Movie marketing in virtual worlds for real-world paydays

Marketing has changed dramatically over the last decade, and perhaps one of the newest trends is leveraging virtual worlds to bring your IP to life.

These worlds can include the popular streaming game Fortnite for teens and older games and even the ever-so-popular Roblox which courts a younger demographic.

Roblox is an online game platform for kids where users can explore virtual lands and create their own games for others to play within the platform.

It’s a popular platform that studios should take seriously—and many of them already have leveraged the platform to drive success.

Let’s take a look at why marketing in Roblox is a smart way to reach potential moviegoers.

Why Roblox is a marketing powerhouse for young fans

First, the size of the gaming platform is massive. Roblox has more than 89 million daily active users, and is growing year over year.

Most importantly, though, more than 42% of Roblox’s users are under 12 years old.

This, historically, has been a challenging demographic to reach with declining linear TV viewing and major social media sites prohibiting those 13 and under from creating an account without a guardian’s permission.

How else would studios reach this demographic? After all, you should go where your audience is—and it’s proven that the kids are on Roblox.

Naturally, movie studios have begun exploring how they can incorporate their characters and virtual worlds into the game.

Studios can accomplish this by building virtual experiences that relate to the movie in the game or launching characters from the movie in the game.

These can make the movie top-of-mind for those playing the game and increase awareness for its release.

But is there a way to track conversion? Well, a new integration made the virtual experience tactic even more lucrative to studios than ever before.

Driving in-game ticket sales through Roblox’s Fandango Partnership

In 2024, Roblox and Fandango launched a partnership to sell tickets directly on the gaming platform.

The pilot program was tested in coordination with the release of Beetlejuice in September.

Those who purchased a ticket in Roblox via Fandango unlocked exclusive in-game items as well as an immersive Bettlejuice experience within the game.

Here is the trailer that launched the campaign in August 2024:

Roblox has a case study recapping this campaign on their site with key highlights including:

• 25+ million Beetlejuice experience visits in September 2024

• 40+ million users viewed Beetlejuice video content within partner experiences as of September 2024

• 30 point lift in theater release awareness among Escape the Afterlife visitors

• 11 point lift in theater visit intent among Escape the Afterlife visitors vs. +5pp lift for entertainment industry average

In addition, 61% of users who engaged with the Fandango integration had a favorable opinion of the virtual box office, creating a direct path to ticket purchases on Roblox.

While the final number of how many direct ticket purchases within the game hasn’t been released, Warner Bros did report that 24% of the audience was under 25 during the film’s opening weekend.

Let’s take a look at some of the other ways studios are leveraging character-led IP to create immersive touchpoints for their movies in Roblox.

Featured spotlight: Wicked’s Roblox New Year’s Eve party

We’ve talked a lot about Roblox marketing campaigns prior to the movie’s release in theaters.

However, Wicked decided to launch a 24-hour New Year’s Eve party to coincide with the release of the movie for home viewership:

Roblox players can gather in the Ozdust Ballroom for a celebration and unlock an immersive world based on the movie.

While there, they will interact with key characters from the movie, including Elphaba and Glinda, while discovering other user-generated content.

This is a great way to keep the movie top-of-conversation and in front of an engaged audience while it releases on streaming platforms.

Since the movie is rated PG, it fits right in with Roblox’s userbase and has incredible IP to enhance gameplay for all.

But could an older movie get reintroduced to a younger generation through Roblox?

That was what Warner Bros was hoping this year when they introduced the Elf: North Pole Workshop experience on Roblox.

Ringing in the holidays with Roblox’s Elf: North Pole Workshop experience

To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Elf, Warner Bros released the Elf: North Pole Workshop experience in Roblox in 2023.

This is a smart strategy since the younger demographic may not hold Elf in as high regard as the millennials who love it due to its release coinciding with their childhood.

Now, a younger demographic has a direct touch-point to engage with the movie and its memorable characters.

In the experience, you can play the role of Wish Taker, Toy Maker and Gift Wrapper—all while wearing an elf hat and interacting with the classic Elf characters (yes, that includes Mr. Narwhal).

By participating, you can unlock digital presents and various other items to add to your gameplay experience, ringing in the holiday with a touch of a classic.

Expanding your movie’s audience through Roblox

Roblox is an incredible platform to reach a younger demographic and drive awareness and conversions for your movie.

By creating native, immersive virtual experiences, you can build excitement and interest in your movie and foster momentum as it releases in theaters or onto streaming platforms.