New LEGO® Builder Virtual: new digital platform development accelerated to offset looming raw material crisis.

Geopolitical instability in the Middle East is threatening the supply chain of the petrochemical precursors to Acetyle-Butyl-Styrene, the primary plastic used in the creation of LEGO® Bricks. With the potential shortage of physical bricks, the LEGO Group have fast-tracked the beta testing phase of their new digital building tool, LEGO Builder Virtual.

An unladen oil tanker in more certain times

“We were not anticipating this supply problem to become significant until 2035, which is why we had accelerated our approach to developing sustainable plastics in recent years. The current situation has caught us short, with crude oil deliveries already slowing around the world.” up and coming digital luminary April Løjer explained from the LEGO Group’s new Digital Hub in Copenhagen

The Copenhagen digital hub, prior to its opening in 2024
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Vale Vidiyo

VIDYO, the LEGO Group’s latest flirtation with augmented reality, encouraging kids to film music videos featuring some of the craziest minifigures you have ever seen will be formally retired from January 31 2022, while the App will continue to be supported for another 2 years.

Is this a shock? Or just another case of the LEGO Group tidying up its digital products before the big 90th birthday party later in the year?

Read on for the formal statement, and my belated overview of the theme, which might not be as negative overall as it could be.

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LEGO® Digital Designer Replaced by LEGO BrickLink Studio as the LEGO Group’s official Digital Building App 

It feels a bit like The LEGO Group is tidying up the house in preparation for its 90th Birthday later this year: Last night we heard about the merging of Bricks and Pieces into Pick a Brick, and this was followed hours with news that LEGO® Digital Designer – a stalwart of many fans of digital building – is going to have support discontinued, to be replaced by ongoing development of LEGO BrickLink Studio, as the group’s officially supported digital building application.

Studio has been on the rise over the last few years, particularly with the rise of interest in LEGO building during the pandemic, its integration with BrickLink and the Bricklink Designers Program. On the other hand, LEGO Digital designer has been getting fewer and fewer updates with new elements over recent years.

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