Barbie skyrockets to the top of our monthly Roblox brand rankings.
Every week we publish exclusive research about how brands are activating on the Roblox platform. And at the start of each month, we gather data on how many visits branded experiences have accumulated on Roblox during the previous month in order to see what's currently popular on the platform.
+38% Monthly Increase Across Top 20 Branded Games
When looking at the top 20 branded games combined, overall visits increased +38% month-over-month. In October, the top 20 games collectively had 113.1 million visits, versus having just 82.1 million visits in September.
Part of what makes October special on Roblox is all of the Halloween themed updates that come out.
And while the previous month's top four branded experiences (Sonic, Warrior Cats, Miraculous, Hello Kitty) all had month-over-month declines, Barbie more than made up for those losses and then some.
Barbie Becomes Top Roblox Branded Game
A couple of weeks ago, Barbie DreamHouse Tycoon caught our attention for attracting 27 million visits in only 13 days.
How did Barbie reach such incredible heights on Roblox?
My analysis points to the following factors:
1. Halo Effect from Blockbuster Movie
2. Roblox Paywall Creates Pent Up Demand
3. Roleplaying as Barbie with Friends in Roblox
4. Major Barbie Beach House Update (followed by a Halloween update and a pink house update)
5. The Game is Really Good, and People Enjoy Playing It
Not only did Barbie DreamHouse Tycoon become the top branded experience for the month, but it also set a new record for most monthly visits to a branded experience (since we've been tracking this stat, going back to November of 2022).
The 39.9 million visits Barbie amassed in October beat out the previous record, which was held by Sonic Speed Simulator, which had a high of 30.5 million visits in December 2022.
With Sonic having dominated the charts for the better part of a year, it's exciting to see a new brand like Barbie have such success. It makes me optimistic that there's even more brands yet to come onto the platform that will be able to reach even greater heights in the months and years to come.
It's also worth noting that Mattel didn't just get lucky Barbie on Roblox. They've taken a slow and methodical approach to testing and learning on the platform, which certainly helped them understand the player base and what they care about.
Walmart Discovered Reaches #6
Full disclosure: I have worked on this branded Walmart experience as part of the Sawhorse team, overseeing strategy and marketing.
The other big climber in this month's charts was Walmart Discovered. Having launched at the tail end of September, it's no surprise that this experience had such a big leap in monthly visits (+312%) in its first full month available.
What stands out about this Walmart Discovered experience from other branded experiences on the platform is that this one is not just a game. Yes, there are mini-games available to play.
But at the core of the experience is an innovative discovery system, which helps players find new experiences and UGC items that they might not find on their own.
In fact, Walmart Discovered players are encouraged to not only discover other games to play on Roblox, but they're also given an easy way to portal directly into those featured games.
And while making it easy for players to portal out to other games likely reduces Walmart Discovered's session time, it does provide a unique utility to players, which can't be found through other experiences on Roblox.
Although I'm biased, I really appreciate how Walmart is putting the community first and finding creative ways to meet the audience where they are and deliver them value.
It will be interesting to see which other brands find creative ways to show up on the platform that goes beyond standard gameplay and provides real utility.
Brands Ranked 11-20
Here are the remaining top-performing brands from this past month:
11. Alo Sanctuary - 2 million visits
12. Sesame Street Mecha Builders - 1.97 million visits
13. Squishmallows - 1.89 million visits
14. NERF Strike - 1.5 million visits
15. Ultaverse - 1.45 million visits
16. UPS Main Street Moguls - 1.42 million visits
17. Blackpink Palace - 1.32 million visits
18.Cartoon Network Game On - 1.3 million visits
19. Tommy Play - 1.12 million visits
20. Crocs World Mini Games - 1 million visits
Interested in exploring Roblox as a pathway for marketing and monetization for your brand? Need help developing updated marketing plans that drive not only traffic to your Roblox experience, but also monetization opportunities? If so, email us at hello@metaversemarcom.io
Stephen Dypiangco is the CEO of Metaverse Marcom, a strategy and consulting firm helping entertainment and sports brands enter Roblox.