The Player Zero SDK makes it easy to load and display Ready Player Me avatars in Unreal Engine. It supports avatar loading, shortcodes, and render capture.
- Unreal Engine 5.0 or later
- Visual Studio 2022
- glTFRuntime Plugin
- Download the SDK
Get the latest release from the Releases Page. - Add to Plugins Folder
Extract the contents of the ZIP file into your project’sPluginsdirectory:YourProject/Plugins/PlayerZeroSdk/ - Install glTFRuntime
- Clone or download the glTFRuntime plugin.
- Place it inside your
Pluginsfolder alongside the PlayerZero SDK:YourProject/Plugins/glTFRuntime/
-
Build the Project
Open your project’s.uprojectfile. When prompted, choose to build the project in Visual Studio 2022.Alternatively, open the
.slnfile in Visual Studio and build the entire solution manually. -
Enable the Plugin
- Launch the Unreal Editor.
- Go to Edit > Plugins
- Search for Player Zero SDK and enable it.
- Restart the editor when prompted.
After importing the PlayerZero SDK plugin, follow these steps to complete your setup.
You can access the custom editor window from the top toolbar:
Player Zero ➜ Developer Window
This opens the PlayerZero Developer Login panel.
Use your PlayerZero Developer account credentials:
- Password
Once logged in:
- You’ll see a dropdown containing all applications linked to your account.
- Select the application you want this project to be associated with.
- Your existing character blueprints will be displayed visually (IDs only, non-interactable).
Go to:
Project Settings ➜ Game ➜ Player Zero Settings
Here’s what you’ll find:
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Api Base Url | (Auto-set) URL for API requests. No need to change this. |
| Api Base Auth Url | (Auto-set) Auth URL. No need to change this. |
| Application Id | Auto-filled after sign-in. Do not change manually unless instructed. |
| Game Id | 🔴 Required. Used to track analytics and earnings. Contact us to get it. |
| Default Avatar Id | Optional fallback avatar ID to use if none is set during load. |
⚠️ Make sure your Game Id is set correctly — this is essential for revenue tracking!
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Open Developer Window |
| 2 | Log in with your PlayerZero account |
| 3 | Select your Application |
| 4 | Go to Project Settings ➜ Player Zero |
| 5 | Verify Application ID and set Game ID |
| 6 | (Optional) Set a Default Avatar ID |
Once this is done, you’re ready to start using the PlayerZero avatar and analytics tools in your game.
- To verify installation, open the included demo map:
Content/PlayerZeroSdk/Maps/PlayerZeroDemo.umap - Check the documentation below to learn how to load avatars and avatar renders.
The plugin includes a sample map that demonstrates the full PlayerZero avatar loading and image rendering pipeline.
You can find the demo map inside the Player Zero plugin folder under: Content/PlayerZeroDemo.umap.
-
In the Content Browser, navigate to:
Content > PlayerZeroSdk > Maps -
Double-click on
PlayerZeroDemoto open the map.
The map contains:
- Found in the World Outliner
- Includes a
PlayerZeroLoaderComponentwhich handles avatar loading - In the Details panel, you can set:
AvatarId: Will auto-load the avatar on BeginPlayTargetSkeleton: Optional skeleton for retargetingAnimationBlueprint: Optional animation controller
- Automatically added to viewport in the Level Blueprint
- Contains:
BP_AvatarCodewidget with a text input field- Input a shortcode and press Enter to fetch the corresponding avatar
- Avatar Image Preview
- Displays an avatar thumbnail loaded using the
LoadAvatarImageAsyncBlueprint node
- Displays an avatar thumbnail loaded using the
- Press Play in the editor.
- If
AvatarIdwas set inBP_PlayerZeroDemoActor, an avatar should appear. - Test shortcode input:
- Enter a valid Avatar Code into the input field
- If successful, the avatar ID will be fetched and the avatar image will appear
You can extend the demo setup or use the PlayerZeroLoaderComponent and Blueprint nodes (LoadAvatarImageAsync) in your own UI or gameplay logic.
The PlayerZeroLoaderComponent is a self-contained component that allows you to load a Ready Player Me avatar using an AvatarId and automatically attach it to your actor at runtime. 🚀 Features:
- Automatically loads a skeletal mesh from a glTF avatar asset
- Attaches the avatar to your actor using a SkeletalMeshComponent
- Supports assigning an animation blueprint
- Compatible with custom skeletons for advanced retargeting setups
- Blueprint and C++ compatible
The PlayerZeroLoaderComponent lets you load a Ready Player Me avatar in Blueprints with minimal setup. Add it to your actor, configure a few properties, and call LoadAvatar().
✅ 1. Add the Component
- Open your Blueprint actor (e.g. BP_Character, BP_Viewer).
- Click Add Component → search for PlayerZeroLoaderComponent.
- Name it something like AvatarLoader.
🧷 2. Set Up Required Properties
In the Details Panel of the AvatarLoader:
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
Avatar Id |
The Ready Player Me avatar ID (required). |
Animation Blueprint |
(Optional) Assign an animation blueprint class to drive the avatar. |
Target Skeleton |
(Optional) If using retargeting, assign your target skeleton here. |
Target Mesh Component |
(Optional) Mesh to replace. If left empty, one will be auto-detected. |
Call Load Avatar in your Blueprint, for example: Example: In BeginPlay
Event BeginPlay → Load Avatar
Or tie it to a UI Button press, login event, etc.
📣 4. Respond to Load Completion
Bind to the On Avatar Load Complete event in the component to detect when the avatar has finished loading.
AvatarLoader → On Avatar Load Complete (Event) → Do something with the loaded mesh (e.g., play animation, show UI, etc.)
The event passes the loaded SkeletalMeshComponent as a parameter. 💡 Tips
- If Target Skeleton is set, the avatar mesh will be validated against it (you’ll see warnings if bones don’t match).
- If your actor has no SkeletalMeshComponent, one will be created and attached automatically.
- This component is non-ticking and lightweight.
The Player Zero SDK provides several async actions for loading and managing avatars in Unreal Engine. These actions can be used in Blueprints to handle various avatar-related tasks, such as loading an avatar, its image, metadata, or assets, and responding to success or failure events. Below are examples of how to use these async actions.
Use this action to load an avatar from an avatar ID. It returns a UglTFRuntimeAsset which contains all the data needed to load the avatar. For example using the UPlayerZeroLoaderComponent::ReplaceMeshWithGltfAsset function.
- On Success: OnCompleted event is triggered with the loaded asset (UglTFRuntimeAsset).
- On Failure: OnFailed event is triggered if the load fails.
Example Usage in Blueprint:
Use this action to asynchronously load an avatar's image as a UTexture2D.
- On Success: OnCompleted is triggered with the loaded texture.
- On Failure:On Failure: OnFailed is triggered if the image load fails.
Use this action to load metadata for an avatar. This is useful for getting things like icon url, model url (.glb model) etc.
- On Success: OnCompleted is triggered with the loaded metadata.
- On Failure: OnFailed is triggered if the metadata load fails.
Use this action to get the Avatar ID from an avatar shortcode.
- On Success: OnCompleted is triggered with the Avatar ID.
- On Failure: OnFailed is triggered if the shortcode is invalid.
- Ensure proper event handling: Bind your success (OnCompleted) and failure (OnFailed) events to appropriate functions to handle different cases.
- Load asynchronously: Use the async actions to load avatars, images, and data in the background, preventing UI freezes or lag during runtime.
- Optimize for performance: For large avatar assets or images, consider preloading or loading in smaller chunks.