Building Loyalty in Virtual Worlds: How Roblox is Taking Things to the Next Level

Creating engaging experiences in virtual worlds has always been a staple of video games. Whether a player prefers a life-like experience like the one offered by Second Life or to explore fantasy worlds like those of Final Fantasy XIV, there is always a world for everyone’s needs. However, virtual worlds created entirely by its players have become increasingly popular, with games like Minecraft and Roblox becoming especially noteworthy.

Unlike many other games that focus on creating a world, mechanics, and content for their players to explore, Roblox and Minecraft focus on providing as much flexibility as possible. Whereas Minecraft offers an entire sandbox for players to build what they can imagine, Roblox is in a completely different category.

Roblox is often referred to as a video game but in reality, it is more akin to a game-making platform. Roblox allows its players to create their own games by providing the tools for them to do so, all of which can be played in the Roblox universe. This means that Roblox players and users get to enjoy completely different experiences every day as long as other users continue to create new games.

This makes Roblox a virtual playground where users can immerse themselves in an endless array of games and experiences, all of them made by the community itself. In addition to this, users who create games also get to profit from their creations as they get a share of the in-game currency, known as Robux, when users pay for assets or content in their experiences.

If this sounds like a complex ecosystem it is because it can be. Roblox requires many systems working together to ensure that every specific game, transaction, and interaction runs smoothly. This, however, is only an issue in the background, as players and users themselves get to interact with the game in an incredibly accessible way, meaning that virtually anyone can not only play but also develop games.

This display of creativity, entertainment, profits, and high accessibility naturally led to Roblox to become one of the most popular sandbox games. The company’s 2023 financial results showed its revenue in 2023 was almost $2.8 billion resulting from a monthly average of 14.5 million unique players. The time that players spent on the platform was even more impressive, with a total of 60 billion hours being spent on it.

According to a Roblox filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), “developers and creators earned $740.8 million and $623.9 million, respectively”. This makes Roblox an ecosystem in which growth brings value to all parties involved, whether it is in terms of finances or entertainment.

With Roblox recently introducing AI technology to the platform, the accessibility of the platform is only increasing. Creators can now use these AI tools to create models and 3D models, making it easier for them to create new worlds for them and other players to enjoy.

Robux’s popularity and thriving virtual economy have also attracted brands all over the world who see it as the new frontier in the world of marketing. Brands like Walmart, Ralph Lauren, Nike, Gucci, and many more have already launched their experiences in the Roblox universe, where users get to interact with them.

The process of translating a brand’s identity into the world or Roblox is not necessarily an easy task, though. As in most online and gaming communities, Roblox users are regularly looking for value in exchange for their time. As such, a great activation requires it to be innovative, in line with the brand identity, entertaining, sustainable in the long term, and more importantly, rewarding.

An example of a company launching a campaign in Roblox the right way is Lamborghini. The Italian manufacturer launched their “Lanzador Lab” Roblox experience after developing it in partnership with Sawhorse and Flaunt. Users who go through the experience get to customize their very own digital Lamborghini Lanzador and interact with it, visit the Automobili Lamborghini Museum, and compete with other players. With the launch of exclusive in-game assets, the game was able to take interaction with players out of the game and into reality.

Campaigns as innovative as this are made possible by experts like Flaunt CEO Connor Kelley and Sawhorse co-founder Nic Hill. Not only have both of them become one of the biggest technological contributors to the Roblox ecosystem but they are also responsible for introducing some of the world’s biggest brands to it, like Lamborghini.

Kelley and Hill joined Lively CEO Mike White on the stage of the latest edition of The Lively & Grit Daily House at SXSW 2024. During the panel, the three pioneers talked about how Roblox and other virtual universes have become one of the best channels to reach the younger generations and build loyalty in an engaging manner.

If you were unable to attend but would like to know what Roblox and similar platforms can do for your brand, customers, or yourself, make sure to watch the video below. To know what the next big things in the world of gaming, spatial computing, and the metaverse will be, make sure to check out Grit Daily’s YouTube channel.