Tag

Roblox

The ROBLOX Dilemma

What You Must Consider in Marketing Games

Content of the Article:

ABOUT ROBLOX
ROBLOX as a Marketing Platform
3 Roblox Examples – The Good, the Better & the Not So Good

Today, we’ll be discussing Marketing Games and Roblox. Many companies are stepping into the gaming platform, and some even refer to it as the Metaverse (but that’s a different discussion), which I really don’t want to start here.

Unfortunately, on LinkedIn, we often only see what is said about XYZ and not what really lies behind it. It’s all about more appearance than reality, more buzz than actual value! It always depends on what a company focuses on, and some focus on the BUZZ and the appearance – and yes, it works for quite a while… And it’s somehow part of the game. But let’s take a closer look at what Roblox can do in terms of marketing and how individual companies have handled it. Today is ONLY about Roblox, what it is, what it can do, and a few examples.

Let’s get started!

ABOUT ROBLOX

Roblox Games is primarily an online gaming platform and a game development system, allowing users to create and play games made by other users (individuals as well as companies). There are also assets, i.e., items made by users that can be purchased there. The platform enables users to design and program their own games and then share them with a large community. Games range from simple puzzles and adventure games to complex simulations, thus offering a wide range of experiences. In addition to playing and creating, Roblox also offers social interaction opportunities, as users can communicate, form groups, and play together.

Put simply: For the layman, it’s best understood that Roblox is like a giant App Store with social media features. Only, instead of posts, you build interactive games, and additionally, everything that can be used on the platform can also be created by users – everything is, if desired, UGC (User Generated Content). You can also make friends, play games together, and chat.

Roblox is an extremely popular online platform, whose user numbers and demographic data paint an impressive picture of its reach and diversity.

User Numbers and Engagement

In 2023, Roblox had an average of 67.3 million active users daily, representing an annual increase of 22%. The platform recorded 4.6 billion hours of user engagement during the same period. ➡️ More on this
Overall, over 214.2 million people play on Roblox monthly, and users spend an average of about 156 minutes per day on the platform. ➡️ More on this

Demographics & Devices Used by Users

A significant majority of users, about 67%, are under 16 years old. Children under 9 years make up 22% of the user base, while users between 9 and 12 years old comprise 23%, and those between 16 and 24 years old 22%. ➡️ More on this
The gender distribution on Roblox is relatively balanced, with 51% of players being male and 44% female. 5% of users have not specified their gender. ➡️ More on this
The platform can be played on various devices, with mobile devices being the preferred choice for over 79% of users. ➡️ Mehr hierzu

This means, on one hand, Roblox appeals to a younger target group that moves around there. In turn, those who want to advertise their brand there should consider whether the target group they want to reach or (re)activate corresponds to their own target group and products. On the other hand, it means that one must use other channels for marketing (which is also possible directly on Roblox) if one wants to attract a different target group to the platform – because the interest in the experience is so great that one registers with the platform. It is also important to note that the experience should work on mobile devices and consoles and is not just designed for desktop use. Unfortunately, this is often the case with marketing games…

ROBLOX as a Marketing Platform

Brand Presence: Companies can create their own worlds or games on Roblox to interactively present their brand. These can include products, events, or unique experiences related to the brand or products. Imagine a company creating a game on Roblox that resembles a theme park, where each game or attraction is part of its brand or products. This allows users to interact with the brand in a playful way. The goal on Roblox is to create a BRAND EXPERIENCE, not just any marketing spiel, which unfortunately still occurs from time to time, as we will see in one of the examples. And then there’s always the question: „What is success?“
Target Audience Engagement: Roblox has a large and diverse user base, especially in the younger segment. Brands can target specific audiences and engage with them on a platform they are already actively using. As described above in Demographics & Devices Used by Users, brands should consider who their target audience is and how they come to the platform or if they are already there, and what they expect from a Roblox experience.
Sponsorship and Partnerships: Companies can sponsor existing, popular games on Roblox or enter into partnerships with successful game developers to promote their products or services. It’s important to consider in-game items (items in the game) or advertising. Instead of traditional advertising, companies on Roblox can create unique, interactive experiences that immerse users directly in the world of the brand.
Virtual Events: Companies can organize special events or promotional actions on Roblox. These can be virtual concerts, exhibitions, or product presentations.
Merchandising: Companies can sell virtual goods such as clothing, accessories, or other items associated with their brand on Roblox – or bring them in connection with an experience. Likewise, one can work with well-known figures and use UGC (User Generated Content) items, which can then be dropped (made available in the game) depending on user interactions or goals.
Data Analysis and Feedback: By interacting with the brand content on Roblox, companies can collect valuable data and feedback to refine their marketing strategies. But please don’t be tempted to sugarcoat things, because in marketing, one tends to do so – and pure bare numbers don’t always say everything – but rather the conclusions that can be drawn from references, comparisons, and insights, etc.
Support & Maintenance: Companies should also be aware and consider that a Roblox experience requires support and maintenance, just like many other digital products. A Roblox experience should still be maintained as long as it is accessible to users to ensure playability, and this is a cost and project management factor to consider.

Companies approach you wanting to be part of this Metaverse. I must disappoint you, even if Roblox is referred to as a Metaverse, it is not really one yet. It’s a platform among many, and that’s something to consider in marketing, as there are many other platforms to choose from. However, what’s crucial is the closed experience and the freedom of the company to be creative. The best way to imagine these game platforms, which include Minecraft and Fortnite, both of which have a Creative Mode, is as a universe where each game or experience is like its own planet. Each planet has its own rules but follows the same physical conditions.

