The potential is there…
There’s no doubt that Roblox is one of, if not the, biggest gaming platforms in the world today. By many accounts, it has about 85 million daily users worldwide. That might seem incomprehensible, and yet it’s a real thing, and it’s gotten a lot of people talking for many reasons. One of the key reasons is that the dev team has been working hard to build off of their large fanbase. You might recall them working with the PGA on a new game world and recently teaming up with MLB to get some new uniforms for players to celebrate the new season that just started. Yet, for some, the biggest push may have come with their new ad deal with Google.
As noted by The Drum, this deal could have big implications going forward because of the kinds of ads that Google will do within the game. These aren’t the ones that stop your gameplay outright and make you wait until it’s over for you to do what you actually want to do. Instead, these ads are “native” to the game itself. That means they’ll just play while you’re in a certain game world, even if you’re not watching. There are also “rewarding ads,” such as ones that will give you certain rewards if you do sit through the entire reward. That type is popular in many mobile titles.
The reason that this might be a huge boon to Roblox is that the team has been trying to get more people and companies into their game to both expand its reach and influence, while also making a substantial amount of money. To that end, the company has been reaching out to all manner of sports leagues to do official crossovers with them and create special content.
To be fair, some have already jumped on this bandwagon, including groups like Chipotle, H&R Block, and even some beauty product companies! So, it goes to reason that with these new ads supported by Google, things could grow even further. The question is, “Will they?”
While the benefits are there, you have to wonder if some will go through with it. Just because 85 million people are playing daily doesn’t mean they’ll go right from the game to check out your products. Even if you do get some new customers, you have to wonder if it’ll cover the costs of the ads themselves.
This is something every company will have to ponder if they want to do something in the universe.
