One Asset, Endless Worlds: How Interoperability Redefines Storytelling

The Birth of Living Stories, Part 6

Careful readers may have noticed that over the course of the past five essays, we’ve journeyed from the macro to the micro, tracing the evolution of technology and storytelling from the sweeping convergence of frontier innovations to the precise mechanisms enabling this transformation. We began with the Fourth Industrial Revolution, exploring the grand convergence of physical and digital systems, before narrowing our focus to the Immersive Web, a vision for the internet’s transition into real-time 3D spaces. From there, we examined how stories can transform into platforms through Infinite IP, scaling network effects to shape entire Network States. The rise of Hybrid Studios emerged as the necessary creative engine to bring these ideas to life, blending game, film, and XR disciplines into singular real-time pipelines.

Now, we arrive at the DNA level of this virtual realm: 3D Asset Interoperability. It’s the foundational layer upon which a ‘unified’ Transmedia experience depends, unlocking the potential for infinite creativity, collaboration, and scalability.

Real-Time Pipelines and the Case for Unified Transmedia

As discussed in previous posts, the boundaries between certain industries are disappearing. The once-clear lines separating film, gaming, and other media, like XR, are dissolving, replaced by a need for interoperability. It’s not just about sharing ideas anymore. It’s about sharing assets—making everything work together seamlessly.

This is where 3D asset interoperability comes in. In the world of 2D, we already have universal standards like JPEG and PNG. These file formats allow images to move effortlessly between devices, platforms, and tools. Whether you’re a graphic designer or a social media user, you never worry about whether your image will load. It just works.

But 3D assets? They’re still a mess. Studios rely on proprietary formats like FBX or highly specialized workflows tied to specific tools. Each system speaks its own language, and converting between them often results in loss of detail, misaligned textures, or outright incompatibility. This fragmentation creates bottlenecks that slow down production and limit collaboration.

The solution lies in creating universal standards for 3D assets—standards that let creators work across platforms as seamlessly as we do with 2D images. That’s where USD (Universal Scene Description) and glTF (Graphics Language Transmission Format) come in. Together, these open standards are paving the way for true 3D interoperability.

USD x glTF: A New Standard for 3D Assets

USD, developed by Pixar, is a powerful framework for representing complex scenes. It’s designed to handle the intricacies of layering, composition, and collaboration, making it the gold standard for virtual production in film. Meanwhile, glTF, championed by the Khronos Group, focuses on efficiency. It’s lightweight, portable, and optimized for delivering assets on mobile devices and in real-time applications like games and augmented reality (AR).

The exciting part is that these two standards are now being integrated. The Metaverse Standards Forum, an industry consortium focused on building the next generation of interoperable tools, is working on a USD x glTF pipeline. This collaboration aims to combine USD’s flexibility with glTF’s efficiency, creating a unified framework for 3D assets.

Even Autodesk, the creator of the widely used but proprietary FBX format, is contributing to this effort. The Forum is conducting a gap analysis to identify features unique to FBX—like advanced animation rigs and physics simulations—and exploring how to integrate them into the open USD x glTF standard. This collaboration signals a shift in the industry, as major players recognize that interoperability isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a must-have.

Why Interoperability Matters

Imagine you’re a creator. You’ve just built a virtual world for a video game, but now someone wants to use it in a movie, a VR experience, or an interactive web application. Today, this means rebuilding that world multiple times, each for a different platform. It’s a slow, expensive process that stifles innovation.

Now imagine you could create that world once and use it everywhere. Fans would encounter the same underlying 3D assets at every digital touchpoint. That’s the promise of interoperability. It’s about breaking free from proprietary formats and fragmented pipelines, letting creators focus on the story rather than the logistics.

The Rise of Hybrid Studios

Interoperability doesn’t just make life easier for creators. It changes how we think about studios entirely. Today’s studios are often narrowly focused: a film studio makes films, a game studio makes games. Hybrid studios, by contrast, are built around unified pipelines that span media types.

A hybrid studio could start with a film, then extend the story into a game, an AR experience on a mobile device, and even user-generated content—all without rebuilding assets from scratch. This isn’t just about efficiency. It’s about enabling new kinds of storytelling. Stories can evolve dynamically, with each medium contributing to a larger, interconnected narrative.

Fans become part of the process too. Through interoperable platforms, they can remix, expand, and even monetize their contributions. In this way, hybrid studios don’t just create content; they create ecosystems.

Stories as Platforms

What makes this shift so powerful is that it transforms stories into platforms. A traditional story is static: it begins, unfolds, and ends. A story-as-platform, on the other hand, is open-ended. It grows and evolves as creators and fans interact with it.

Think about how games like Roblox, Minecraft, or Fortnite have become platforms. Players don’t just consume these games; they build within them, creating experiences that attract millions of others. The same potential exists for films, shows, and other media. Interoperability is what makes it possible.

With interoperable assets, a single story can live across multiple platforms. The same character model might appear in a TV series, a virtual world, and an MR experience. Fans could create their own spin-offs using official assets, adding depth to the story while driving engagement.

Economic and Creative Advantages

There’s also a strong economic argument for interoperability. Building assets once and using them across platforms drastically lowers production costs. It also shortens time-to-market, letting creators release content faster and more frequently.

Perhaps most importantly, interoperability opens up new revenue streams. Traditionally, studios only earn money during a film’s release window or a game’s initial launch. Hybrid studios can monetize their IP continuously, from pre-production through to fan-generated content.

This model also reduces risk. Instead of betting everything on a single blockbuster, studios can iterate and expand their IP incrementally. If one piece of content doesn’t resonate, the story can adapt in real time.

The Challenges Ahead

Of course, none of this will happen overnight. Interoperability requires collaboration across industries that historically haven’t worked well together. Film, gaming, and XR have different cultures, cadences, workflows, and technical standards. Aligning these will be a massive undertaking.

But the payoff is worth it. As creators adopt interoperable pipelines, we’ll see a new era of storytelling—one that’s more immersive, collaborative, and dynamic than anything that came before.

A New Framework for Storytelling

The shift toward interoperability is more than a technical challenge; it’s a rethinking of what stories can be. In the past, stories were fixed products. In the future, they’ll be living systems—ever-evolving, shaped by creators and audiences alike.

Hybrid studios, powered by interoperable pipelines, will lead the way. They’ll build worlds that span platforms, bringing stories to life in ways we’ve only begun to imagine. And they’ll show us that the best stories aren’t just told; they’re built, shared, and experienced together.