3 Roblox Examples – The Good, the Better & the Not So Good

I would like to introduce you to three experiences and evaluate them from my personal perspective – here are the criteria:

Data & Facts: What do the numbers look like and what can potentially be inferred from them?
Playability: How well does the game play?
Design & UX: General appearance and experience of the game
Game & Gamification: Which mechanisms were chosen and how do I evaluate them?
Brand Fit for Target Audience: What does the experience do for the brand and the target audience?

THE GOOD

Money Genius Island – Not a pure marketing game, but rather a serious game (edutainment) combined with marketing. Small but mighty. You don’t always need extreme visitor numbers; sometimes it’s about what is done at the core. Not everyone has a marketing budget and a trendy brand to help push the game (which brings us to another point, if no one knows about your Roblox experience, then no one will play it). Who’s behind the game? BW-Bank und Sparkassen, aiming to bring financial literacy closer to children and teenagers. The whole thing was implemented by the EventPunks, a team around Sandra Kiel. Interestingly, the experience seems to be repeatedly adapted and used for various events, which is clever, especially in terms of replayability and maintenance.

Data & Facts: 86.21% positive rating, which is a very good result for the launch of a Roblox game. With 3,686 visits, the game or experience received 47 player favorites. This corresponds to a percentage of about 1.28%.

Playability: The game is easy and well-controlled, which I think is also due to the target audience of children and tweens. Easy to handle, and even if you fall down something more difficult, you don’t die (known from game design as „perceived fairness“). There are quite a few information points and small hints about what to do next. There isn’t exactly a guiding system or wizard, but there is a lot to discover. The user is led through the game with the greatest possible freedom – discovery, I think, has a high value in this game.

Design & UX: The UX and appearance are really sweet and the world is quite large and extensive. The map helps to navigate the world, and there are several mini-games that can also be discovered. I would have wished that when something appears for the first time, one is guided, like a small in-game tutorial, making it easier to understand the basic tasks.

Game & Gamification: This game places a lot of value on curiosity and exploration. It’s not about a leaderboard, but about enjoying playing and through the fun, also developing an interest in financial literacy, or at least understanding a little more of it. No quests are used (at least none that I discovered), which I think would benefit the game at one point or another, but it’s not strictly necessary. However, I think quests would help those who don’t like to discover everything themselves to continue playing and exploring the game.

Brand Fit for Target Audience: Meme potential meets serious banking, which is somehow quite present in this game. From the Japan world, which currently appeals to Gen Z and many others, to no info in the game and not to forget Maxwell the cat (known from TikTok), the experience with its rainbow appearance in a winter wonderland suit is a welcome change from the usual sameness of banks for kids.

THE BETTER

Lamborghini Lanzador Lab was implemented with Flaunt (as far as I could research) and was specifically developed for a product, namely the Lanzador. According to Innovando, the target audience for the experience is between 17 and 24 years old, thus in the older range of Roblox users. However, for Lamborghini, it’s clear that they want to offer fans access that goes beyond a normal configurator, and for this, they use Roblox, where you can not only configure the car but also drive it.

Data & Facts: 86.96% positive rating, which is a very good result for the launch of a Roblox game. With 448,900 visits, the game or experience received 6,782 favorites, which corresponds to a percentage of about 1.51%. This value shows that a small, but significant portion of the visitors rated the experience so positively that they added it to their favorites.

Playability: The experience is both a game and an adventure, and players are guided through it with small tasks (quests). Some details are not so intuitive, such as needing to unlock different colors or gimmicks first, but yes. The open quests also encourage players to explore the experience and interact with various brand information and articles. The shop is more like an exhibition or luxury boutique, which corresponds very well to the brand core.

Design & UX: A really beautiful and appealing 3D look that is lovingly designed. The trailer, which is played at the beginning of the game experience, already gives the player an overview of the highlights. UX is simple, intuitive, and not confusing, you can find everything quite easily, as it should be. You repeatedly get help with displays of what to do next if you don’t know what to do; this is called a wizard system, a helper that guides you through the experience. The language is translated into your language.

Game & Gamification: A mix of various mechanics is used. On the one hand, there’s the concept of quests, tasks that guide you through the game and make up the key features, elements, and the main game; after that, you can clearly continue playing. The quests are kept quite simple, like „Drive 1 lap,“ „Drive 5 laps,“ but that’s completely okay for such a game that primarily serves marketing. It would have been nice to do more around the car and the story of the car and the brand, as the experience would have allowed for it.

Of course, there are also leaderboards and the obligatory social media strategies „Follow me and you get…“ „At XYZ followers, <unicorn> drops“ – false loyalty and engagement, which of course serve only one purpose on Roblox: „credibility“ experience. Because if it’s well-rated, people check it out, or sometimes, if it’s poorly rated, they want to convince themselves. In this case, the numbers speak for themselves, indicating that it is a good experience and is enjoyed playing, or that the extrinsic incentives are large enough to play it again.

Brand Fit for Target Audience: Good brand fit from my perspective. Well done with the merch, the presentation of the car, and the products. Also, the racing game that takes place in the experience. There are different ways for users to interact with the brand and the experience, and one doesn’t have to stupidly follow a single way of playing. Especially nice is that the user is guided through the game at the beginning, which, I think, not everyone likes since some prefer to explore on their own.

For those interested in Roblox and marketing for a specific product, there is much to learn from Lamborghini, not for nothing almost 90% likes.

