Ready Player Me Migration Guide: Move Your Avatar Pipeline to Avatar SDK
Ready Player Me shut down its public avatar platform on January 31, 2026, after the Netflix acquisition. The avatar creator, PlayerZero and the public APIs are offline — and every product that relied on them needs a new avatar pipeline. This is the practical, developer-focused guide to migrating to Avatar SDK: what maps to what, what carries over unchanged, and what doesn’t.
If you’re still comparing options first, start with the Ready Player Me alternative comparison. If you’ve already decided — read on.
What exactly shut down
- December 19, 2025 — Netflix acquires Ready Player Me; the team moves to Netflix Games.
- January 31, 2026 — the hosted avatar creator, PlayerZero and public API endpoints go offline. Applications can no longer generate new avatars or update existing ones.
- The technology now lives on only inside Netflix’s own products — there is no public successor.
Update, July 2026: Ready Player Me is not an isolated case — Union Avatars, another selfie-to-3D-avatar platform, has also shut down. When re-platforming, weigh vendor durability, standard export formats and self-hosting options, not just feature parity.
Migration map: RPM concept → Avatar SDK equivalent
| You had (Ready Player Me) | You use now (Avatar SDK) |
|---|---|
| Hosted avatar creator (iframe) | MetaPerson Creator — embeds via iframe with a JS API (docs) |
| Avatar API | Cloud API — generate avatars from a photo server-side, at scale |
| GLB avatar files | GLB/glTF export (FBX also available) — your existing loaders keep working |
| Unity SDK | Unity integration (incl. WebGL, VR, mobile) |
| Unreal integration | Unreal Engine plugin (incl. animation retargeting) |
| Web (three.js / Babylon.js) | Web integration samples |
| Mobile | iOS & Android integrations |
| Animations | Rigged, Mixamo-compatible avatars; real-time lip-sync via LiveSpeak |
| Cloud-only deployment | Cloud API or on-premise with Local Compute |
The five-step migration
- Get credentials — create a developer account and pick the licensing that fits: embeddable MetaPerson integrations come with Pro and Enterprise plans, the headless Cloud API — with Enterprise. ~10 minutes.
- Swap the avatar source — replace the RPM creator iframe with the MetaPerson Creator iframe, or call the Cloud API if you generated avatars server-side. The embed flow is the same shape: open creator → user makes an avatar → your app receives the exported model URL. Typically a day.
- Keep your GLB pipeline — exported avatars are standard rigged GLB/glTF, so loaders, storage and delivery usually need no changes. Verify materials and scale in your renderer.
- Re-wire animations — MetaPerson avatars are Mixamo-compatible; for Unreal there’s a documented retargeting path. Budget a few days if you have a large animation library.
- Regenerate user avatars — existing RPM avatars can’t be imported (see below). Prompt users to re-create their avatar from a selfie on next login — it takes about a minute and the likeness is better.
The embed, in code
The web integration is an iframe plus a message-based JS API. Conceptually:
<iframe id="metaperson" src="https://metaperson.avatarsdk.com/iframe.html" allow="fullscreen"></iframe>
<script>
window.addEventListener('message', (e) => {
// the creator posts events; when the user exports,
// you receive the model URL (GLB) — download it or
// hand it to your backend
// see the JS API docs for the full event schema
});
</script>The full event names, parameters and authentication flow are in the JS API documentation, with engine-specific samples in the business integration docs.
What does not carry over — honestly
- Existing RPM avatars can’t be imported. The rigs and asset systems are different. Users re-create their avatar from one selfie in about a minute — for most products this is a smoother path than trying to convert legacy models.
- RPM-specific asset catalogs (outfits, wearables) don’t transfer. MetaPerson has its own customization catalog — haircuts, outfits, glasses, body shapes.
- Animation clips authored against the RPM rig may need retargeting — Mixamo-compatible clips generally just work.
Migration FAQ
Can I import my users’ existing Ready Player Me avatars?
No — no provider can faithfully convert them, because the rig and asset system were proprietary. The practical path is regeneration: a user re-creates a recognizable avatar from a selfie in about a minute.
How long does a typical migration take?
Teams that embed the web creator usually ship in days: the iframe swap is quick, and the GLB pipeline stays as is. Engine integrations with large animation libraries take longer — mostly for retargeting and QA.
How is it licensed?
Consumer users get their first avatar free in MetaPerson Creator. Business integrations are licensed via Pro and Enterprise plans; the headless Cloud API is available on the Enterprise plan — contact support@avatarsdk.com for a quote.
Can we run it on our own infrastructure?
Yes — unlike RPM’s cloud-only model, Avatar SDK offers Local Compute for on-premise avatar generation, alongside the Cloud API.
Will Avatar SDK stay available?
Avatar SDK is built by itSeez3D, an independent company that has been shipping avatar technology since 2016 — not a startup positioned for acquisition. Enterprise customers get contractual guarantees.
Start the migration
Get API access, skim the docs, or just email support@avatarsdk.com — we’ve helped many teams move off Ready Player Me and will map out your specific pipeline. See also: why teams pick MetaPerson over other RPM alternatives and the original shutdown announcement post.