In the Northern Hemisphere, winter starts in December. And it turns out that winter also comes to the metaverse in December. At least on Roblox that is.
Brands Release Big Winter Updates that Capture Audience Attention
Pre-existing branded experiences from Walmart, Nickelodeon and Alo Yoga all drove huge spikes in visits by releasing robust winter-themed game updates, full of seasonal mini-games and scenery such as snow, snowflakes, and snowmen.
These major winter releases gave the brands the chance to offer new free UGC virtual clothing items, accessories and badges. Roblox players love free UGC items, and they are consistently a great way to entice players to try out an experience. They also have an added benefit of inspiring YouTube and TikTok creators to produce related organic social media content, which drives even more brand awareness.
Why did these brands go through all of the trouble updating their games with snow and offering free UGC virtual items? It all comes down to driving more visits and engagement with hard-to-reach younger audiences, of course!
Here's a look at several brands' Roblox description copy, which touts their updated experiences with seasonal offerings.
Walmart - Walmart Land
Monthly Visits: 2,034,654 (+154% MoM)
Winter has arrived in Walmart Land! Celebrate the season with new challenges and holiday happenings.
📸Show off your style with seasonal clothing & backdrops at the Winter Wonderland Photo Booth
🍪Get inspired with tasty holiday recipes found at each food truck
⛸Show off your moves at the Ice Rink
🎧Make holiday beats in the DJ Booth Remix gameNickelodeon - Nickverse
Monthly Visits: 2,224,716 (+1,012% MoM)
NEW UPDATES:
⛄ NEW WINTER COSTUMES AVAILABLE
❄️Collect snowflakes to trade in for festive rewards
🎁 Ultimate Costume Unlock
⚪ Play the NEW Snowball Slime Royale Event!Alo Yoga - Alo Sanctuary
Monthly Visits: 2,224,716 (+1,012% MoM)
❄️UPDATED FOR WINTER ❄️
Earn 🛍️NEW ITEMS with 🧘NEW MEDITATIONS and NEW 🔎SCAVENGER HUNTS!
Welcome to the Alo Sanctuary.
This is a branded experience created by Alo Yoga.
Winter is heating up in the Alo Sanctuary. Explore, meditate and move to earn the exclusive new Alo winter items.
You can also collect yoga poses for your avatar, follow along with Alo Moves yoga classes, and enjoy the winter wonderland with your friends.
DON’T MISS THE 9 EXCLUSIVE NEW ALO ITEMS:
NEW Faux Fur Earmuff
NEW Foxy Sherpa Bucket Hat
NEW Pearlized Pristine Puffer
NEW First Tracks Ski Suit
NEW Faux Fur Cascade Jacket
NEW Polaris Puffer Overall
NEW Snow Daze Puffer Leg Warmers
NEW Polaris Puffer Jacket
NEW Polaris Puffer SkirtSonic Premieres New Hit Netflix Show on Roblox First
Sonic Speed Simulator
Monthly Visits: 30,520,319 (+34% MoM)
In December Sonic Speed Simulator, the number one branded Roblox game, helped launch the new Sonic Prime series on Netflix. The first episode premiered on Roblox five days before the series came out on Netflix. As of this writing, Sonic Prime is the #3 top kids program on Netflix.
SEGA is a great example of a brand building a successful metaverse game on Roblox. In the process, they've amassed a large global audience, and a huge benefit is now they can keep marketing to that audience.
Sonic Speed Simulator
- Release: March, 2022 (1 month before the release of the Sonic 2 movie)
- Lifetime Visits: 635M
- Avg Daily Visits (last 14 days): 1.2M
- Avg Session Length: 11.3 Minutes
By having an existing audience of active players on Roblox (via their game made with Gamefam), SEGA gave itself a great platform to launch their new Sonic Prime animated series made with WildBrain.
If the Roblox game continues to consistently attract a large audience moving forward, Sega will have at its disposal this great channel with which to promote all sorts of Sonic-related content, games, and licensed products.
This reminds me of brands building an early presence on social platforms like Facebook and YouTube years ago. By building an audience there, brands were able to not only reach audiences, but eventually start driving marketing and ecommerce with those audiences.
Brands Enter the Space with New Games
December saw a variety of consumer brands launch new games on Roblox, and couple of them were able to attract millions of visits.
SHEIN x Klarna Wonderland
Monthly Visits: 4,429,594
NFL - Quarterback Simulator
Monthly Visits: 2,916,033
The NFL has launched a game on Roblox before, so this is their second experience on the platform. Clearly the NFL learned a ton from their first Roblox experience, and they've used that knowledge to help them create a new one that's performing strongly. This new entry has a strong positive rating of 97%.
Top Industries Finding Success
Not every company across every industry needs to create a branded Roblox games. But here are the industries that are most active as well as seeing the most success reaching young, global audiences via metaverse gaming:
Entertainment: 6
Sonic the Hedgehog, Warrior Cats, Hello Kitty, Miraculous, Ben 10, Nickelodeon
Apparel: 4
Shein, Alo Yoga, Vans, Tommy Hilfiger
Sports: 3
FIFA, NFL, Manchester City Football
Toys: 3
Squishmallows, NERF, Hot Wheels
Brands that Just Missed the Cut
Here are notable brands that failed to make the cut this time around:
Nikeland - 1,194,571
The Chainsmokers Festival Tycoon - 1,107,768
Gucci Town - 869,338
Build-A-Bear - 719,290
Cosmo & Friends - 685,275
Duolingo - 654,660
Paris Hilton - 614,366
Stephen Dypiangco is the CEO of Metaverse Marcom, a strategy and consulting firm helping entertainment and sports brands enter the metaverse.