THE NOT SO GOOD

Let’s move on to Nivea Tower Run.The experience was officially launched a day before Lamborghini and was promoted with its own marketing on the Roblox platform, as well as on LinkedIn by the creators and PR. Which is totally legitimate and good, as I would say the target audience, after playing, is rather mixed, and it’s essential to have a lighthouse project on the Roblox platform from Beiersdorf, in my interpretation – since Minecraft was deemed too uncool and Fortnite too shoot-‚em-up like (which is the case for many companies, and I personally find it very unfortunate, as Fortnite in Creative Mode offers more than just Battle Royale, as you can see mega from the LEGO Group x Fortnite). The creators behind it all are Jung von Matt NERD, who want to reach Gen Z with the experience. Whether this has been successful and whether the expensive marketing and PR with HORIZONT, W&V, Werben & Verkaufen has paid off, let’s take a closer look at it in detail.

Data & Facts: Only 61% find the experience good. On the second day after the launch, it even fell below 50% (which is unfortunately really bad for a Roblox experience). With 383,400 visits, the game or experience received 1,906 favorites. This corresponds to a percentage of about 0.50%. A third compared to Lamborghini’s experience with about 60,000 visitors difference – this tells us a lot about the value of replayability, which was already considered in this experience according to the description. So, what was the issue?

Playability: The outside world is okayish to play, but inside the tower, terrible! Not well playable – how can you build a 3D platformer with such controls?! Not optimal at all – a huge point deduction for house JvM Nerds (I played to much Hogwarts Legacy by Warner Bros. Games recently) .

Outside, the physics are somewhat hard to control since the jumps are quite „lofty“ and long, you tend to fly more. It takes a while to get used to, but the jumps have to be like that, as everything takes place on round islands (probably a nod to Nivea Cream). For players who are not so good at handling everything and also rather new, it is quite frustrating, as you often fall to your death (which may deter someone who is just looking at it from a marketing aspect, causing them to leave the game after a while).

Design & UX: The design itself is really mega beautiful, and the assets are also nicely and appealingly designed. The shop is cute but somewhat loveless, especially compared to Lamborghini, where you can look at and try on items (at the first level of interaction) and get more information about the products, a nice interaction. There are small boxes with information, but only in English. The design is small and nicely adapted to the brand, maybe a bit too much in some places, and reminds more of a candy shop than Nivea (but opinions may differ, I think).

The Tower Run itself, the 3D platformer, is controlled differently than the rest of the game, at least on PC (the same is true for the racing game at Lamborghini). The huge difference is that the controls in the racing game are explicitly shown, what each key does, and not in Nivea Tower Run, which is a pity. It would have been easy to solve and would have absolutely helped to find your way around faster, especially when under time pressure!

Game & Gamification: Mechanics that contradict each other, and points, points, points. Yes, it’s all about one thing: points, high score, and leaderboards.

Sorry, but it would have been a bit better to design the game a bit simpler – like a good Jump ’n‘ Run. Sure, the target group Gen Z likes competition and challenges, especially with friends, but that’s also a matter of the game and genre – right, dear Fortnite 🙂 However, Roblox is played for different reasons than Fortnite, which should be considered in a game and its gamification. Unfortunately, here it’s very much based on extrinsic motivation (do this, then Lala drops, like here, then this comes, reach X, then Y) and the game is partly too complicated in terms of game design and game mechanics and not playable, which leads to simply dropping it.

Besides the hunt for points, as mentioned above, there’s also a leaderboard, and that’s based on time. In the Tower Run, the main game so to speak, there are coins that you can collect – so, what does a player do? Beat the countdown or collect the coins – from a game design aspect, it’s not advisable to mix both if it’s not a 2D platformer. The problem lies in the word DEPTH, then you have to run back and forth if you want to collect the coins and don’t automatically pick them up while running, as in Super Mario or similar.

Unfortunately, the game is quite unbalanced with a lot of frustration potential and is not really fun and enjoyable to play, which does not really do the brand any good.

Brand Fit for Target Audience: I’ll make it short and painless here. Nice idea, cool design. Brand fit for target audience rather meh… What does Nivea want to communicate to Gen Z? I don’t know, a real experience doesn’t come up, I doubt the brand values really found their place and resonance here, and especially a shame I find that everything is based on extrinsic motivation, all on „quickly attainable“ fame for Nivea, to be able to present an externally „successful“ case. Unfortunately, this is an example I would give to my students as a negative example when it comes to marketing games and gamification, and you need those too, from which you can learn a lot without having to make the mistakes yourself.

Therefore, I am very glad and grateful that we now have such a game, from which we all can learn that good marketing can really bring a lot, even though the experience or product behind it is just so-so.

A Brief Personal Note:

Many companies approach us „specialists“ and ask for our opinions – unfortunately, they often end up working with firms that have big names, rather than with people who might not carry big titles but still have a lot of knowledge because they are REAL nerds, not just because they portray themselves or label themselves as such.

I experience this all the time: „Jasmin, can you give us your opinion on this?“ „Jasmin, can we talk about XYZ?“ These are often free consulting requests. I have nothing against such inquiries, but I do have something against exploiting my person or others in this context – hence my aversion to free content for individuals. And this can be called gatekeeping if someone needs to label it for their own peace of mind, be my guest…

Well, it’s up to everyone to decide whether they see me as a nerd, geek, gamer, or show-off (I have my own opinion on that), but I don’t let anything slide about certain people in my network when it comes to topics like Web 3.0, Metaverse, or gaming on platforms, and these people are:

Falk Ebert (he knows everything)
Sandra Kiel (Serious & Marketing Games on Minecraft, Roblox, and Fortnite)
David Bundi (in the legal field, but oh so much more with NFTs and more)
Fatih Inan (simply the greatest in doing)
Niklas Timmermann (also active on Roblox and Co.)

There are many other nerds in other areas in my network, more on that some other time.

