Gamefam, a metaverse media firm for Gen Z and Alpha communities, mentioned in its second annual report that its branded campaigns on Roblox and Fortnite have exceeded 2.7 billion model engagements in 2024.
The State of Manufacturers on Roblox and Fortnite report famous that Gamefam, which makes video games on Roblox and Fortnite, is the No. 1 fastest-growing non-public firm within the media trade in 2024, in keeping with the Inc. 5,000 listing. And it’s recreation portfolio has surpassed 45 billion gameplay periods to this point.
Gamefam continued to guide with their improvement of fan-favorite standalone model video games, holding declare to 5 of the highest 15 model video games of all time on Roblox. In the course of the 12 months, Gamefam’s Sonic Velocity Simulator turned the primary model recreation ever on Roblox to cross a billion visits, mentioned Joe Ferencz, CEO of GamesBeat, in an interview with GamesBeat.
“It was a huge growth year for the company. Our portfolio is now at 64 million daily visits, including either ownership or exclusive partnerships with a suite of the top 25 games on Roblox,” Ferencz mentioned. “So that’s been really exciting to see that happen, and the reason why is that our live ops practices and our brand partnerships business are extremely attractive to top Roblox developers to collaborate with.”
He added, “We’ve been able to connect not only our own portfolio, but also a partnership portfolio that extends into the tens of millions of daily visits and tens of millions of DAU so that’s been really exciting.”
With Roblox and Fortnite exploding in recognition and their corresponding rise in significant promoting and advertising and marketing alternatives, 2024 proved to be a vital 12 months for manufacturers, Hollywood studios and expertise to assume strategically and leverage these platforms to have interaction youthful generations.
As model entrepreneurs turn out to be extra aware of activating on Roblox and Fortnite, Gamefam has led the cost in serving to them shift their considering from simply exhibiting as much as constructing packages that generate measurable scale and influence.
On the identical time, Gamefam continued to generate return-on-investment for manufacturers with customized integrations and activations inside its portfolio of the preferred Roblox and Fortnite video games that preserve huge participant bases, producing 2.7 billion model engagements in 2024 by way of this method.
Ferencz mentioned the integrations can take various kinds. With Ubisoft, Gamefam partnered to place the French recreation firm’s Brawlhalla into well-liked Gamefam video games. That ensures {that a} sure dimension of viewers will discover the model integraiton, compared to beginning a model new recreation.
“We have five of the top 15 Roblox games of all time, so we advise few brands to make a standalone game,” Ferencz mentioned. “Roblox is still a relatively small revenue stream by global gaming standards for individual games. The entire payout pool for roadblocks will probably hit $1 billion to developers this year. It’s highly levered to the top-end games, and with a $1 billion payout pool total that’s still significantly smaller than any of the top individual mobile free to play games.”
He added, “So we’re advising video game companies: You need to be on Roblox, but you need at this time to make sure that you’re driving back to your core business streams while starting to think about how Roblox can be a revenue generating platform in its current setup for you over the next five years.”
Gamefam’s strategic imaginative and prescient for manufacturers and ensuing success have led to a sea change with over 400 manufacturers activating on Roblox to this point, almost doubling final 12 months’s whole and exhibiting a 560% improve from 2022. Equally, Fortnite noticed huge model curiosity with a 330% improve since 2022 within the variety of manufacturers that created video games or integrations on Fortnite.
“Roblox and Fortnite are the preferred media platforms for Gen Z & Alpha, and brands need to have a metaverse strategy in order to retain and gain cultural relevance with the younger generations,” mentioned Ferencz. “With over half a billion monthly active users across Roblox and Fortnite, the time for brands to be on these platforms is now or they risk falling behind the competitors who are moving quickly to establish share of voice, mind and heart with today’s most valuable consumers and fans.”
Gamefam’s 2024 achievements
Topping the Charts and Reaching New Milestones with Hit Roblox Video games: Gamefam was the developer and operator behind 4 of the highest 10 model video games on Roblox (by whole visits in 2024) together with Mattel’s Barbie DreamHouse Tycoon (No. 1 model recreation on Roblox in 2024), SEGA’s Sonic Velocity Simulator (No. 2 in 2024, No. 1 model recreation on Roblox of all time), Paramount’s SpongeBob Simulator (No. 8 in 2024), and Paramount’s TMNT Battle Tycoon (No. 9 in 2024).
