Roblox has proved to be an important stomping ground for brands looking to dip their toes into the metaverse. Now, as virtual worlds take shape, brands are asking what more they can do with the platform. 

While Roblox was founded in 2004, it has become more of a household name in the last two years, as many people looked for ways to stay entertained amid the pandemic. With its younger, tech-savvy audience, Roblox has boomed in popularity, reaching nearly 50 million daily active users in November 2021. Brands like Nike, Forever 21, Ralph Lauren, NASCAR, and Vans have moved to set up experiences within the platform to connect with potential customers. 

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These first Roblox tests were about analyzing the reach of the platform and to see if players were interested in engaging with brands in this world, according to multiple marketers that have worked with Roblox. Now, with this baseline data in hand, brands are thinking about what else they can do on the platform. This includes everything from using the platform to introduce their brand to a younger audience to opening up a new line of revenue and even bringing Roblox activations back into the real world. 

“Virtual economics and platforms in the metaverse, like Roblox, are emerging as unique opportunities for the brand to connect with a new and younger consumer in various new ways - whether that be through a defined brand experience on the platform or through a digital product collection that presents an untapped revenue streams for us, we are excited to continue to test and learn within the space,” Ralph Lauren’s chief digital and content officer, Alice Delahunt, wrote in an email. 

A new generation

For Ralph Lauren, starting a Roblox experience was the next step in the brand’s metaverse journey, which included a line of Bitmoji wear on Snapchat and fashion line on Zepeto, a social app where players can make an avatar and meet new friends. It set its sights on Roblox after seeing how much time Gen Z’ers spent on the platform. 

Helped by Roblox community developer Funomena, the brand created the “Ralph Lauren Winter Escape,” a ski mountain and chalet themed world. Along with ice skating and virtually sipping hot chocolate, players could buy Ralph Lauren items for their avatar. Limited-edition accessories and bonus items dropped on a weekly basis. 

The “Escape” ran from December until early January, and Ralph Lauren saw 5 million visits to the world with players averaging six minutes per session, Delahunt said. She adds that the limited-edition winter sportswear drops are now reselling at three times their original value. 

“We think it's a great vehicle to introduce ourselves to our next generation of customers,” Delahunt said. 

Similarly, NASCAR turned to Roblox in an effort to find a younger audience. “Sports is an industry that is aging up, and we are looking to age down,” said Nick Rend, managing director of gaming and esports at NASCAR. “Roblox’s younger user base is a ripe ground for us to meet new consumers where they are.”

Rend said the company wasn’t sure a whole world would resonate with this younger crowd, who might not be car or racing enthusiasts, much less able to drive. They landed on doing a collaboration with Jailbreak, a cops-and-robbers game that already existed on Roblox. 

NASCAR tapped Jailbreak influencers and encouraged players to design their own paint scheme for an in-game stock car that players could drive. In November 2021, the top two skins were released along with a NASCAR stock car, new race track, and NASCAR apparel for users’ to dress their avatars. The weekend of the NASCAR drop, there were 40,000 concurrent users within 10 minutes of launch, and 24 million sessions of Jailbreak were played in 10 days.

If not for the pandemic, a large part of Roblox’s core demographic would likely be hanging out at the mall, said Justin Hochberg, the CEO of metaverse creation firm Virtual Brands Group. “Roblox is dominating that younger demographic, so I wanted to work with a brand that would be sticky,” Hochberg said. “What’s a recognizable mall brand? Forever 21.” The Roblox experience “Forever 21 Shop City” was born, where players can set up their own store and shop Forever 21 clothing.

Roblox is often associated with younger players, typically under 16 years old. But the company says that 17-24-year-olds are its fastest growing demographic. Over 60% of Deepwoken players, a fantasy roleplaying adventure game focused on unraveling mysteries, are in the 17-plus age group. Other popular games like Blox Fruits and Shindo Life had over 40% of their users in the 17-plus year-old group in 2021. 

Finding that “stickiness” to keep older kids coming back was something that skate brand Vans prioritized when creating its Vans World in Roblox, a massive skate park where players earn points by doing tricks. Players can get free accessories like sunglasses and beanies, customize their skateboard, and pay to create their own Vans shoes. 

“We wanted the experience to be accessible to any player, but also be challenging enough that we were reaching that older demographic,” said Julia Patkowski, senior manager of global brand digital marketing at Vans. “There are elements that are tougher, like learning harder tricks.”

Vans was looking to generate brand affinity and engagement, with the goal of attracting 6 million visits in the first month. Instead they hit 39 million, and in total, the world has seen 56 million visits since its launch in September 2021.

Not all fun and games

Of course, as with any brand that is growing rapidly and receiving an influx of brand requests, there are growing pains. 

For one, whenever a brand is looking to reach younger consumers on nascent platforms there are brand safety risks. 

The open-world building aspect of the platform is both a strength and a curse. That same freedom to allow brands to interact with customers in a new way, also means that bad actors can erect sex clubs and create pole-dancing avatars. Fast Company and Rolling Stone have reported on the NSFW side of the platform and “condo games,” where players can simulate lewd acts and remove their avatar’s clothing. These are violations of Roblox’s community guidelines, and are often shut down within hours.

Roblox does have restrictions in place, including chat filters, parental controls, removing inappropriate clothing or accessories, and limiting it’s new voice chat feature to players over 13. Of course, there isn’t much to prevent a user from lying about their age when they sign up.

“We combine identity, friends, low friction, economy, and civility,” said Christina Wootton, Roblox's VP of global brand partnerships. “Brands that we speak to know that it is a safe place and creates a positive environment.” 

On the whole, brands seem to feel comfortable on the platform, especially when they have control over the experience. 

When it comes to actually building on the platform, even smaller activations require more than just forging a partnership with Wootton and her team. Brands need to find a developer that can help with asset and world creation. 

It can take two to three weeks to create five to 20 avatar items, according to Yon Raz-Fridman, founder and CEO of Supersocial, a Roblox development company that has built several of its own games on the platform. These then have to be submitted to Roblox for approval to be sold on the general marketplace. There are around 500 creators who can post items in the Roblox marketplace. Setting up larger and longer activations can take four to eight months to build out, and cost anywhere from $500,000 to $1 million.

Stil, releasing virtual goods and accessories is one more accessible way for brands to enter the platform. One out of five daily active users updated their avatar on any given day last year, according to Roblox. Twenty-five million virtual items were created, and more than 5.8 billion free or paid virtual items were acquired.

“The economic activity around outfits is enormous,” said Raz-Fridman.

For the most part, Roblox has been one of a few platforms thus far that have served as a bridge for brands into the metaverse. But as Web 3.0 gains momentum, new competitors are gaining steam: platforms like Decentraland and The Sandbox have begun forging partnerships with brands. Miller Lite, for example, opened a virtual bar tied to the Super Bowl in Decentraland. And other platforms like Fortnite draw more of these 17-plus players. 

From metaverse to IRL

The next phase for Roblox could actually be in-real-life, as some brands have started to bring their activations on the platform to the real world.  

Nike recreated Nikeland in its New York City flagship store, where customers can use Snapchat filters to play a Roblox-inspired basketball pachinko game and a “floor is lava” course.

Forever 21 has certain articles of clothing available for purchase on Roblox that are also for sale on its website, letting players match their avatar to their real self. The most purchased item on Roblox is a black beanie that’s based on a real one sold at the store. 

“This is another line of business,” said Virtual Brands Group’s Hochberg. “If you’re thinking about it as a stunt, it’s a waste of time and money."