They are knowledgeable and aware of the real issues and challenges on various platforms, how to implement advertising measures and marketing on these platforms, and much more.

Quelle:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/roblox-dilemma-jasmin-jaykays-karatas-bpmce/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios&utm_campaign=share_via

5. Januar 2024 0 comment

Examples

How Roblox wants to rule all the worlds

Welcome to Lowpass! This week: How Roblox wants to rule all of the worlds.

Don’t call it the M-word

Last week, Roblox held its annual investor day to highlight its recent milestones and outline where the company is going. The event got a bit lost in the news cycle due to the OpenAI drama, but it’s worth giving it another look, especially given the recent skepticism around the metaverse.

Roblox was one of the first companies embracing the idea of the metaverse, with then-CBO Craig Donato telling me back in 2020 that Roblox was best positioned to build a social metaverse.

However, the M-word was curiously absent from Roblox’s presentation last week. CEO David Baszucki instead described what the company was trying to build as a “social utility communication platform,” while at the same time stressing that the future of communication was “ultimately going to 3D simulation.”

The metaverse may be a dirty word right now, but Roblox still wants to build avatar-based social spaces that include but also go beyond gaming. Metaverse veterans like Second Life founder Philip Rosedale have long discounted Roblox as a platform for kids, but Baszucki pointed out last week that the company is seeing huge growth with adults, all the while expanding to new and upcoming platforms like VR, game consoles, and ultimately even AR.

In other words: Roblox wants to rule all the worlds.

First, a quick data dump: Roblox shared a bunch of data during its investor event. Not all of those numbers were new. But if you don’t follow Roblox’s day-to-day business, it’s still worth taking note:

Roblox now has 70.2 million daily active users, who collectively spent over 16 billion hours on the platform in Q3.
Roblox paid out $701 million to developers over the past 12 months.
19.7 million new social connections / “friendships”are formed on Roblox every day.
Roblox is seeing a lot of international growth. For instance, daily active users in Japan are up 66% year-over-year, revenue in the country is up 174% year-over-year.
Roblox now has 29M DAUs over the age of 17; this age segment saw a 41% growth rate over the past 12 months. It’s also close to half of Roblox’s total daily user base.
Roblox has been downloaded more than 2 million times on Meta’s Quest VR headset to date, and installed 17 million times on Sony’s PlayStation since launching on the platform in October.
Roblox’s top 10 creators make $27M every year on average; the 100th-most-successful creator makes $970k per year; 1000 creators make $65k or more on Roblox every year.
More than 93 Roblox experiences have been played over 1 billion times each.

Quelle:

https://www.lowpass.cc/p/roblox-metaverse-investor-conference-data

30. November 2023 0 comment

Examples

How Did Barbie Get 27 Million Roblox Visits in Only 13 Days?

Unpacking how Barbie DreamHouse Tycoon skyrocketed in popularity on Roblox.

Last July, in the middle of the summer right as the Barbie movie was hitting theaters, Mattel and Gamefam quietly released Barbie DreamHouse Tycoon on Roblox. This custom-built experience followed earlier steps Mattel had taken with Barbie on the platform, including releasing branded UGC items and integrating the Barbie DreamHouse into the popular game Livetopia.

When Barbie DreamHouse Tycoon came out, it was listed as being in BETA. In addition, it was not free to play. People had to pay 50 Robux ($0.63 USD) in order to play the game.

Months later near the end of October, I was surprised to see this post on LinkedIn from Gamefam CEO Joe Ferencz, touting Barbie DreamHouse Tycoon as the top branded experience on Roblox with 25 million visits in a week:

Barbie Has a Huge Spike in Roblox Visits

After reading this post, I went to Roblox and was stunned to see that Barbie DreamHouse Tycoon had over 25K concurrent users and surpassed around 29 million lifetime visits.

This was shocking because in the month of September, the experience only had about 670K visits during that period.

For the experience to jump from 670K monthly visits to over 27 million visits in a matter of days, something major must have happened.

Barbie had taken off.

But how did this happen?

That’s what I set out to uncover by researching the experience across Roblox and social media.

Halo Effect from Blockbuster Movie

The Barbie IP is well established, and there appears to be a strong overlap between Barbie fans and the Roblox audience. This points to there being a solid IP + platform fit.

And of course the incredible box office and marketing success related to the Barbie movie only helped raise interest in the IP around the world across many different age groups.

So it’s no surprise that Barbie’s Roblox group comments specifically shout out love for Barbie and interest in the movie, which has made all things Barbie much more relevant and attractive than before the movie came out.

Paywall Creates Pent Up Demand

When the Barbie DreamHouse Tycoon first came out in Beta last July, you had to pay to access it. Based on comments from the Barbie Roblox group, there were lots of Barbie fans on Roblox who were upset by this move. They wanted the experience to be free, and they voiced their dissatisfaction in the comments.

So it’s interesting to look at more recent comments that were posted after the experience switched from being paywalled to being free. Lots of players wrote message of thanks for the game being made free to all.

By charging players while the experience was in Beta, the creators not only bought themselves time to make adjustments to the gameplay and fix bugs, but they also created a strong desire from players that wanted to get in, but couldn’t afford to.

Roleplaying as Barbie with Friends in Roblox

Roleplaying is very popular on Roblox. On the branded experience front, perennial top performers Warrior Cats and Miraculous RP employ roleplaying mechanics effectively. On the non-branded side, RP games such as Brookhaven and Livetopia are extremely popular.

Although this Barbie experience is a Tycoon, where players are „building“ their dream houses, the beauty is that players can then roleplay in these luxurious Barbie themed spaces.

