Here's great news to all Star Wars fans using Facebook's Messenger. The leading social media company recently announced a new set of Star Wars-themed features available for the users of FB Messenger starting December 12, 2019. These features include reactions, chat theme, AR effects, and even stickers. More so, these said new features were created in Facebook's partnership with Disney to help with the promotion of the Star Wars latest edition dubbed, "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker." The film is set to premiere on Dec. 20.
In an article that came out on an online tech news site, TechCrunch, it was indicated that according to Facebook, both the reactions and stickers let the users "express themselves using characters from both sides of the Force." For instance, one can act surprised as if he is Rey, laugh like Finn, and act as if he is Kylo. Or, he can also do the BB-8 thumbs up when agreeing to comment or liking an image, or the Stormtrooper for thumbs down to air disapproval from anything on FB.
The Limited-Edition AR Effects
Aside from reactions, Disney helped as well, in the creation of the series of limited-edition AR effects used for both taking pictures and selfies, and while on video calls. One effect shows the Lightspeed Effect that provides the person on Messenger the 'jumping into hyperspace' look. Another one is the Cockpit effect that allows one to see himself as part of the Resistance that travels "across the galaxy in Poe Dameron's X-Wing." For someone who wants to choose a side of the Force, the best effect to opt for is the Dark vs. Light Effect.
The new features don't end in effects and reactions on Messenger. There's a chat theme as well, from which a user may opt for his messages to appear as if he is in outer space. The Settings can be accessed when the thread's name is tapped. Usually, the name or names of those a user is chatting with, atop the screen, unless he or someone else he knows, has already done the renaming of chat. The best news about this brand-new offer from Facebook is that all of the said features are free to use.
Disney and Facebook Not First-Time Partners
Facebook and Disney are not first-time partners in this offer. Less than five years ago, the two leaders in their respective industries collaborated with Google to develop a new tool that would let a user theme its range of apps, which include YouTube, Gmail, Google Maps Chrome, and more. It was also in that same year, nearly five years ago, when Facebook was able to let its users change their profile picture into a Star Wars-themed photo where light Side Blue One or the Red Dark Side cross-guard lightsaber were posed.
Then, about two years ago, Google introduced a series of AR Stickers app along with a set of licensed Star Wars characters, in time for the promotion of "The Last Jedi." This time, Apple got on board as well, with the updated edition of its Clips app that came together with new "Selfie Scenes," which included those for the Mega-Destroyer and Millennium Falcon, also part of the "The Last Jedi" sale.
