Zakeke on Ubisoft partnership and how it makes merch out of screenshots

Zakeke, the ecommerce platform, announced its partnership with Ubisoft earlier this year. The two have collaborated to bring customizable merchandise to the latter’s store, and the former spoke with GamesBeat about how it works.

As part of Ubisoft’s new ecommerce push, it now sells custom merch in its online store. Users can get mugs, phone cases, or canvases personalized with their own in-game screenshots. Zakeke is the company that facilitates that merch creation, with its own interface. At the moment, it works with games like Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, Origins, Valhalla, and Immortals: Fenyx Rising.

Carlo Dalessandro, Zakeke COO, described the process to GamesBeat in an interview. “[Ubisoft] asked us if it was possible to use those screenshots to customize or personalize a mug, or a t-shirt with the screenshot taken from Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Of course, they’re not producing the merchandise on their own — they rely on a third-party supplier. So all of those customizer features should work with the supplier and the ecommerce platform. We needed to be integrated with both.”

The company has also had to develop an AI profanity filter in order to prevent users from putting untoward things in their screenshots, either with text or with the images themselves. It automatically warns users who try to upload screenshots with prohibited images.

Dalessandro told GamesBeat that part of the motivation for their collaboration with Ubisoft was their commitment to data privacy. “One of the most difficult parts, for Ubisoft, was to find a partner who was both able to work with multiple systems and third-party suppliers, and also to do this without managing any of the customer data … . We were the only partner able to provide the full customization management without storing any end-user or customer data.”

Zakeke has previously partnered with other gaming companies on custom items. It’s partnered with Flex Arcade, which offers custom arcade cabinets, to revamp its store interface.

The custom merch options are currently live on Ubisoft’s store in North America. In order to find it, go to the gear option, then “Our Worlds,” then the “Photo Mode” option.