In user comments, players call out hosting parties at their house and roleplaying with their friends. It’s interesting that the experience is able to serve as both tycoon and roleplaying experience all at once.

You can see a lot of these roleplaying features in the Barbie DreamHouse Tycoon trailer here…

Quelle:

https://www.metaversemarcom.io/post/how-did-barbie-get-27-million-roblox-visits-in-only-13-days

31. Oktober 2023 0 comment

Metaverse

Roblox’s new AI chatbot will help you build virtual worlds

Roblox’s new AI assistant is one of a few new AI tools from the company.

Roblox announced a new conversational AI assistant at its 2023 Roblox Developers Conference (RDC) that can help creators more easily make experiences for the popular social app. The new tool, the Roblox Assistant, builds on previously announced features that let creators build virtual assets and write code with the help of generative AI.

With the Roblox Assistant, creators will be able to type in prompts to do things like generate virtual environments. In one demo, somebody types in “I want to make a game set in ancient ruins,” and Roblox drops in some stones, moss-covered columns, and broken architecture. “Make the player spawn by a campfire in the ruins” adds a campfire and a stool. “Add some trees for the player to chop down” adds trees nearby. Roblox will grab assets from either its marketplace or your own visual asset library, according to Roblox spokesperson Roman Skuratovskiy.

You can see that demo and a few more examples in the video below from Roblox.

I’m generally skeptical of generative AI, but I think this is a pretty interesting use for the technology. In an interview with The Verge, Roblox CTO Daniel Sturman described how the tool might be able to create basic gameplay behaviors like teleporting you to a place if you touch a door. The Roblox Assistant can also help with coding and answer questions about developing on Roblox, which could be useful tools for creators on the platform.

Unfortunately, creators won’t be able to use Roblox Assistant right away, as Sturman said that the tool is going to launch at the end of this year or early next year.

Down the line, Roblox has bigger visions for Roblox Assistant, and Sturman teased that it could generate sophisticated gameplay and even make 3D models from scratch. If that all works, it could bring Roblox in line with CEO David Baszucki’s vision of Westworld-like ease of design.

That said, these generative AI tools could take away work from Roblox’s developer and creator community, and I asked Sturman what he would say to people who are worried about that. “I strongly believe that generative AI is going to reduce our creators’ dependence on specific technical skills and enable the big differentiation between creators to be the spark of genius they have in what an experience should be and how it should operate.” We’ll have to wait and see if that’s the case, but given AI’s tendency to make things that can be just a little bit off, I suspect there will still be a need for experienced Robloxdevelopers and creators to handcraft their work.

Roblox discussed some other AI-based updates at RDC, too. One will let you create an avatar from an image and a text prompt, meaning it might be easier to make an avatar that looks more like yourself. Onstage at RDC, Baszucki showed how the tool could be used to make a buff and cartoony version of himself. That tool is set to release in 2024. The company also wants to let you use generative AI to make things directly inside of other Roblox experiences.

Another tool uses AI to moderate voice conversations in real time, which could cut down on toxicity on the platform. The company started testing this tool in August and “will be deploying the English model shortly, with another four languages by the end of the year,” according to spokesperson Roman Skuratovskiy. Those languages will be Spanish, Italian, German, Portuguese.

Roblox, like many companies, believes it’s well equipped to use AI to help people who use its services. “We’re not a hammer looking for a nail,” Sturman says. “We’ve got plenty of nails. We know what it means to enable creators.” Its AI tools do seem genuinely useful; I’ve always wanted to make a video game, even though I don’t know how, and the Roblox Assistant seems like something that could at least help me get started.

Quelle:

https://www.theverge.com/2023/9/8/23863943/roblox-ai-chatbot-assistant-ai-rdc-2023

12. September 2023 0 comment

Examples

Introducing the Roblox Career Center: A new way to experience recruiting

Today we’re excited to announce the launch of the Roblox Career Center — an experience directly on Roblox where early career candidates can dive into our immersive platform firsthand and learn what it’s like to be a part of a company that is reimagining the way people come together.

Eliminating geographical boundaries and showcasing our platform

We believe the most important product we’re building is not Roblox the platform, but Roblox the company — the people who come in every day to help advance our mission to connect a billion people with optimism and civility. Our innovation is only possible by building a workforce that embodies a broad range of skills, perspectives, and backgrounds.

While ideal from an engagement standpoint, traditional in-person recruiting has its limitations. There are only so many universities and prospective candidates that our recruiting team can engage with in person. The Roblox Career Center enables us to reach early career candidates across the world — eliminating geographic constraints from the recruiting process and avoiding all that’s lacking in static recruiting approaches, such as web pages and video conferencing meetings. It also highlights everything that makes our platform a unique destination for human connection and communication: interactivity, self-expression, and immersion. What better way for candidates to understand what they may be working on than to experience features, like spatial audio and the ability to animate avatars with movement, right within our recruiting experience.

A new way to experience recruiting

Within the experience, candidates can learn more about the complex technical challenges we are tackling and the innovation we are driving through immersive events, podcasts, and conversations with Roblox employees. This is a new way for us to introduce what it’s like to work here, while helping candidates become familiar with our platform.

“We decided to build this experience specifically for candidates who are just starting out their careers, many of whom are already familiar with our platform from when they played on Roblox as they were growing up. We think this is a great way to showcase the Roblox platform and help candidates visualize themselves working here.” – Ryan Fitzpatrick, Senior Director, Early Career Talent at Roblox

Navigating the experience

While some candidates are familiar with Roblox, for many, this will be the first time that they’ll enter into a Roblox experience. Our goal is to make it as easy and straightforward as possible. Visitors just learning about Roblox can head to the Innovation Lab where they can learn about our innovative product roadmap and listen to stories directly from our employees.

