. Snapchat is launching a new initiative called “Challenge Tags” that will offer cash prizes for AR developers based on the originality, technical excellence and thematic focus of their work.

As you can see in this example, through this new Challenge process, Snapchat will be able to guide AR creators on the types of lenses they want them to create, which could allow Snap to keep creators focused on key engagement trends and shifts while also maintaining more new experiences which flow into his application.

As he explained Snap:

“AR developers can register for each challenge, build a Lens using our AR authoring tool Studio Lensand simply apply the Challenge Tag in the Lens posting process to be considered. New challenges will be published every month with the opportunity to win a share of the total prize money.”

Snap’s is offering a $10,000 prize pool for its inaugural Challenge Tag initiative, with first, second and third place winning $2,500, $1,500 and $1,000 respectively. Twenty honorable mentions will also be awarded $250.

It’s a good way to include another AR monetization opportunity to keep Lens creators active and engaged with the app. Snap also launched its own Lens Creator Rewards program as early as 2023which also offered cash rewards to encourage AR creators in the app. At this stage, it is not clear whether that program will be replaced by the new Challenge initiative.

On the other hand, Snap also wants to encourage more students to get involved in AR creation, announcing student rates for access to his AR glasses.

“Of introducing Spectacleswe have had tremendous interest from students, faculty and staff from colleges and universities around the world. To ensure that Spectacles is accessible to this community, we are introducing educational pricing and a special student discount for a subscription of $49.50 or €55 per month.”

Snap’s full AR glasses have been available to select developers since last September, with approved partners get early access to the device for an annual fee. Developers reportedly rent glasses for $1,188 per year, with this new program offering a heavily discounted version of the deal so students can also experience the company’s AR wearables.

This will lead to the wider development of AR experiences, although I still don’t see how Snap plans to compete with Apple and Meta on this front, both of which have working versions of their own AR glasses now also in the hands of consumers and developers.

And both offer significantly more options, in terms of field of vision and functionality.

Despite this, however, Snap is still leading the way in engaging AR experiences, and by renting out Spectacles to more developers and students, it could help it maintain that position.

And ultimately, it could make glasses a more desirable consumer product. Or my prediction would be that Snap will eventually shift to building AR experiences for Apple and Meta, in which case it will also benefit its longer-term AR build.

Snap says it Spectacles education pricing and student discounts are now available in all countries where Spectacles can be accessed, including the US, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Austria and the Netherlands.

“Any student or teacher enrolled or working at an accredited educational institution in these markets is eligible. apply to the Spectacles Developer Program using your .edu or educational institution email address and start building.”

You can learn more about A program for developing glasses program here.