Snap debuts new styles for its Bitmoji called Bitmoji Deluxe, now offers 40 skin tones, up from 25, twice as many hair colors, and 50 hair treatment options
Context & Ripple Effects
Bitmoji Deluxe is Snap doubling down on the asset it already owns outright: the avatar. With 40 skin tones (up from 25), twice the hair colors, and 50 hair treatment options, the update pushes Bitmoji from a sticker generator toward a fuller self-representation tool at a moment when identity customization is becoming a competitive feature across social apps.
The related coverage shows where this leads: Snap later opens the avatar to developers via the Bitmoji For Games SDK, experiments with selfie-driven Cameos and a personalized Bitmoji TV show, and eventually sells avatar-only items in an Adidas Fashion Drop purchasable with Snap Tokens. TikTok's TikTok Avatars in 2022 confirms the format is now table stakes.
First-order effects
- Users gain materially finer control over how their avatar represents them — skin tone, hair color, and hair treatment granularity roughly doubles overnight, raising the baseline for what an acceptable default avatar looks like.
Second-order effects
- Rival platforms building avatar systems face pressure to match Deluxe's customization depth or cede the 'this actually looks like me' claim; TikTok's later Avatar launch shows exactly that response cycle playing out.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, the avatar stops being a messaging garnish and becomes Snap's portable identity layer — licensed into third-party games via SDK, cast in original content, and monetized through limited-drop virtual goods, with commerce attached to the character rather than the camera.
The trend: Social platforms are converging on the customizable avatar as a persistent identity and commerce layer, with Snap's Bitmoji moving first from stickers to games, media, and tokenized fashion drops.