Next, visitors can check out the Podcast Lounge, where they can listen to clips of our Tech Talks Podcasts, hosted by Roblox Co-founder & CEO Dave Baszucki, as he and special guests explore the technical challenges and innovative ideas we’re working on.

Prepare for an interview

We support our candidates throughout each step of the interview process, starting with preparation materials. In the Library, visitors can find a curated selection of books and other reading materials to review as they prepare for their interviews. We have crafted a one-stop shop of information with a range of topics, including our history, recent innovations, our philosophy and approach to interviewing, and a guide on what to expect throughout the interview process.

We also have a room dedicated to our problem-solving assessments. Over the past several years, these assessments have played an important role in providing an equitable opportunity for all candidates, regardless of background, to demonstrate job relevant skills. Candidates can take practice tests to see what they may experience during their interview process.

Coming soon, we’ll be inviting candidates to conduct certain initial interviews directly within the experience.

Attend an immersive event

In today’s connected world, virtual events have become common. However, experiencing an event in Roblox is far more immersive. For this year, our focus will be on hosting a variety of virtual, immersive events in the space. We recently hosted our first event with Roblox CTO Dan Sturman, where he shared his journey to Roblox and his vision for its future. We hosted over 85 students in the experience, where they were able to hear not only more from Dan and our Early Career Team, but also to experience first-hand our innovative technology.

“It’s one thing to talk about our technical innovations to recruits; it’s something completely different to have them experience those innovations on the platform themselves. The Roblox Career Center is a great example of how we’re pushing the boundaries of what’s possible on our platform.” – Daniel Sturman, Chief Technology Officer at Roblox

Dan Sturman talks about Roblox's mission and vision in the Roblox Career Center

The new Roblox Career Center will be one more way for us to reach top talent, wherever they are. Ready to check it out for yourself? Head to the Roblox Career Center to experience the future of recruiting. If you’re interested in learning more about our open Early Career roles and how you can apply, you can see our current Intern roles here and New Graduate, Full Time roles here. Be sure to visit our Careers site regularly as we open more roles this season.

Quelle:

https://blog.roblox.com/2023/08/introducing-roblox-career-center/

7. September 2023 0 comment

Examples

Metropolitan Museum of Art launches Roblox augmented reality experience

With the new Replica app, visitors can scan famous works with their phones and show them off as wearables in Roblox.

Visiting New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is about to get meta. The museum is launching Replica, a new hybrid experience that allows visitors to “capture” works of art from the collection and show off virtual versions of them on Roblox.

The experience, which includes virtual and augmented reality elements, was designed by the multidisciplinary company UNIT9 and Verizon, in partnership with Roblox, strategy and production company Ode to Joy, and The Met.

How it works. Beginning August 3, visitors to The Met will be able to use the Replica app to scan an array of famous masterpieces with their phones.

As a result of this action, the user collects a digital version of the artifact, which can then be brought into the Roblox virtual game as a wearable.

The Replica app is currently available for free download on iOS and Android devices.

Hold onto your straw hats. Thirty-seven objects were selected for the experience from the museum’s collection of 1.5 million pieces.

Among the selected objects are van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat, Armor of Henry II, King of France, the Statuette of Anubis (from 332-30 B.C.) and the Japanese Helmut (Zukinnari Kabuto) from the Momoyama period.

The pieces are located in over 30 galleries across nine curatorial areas, so it will be a challenge for visitors to “collect ‘em all.”

In-app clues. Inside the app, users will be guided around the museum by clues that appear on a digital map.

Once the objects are scanned by phone, they appear in virtual form in the user’s inventory on Roblox. In the Roblox game, the player’s avatar can then wear and use the digital recreations of the artifacts.

The experience comes full circle when Roblox users can now also visit a virtual recreation of the museum in-game, including The Met’s well-known facade, on Fifth Avenue, as well as the Great Hall and its sprawling staircase.

Why we care. We saw a number of brand activations in Roblox last year, which, in marketing years, seems like back in Tudor times. However, there is currently a lot of AR interest in the art world. Art fans can use their phones as another set of eyes to see art in new, augmented ways.

The Met’s Replica experience appears to be well thought out, enhancing the experience at the museum, while also allowing visitors to extend this experience long after their trip in their digital lives.

Quelle:

Foto: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Roblox.

https://martech.org/metropolitan-museum-of-art-launches-roblox-augmented-reality-experience/

29. August 2023 0 comment

Knowledge Research

Verizon and The Metropolitan Museum of Art launch new AR app for Roblox

The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Verizon have recently announced the launch of ‘Replica,’ a first-of-its-kind experience at the Museum that allows visitors to scan artwork and bring elements of the works digitally into the global immersive platform Roblox through augmented reality (AR).

Starting today, users can download the Replica app for free on iOS and Android devices, and from tomorrow will be able to access the in-app map to guide them to artworks around the Museum, learn about different works of art, and digitally collect unique pieces for free for their Roblox avatar.

Each wearable piece in Replica was inspired by art from across The Met’s vast collection of 1.5 million objects; the 37 selected artworks are drawn from objects on view across more than 30 galleries spanning nine curatorial areas, including the American Wing, Egyptian Art, European Paintings, and Asian Art.

Highlight pieces include:

Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat (1887);
Statuette of Anubis (332–30 B.C.);
Perseus with the Head of Medusa (1804–6);
Prince Holding a Falcon (ca. 1820);
Marble capital and finial in the form of a Sphinx (ca. 530 B.C.);
Reaching Jaguar (1906–7; cast 1926);
Vase with Rabbits (late 16th century);
Helmet (Zukinnari Kabuto) (16th century); and
Armor of Henry II, King of France (ca. 1555).

“This groundbreaking app brings artwork from The Met’s illustrious collection into the virtual realm of Roblox, transforming the way visitors engage with art and crafting a captivating, fun, and truly unique journey through the Museum,” said Max Hollein, The Met’s Marina Kellen French Director and CEO. “Replica is a testament to The Met’s ambitious exploration of educational initiatives that inspire playful connections with art in the Museum as well as in the digital realm.”

Once inside the app, visitors can follow fun and accessible clues that appear on the digital map, leading to various galleries and works throughout the Museum. After the artworks are scanned in real life, each object is transformed into a collectible replica and can be transferred to the Roblox platform. These objects will then appear in the user’s inventory for their avatar to use as items and accessories.

The Roblox experience contains a Met-inspired virtual version of the Museum itself, where users can explore the Museum in their newly acquired avatar items. Each Replica item is accompanied by information and details about the object and its history.

Replica was built as a user-friendly and engaging experience for children and young adults. The app features strong visuals, clues, and short, digestible educational moments to help users along their journey, and was created and designed by a partnership of companies, including UNIT9, Verizon, Roblox, Ode to Joy, and The Met.

“In partnership with The Met, we created Replica as an experience to connect people to art in a new and culturally relevant way,” said Kristin McHugh, SVP of Marketing and Creative at Verizon. “From The Met Unframed to this exciting launch of Replica, our technology can help bridge gaming and art, creating new possibilities for art education.”

Replica will be featured on The Met’s website as well as on social media using the hashtag #TheMetReplica.

Quelle:

Verizon and The Metropolitan Museum of Art launch new AR app for Roblox

Image credit: The Met / Verizon

9. August 2023 0 comment

Knowledge Software/Apps

Roblox Comes to Quest, Casting a Shadow on Meta’s Own Social VR Platform

One of the biggest names social gaming is now on Quest, available now via App Lab. Roblox is home to tens of millions of daily users and user-generated experiences, casting a clear shadow on Meta’s own social VR platform, Horizon Worlds.

Update (July 28th, 2023): Roblox is now live on Quest via an open beta, published through App Lab. The company says that you can purchase items within an experience, you won’t be able to buy additional Robux from your Quest device. This functionality is on the way, Meta says. The original article follows below:

Original Article (July 12th, 2023):

A Curious Proposition

Meta confirmed today that Roblox is coming to Quest “in the coming weeks” starting as an Open Beta on App Lab before eventually graduating to a full launch on the main Quest store.

On one hand, the move is a win for Meta. Roblox is one of the most popular social gaming and user-generated content platforms; playing in a similar ballpark with the likes of Minecraft and Fortnite. Getting Roblox onto Quest brings a valuable and recognizable IP to the platform, along with a huge new social graph of non-VR players.

On the other hand, Roblox is very nearly a direct competitor to Meta’s own social VR platform, Horizon Worlds. Both Horizon and Roblox are heavily focused on social experiences and user-generated content. But compared to Horizon, which caters only to the smaller demographic of VR players, Roblox has some 66 million daily active players across Xbox, iOS, Android, desktop—and soon, Quest.

For comparison, that means the number of people playing Roblox every day (66 million) is more than the total number of Quest headsets ever sold (believed to be around 20 million).

So ambitious creators looking to build content for the largest audience (and largest return-on-investment) will see the scale tipped vastly toward Roblox over Horizon.

Whether or not Roblox on Quest will stifle the fledgling Horizon remains to be seen, but needless to say this is an awkward situation. Not just for Meta though; Roblox also represents a looming threat to other social VR applications like VRChat and Rec Room.

Roblox Content Compatibility on Quest

Roblox currently has some 15 million playable experiences for users to choose from, but not all (probably not most) will be suitable to play on Quest.

Meta says the Roblox Open Beta on Quest is a “great opportunity for the Roblox developer community to optimize their existing games for Quest and build new ones for VR while gathering input and feedback from the Quest community.”

That said, Roblox Corp plans to automatically enable VR support for some portion of existing Roblox experiences, though exactly how many is unclear.

“[…] we have automatically updated the Access setting for some of the experiences that use default player scripts to include support for VR devices. We have found that experiences that use default player scripts typically run well in VR without modifications. Automatically publishing these experiences allows us to seed our library of experiences that support VR devices,” the company says in its announcement of Roblox on Quest.

Presently it isn’t clear if or how the company plans to ensure that user-generated Roblox experiences on meet minimum performance expectations on Quest.

Modernized PC VR Support for Roblox

Roblox has offered PC VR support for many years at this point and the company appears committed to continue supporting the platform in addition to Quest.

Less than a month ago Roblox Corp announced that it would adopt OpenXR to future-proof its VR support, including for PC VR headsets. The update also included improvements to correctly synchronizing the player’s VR playspace and scale to that of the current experience.

Quelle:

Roblox Comes to Quest, Casting a Shadow on Meta’s Own Social VR Platform

3. August 2023 0 comment

Software/Apps

Roblox in VR: So aktivieren und nutzen Sie Virtual Reality

Roblox wird von den meisten klassisch am Computerbildschirm gespielt, es gibt aber auch die Möglichkeit, mit VR in die Plattform einzutauchen. Dafür müssen Sie zusätzliche Einstellungen vornehmen.

So aktivieren Sie VR für Roblox

Um Roblox in VR zu nutzen, benötigen Sie zunächst das Spiel selbst, welches auf Ihrem Windows-PC installiert sein muss. Zudem brauchen Sie noch eine Virtual Reality-Brille, entweder eine Oculus Rift oder HTC Vive.

Starten Sie Roblox und öffnen Sie die Einstellungen und anschließend „In-Experience-Einstellungen“. Dort muss der VR-Modus auf „Ein“ gestellt werden.
Je nach VR-Brille müssen Sie unterschiedliche Einstellungen für das Spiel in Virtual Realityvornehmen. Bei der HTC Vive öffnen Sie die SteamVR-App. Außerdem müssen die Basisstationen eingeschaltet, das Headset über die Linkbox mit dem Computer verbunden und die Statussymbole in App und an der Hardware grün sein.
Mit einer Oculus Rift öffnen Sie die Oculus App und gelangen über das Zahnrad oben rechts zu den Einstellungen. Klicken Sie auf „Ausrüstung Einstellungen“, dann links auf „Allgemein“ und aktivieren Sie den Punkt „Unbekannte Quellen“. Die Einstellung müssen Sie unten noch bestätigen.
In Roblox selbst können Sie nun einem Spiel beitreten. Es startet in VR mit einem quadratischen Bildschirm und Sie können mit Ihrer Brille spielen.

A man with a virtual reality headset is seen in the Virtual Real Life company in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on August 13, 2019. (CTKxPhoto VladimirxPrycek) CTKPhotoP201908230256801 PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY PRY 001 — Roblox in VR können Sie über die HTC Vive spielen.imago images / CTK Photo

So nutzen Sie Roblox in VR

Spielen Sie Roblox in VR, so wird dem Spiel ein spezielles Radialmenü hinzugefügt, in welchem Sie die relevanten Einstellungen vornehmen können. Außerdem werden die Tasten der Controller je nach Headset unterschiedlich belegt.

Tippen Sie auf Ihrem Controller auf die Taste Menü, so gelangen Sie in das VR-Radialmenü. Die einzelnen Abschnitte sind im Uhrzeigersinn wie folgt angeordnet. Über das Systemmenü haben Sie Zugriff auf alle Systemoptionen. Die Spielerliste zeigt Ihnen alle Spieler auf Ihrem Server an. Mit der Option „Kamera positionieren“ fokussiert sich die Kamera wieder auf Ihren Charakter. Die Glocke zeigt Ihnen alle Roblox-Benachrichtigungen an. Über das Symbol „Spiel beenden“ verlassen Sie den Spiele-Server. Der Rucksack öffnet Ihr Inventar und der 2D UI Toggle schaltet die 2D-UI-Funktionen an und aus, diese Option sollte aber an bleiben.
Bei den Controllern der Oculus Rift bewegen Sie sich mit dem linken Stick. Die linke Schultertaste setzt die Kamera zurück, während die rechte dafür da ist, um eine Waffe oder ein Werkzeug zu benutzen. Über die drei Striche gelangen Sie zum Systemmenü, die B-Taste bringt Sie zurück, die A-Taste ist wahlweise zum Springen oder Auswählen gedacht. Über die beiden unteren Tasten des Controllers wechseln Sie zum vorherigen oder nächsten Werkzeug.
Bei der HTC Vive bewegen Sie sich mit dem linken Touchpad. Wischen Sie auf dem rechten Touchpad nach rechts, kommen Sie zurück, nach unten springen oder wählen Sie etwas aus. Mit der Taste über dem rechten Touchpad gelangen Sie zum Systemmenü, mit der linken und rechten Taste an der Seite der Controller wechseln Sie zum letzten beziehungsweise nächsten Tool.

Quelle:

https://praxistipps.chip.de/roblox-in-vr-so-aktivieren-und-nutzen-sie-virtual-reality_157080

5. April 2023 0 comment

Knowledge Software/Apps

Roblox VR Could Be Heading To Quest In 2023

The popular kid-friendly MMO would no doubt be a hit on standalone headsets.

According to The Verge, Roblox, one of the biggest online video game platforms in the world, could be heading to VR on Meta Quest headsets sometime later this year. The news was mentioned earlier this week in the website’s official Command Line newsletter and comes from unnamed “sources.”

If true, this could prove to be a major win for Meta. In 2021, the Roblox game company went public with an overall evaluation of $41 billion USD. In the third quarter of 2022, the game had over 58.8 million daily active users and currently shows no sign of slowing down. Adding support for such a popular game could be just what Meta needs, especially with the “Quest 3” supposedly launching sometime later this year, according to a Q3 2022 earnings call.

In May of 2021, Roblox CEO and co-founder Dave Baszucki expressed interest in bringing the platform to Quest during a company earnings call, saying, “We have the same vision for the immersive 3D multiplayer cloud stuff of the metaverse in that we believe this should be accessible on all devices, both from viewing as well as interaction.”

“And we’ve really innovated around this on phone tablet, computer, and Xbox console, showing that developers can create content that when pushed to our cloud, runs on all of these devices as well as auto translates into multiple languages. So absolutely long term, Switch, PlayStation, Quest, all of these platforms make perfect sense for Roblox.”

It’s worth noting that Roblox is technically already available to play in VR using PC VR headsets such as HTC VIVE and Valve Index. We’ve spent hours exploring various VR-compatible worlds on the kid-friendly platform, from Project SCP and Sked’s Playground to VR Hands and Ragdoll Sim.

That said, the most interesting feature, in my opinion, is the ability to interact with 2D players as a VR avatar. The asymmetrical gameplay featured in games like VR Hands borders on the incredible. Here’s hoping the rumored VR version features support for cross-platform play if/when it releases later this year.

Quelle:

Roblox VR Could Be Heading To Quest In 2023

Image Credit: Roblox Corporation

17. Januar 2023 0 comment