Maximizing Cultural Moments (just like the Tremendous Bowl) By means of Roblox: Constructing on the Tremendous Bowl LVII success (No. 1 Roblox live performance of all time), Gamefam once more partnered with the NFL and introduced them along with Paramount to launch a five-game Tremendous Bowl LVIII quest on Roblox. The NFL and Paramount reached the following technology of soccer followers as this 30-day activation turned the No. 1 multi-game model occasion on Roblox with over 75 million whole visits and 985 million minutes of brand name engagement.
Bringing the Field Workplace & Streaming to the Metaverse: Gamefam labored with studios behind films and reveals to advertise their content material to hundreds of thousands of gamers on Roblox and Fortnite earlier than, throughout and after their world premieres.
Particularly, Gamefam labored with Sony Footage to construct a 4-game takeover on Roblox for The Garfield Film, ensuing within the largest multi-game film marketing campaign on Roblox with 31 million visits. Moreover, Gamefam partnered with Paramount to develop the primary playable story to advertise the brand new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles streaming sequence on Paramount+. Gamefam developed different distinctive integrations and experiences for the entire prime studios, for films together with Sony Footage’ Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Disney’s Inside Out 2 and Disney’s Moana 2.
Rocking on Roblox: Following final 12 months’s success with Saweetie’s Tremendous Bowl LVII live performance (No. 1 Roblox live performance of all time) and Cher’s vacation album launch activation, Gamefam continued to jam out with Gen Z & Alpha within the metaverse.
In 2024, Gamefam and Warner Music Group teamed up once more to convey seven-time Grammy winner Coldplay to Roblox for the primary time with a multi-game takeover to have a good time the launch of the band’s new album Moon Music. The marketing campaign resulted in 25+ million visits and 295 million minutes of brand name engagement, equal to listening to Moon Music 6.7 million occasions.
Serving to Manufacturers Obtain Scale on Roblox and Fortnite: In 2024, Gamefam labored on over 60+ campaigns and video games. Gamefam launched the primary official Roblox recreation for Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants, teamed up with gaming icon and legendary streamer Ninja for his first-ever Fortnite recreation takeover in Gamefam’s well-liked Infinite ZoneWars 2.0, and created integrations for numerous manufacturers together with Samsung, Moose Toys, Skechers, Lego, FIFA and Spin Grasp.
In recognition of the corporate’s trailblazing work, Gamefam was honored with 30+ prestigious awards in 2024. These included Nice Place to Work, Inc. 5000 (No. 1 fastest-growing non-public firm within the media trade), Quick Firm Greatest Workplaces for Innovators, The Stevie Awards for Nice Employers and Deloitte Expertise Quick 500, amongst others.
In 2022, Gamefam confronted complaints about its pay and crunch from workers/contractors who had been sad, however Gamefam mentioned it has tried to handle points in bringing extra skilled practices to its workforce; it famous its Nice Place to Work survey confirmed 90% of workers mentioned this 12 months it was an awesome place to work, up from 81% the 12 months earlier than.
Gamefam and lots of of its companions had been named winners of promoting marketing campaign award packages together with the Clio Sports activities Awards (4x winner), Clio Leisure Awards (3x winner), The Drum Awards (5x winner), Webby Awards and Marketing campaign Tech Awards, amongst many others.
For the previous few years, Roblox and Fortnite have been solidified as the popular platform of alternative for Gen Z and Alpha, with customers spending 144 minutes per day on Roblox in comparison with TikTok (112 minutes per day) and YouTube (70 minutes per day), in keeping with Qustodio.
This 12 months, Roblox exploded to greater than 89 million day by day customers (29% improve YoY) and was an instrumental instrument for manufacturers seeking to attain Gen Z and Alpha.
Model video games on Roblox gathered over 1.4 billion visits with 15.8 billion minutes spent in these video games. That is particularly significant at a time when conventional children’ TV rankings have collapsed as much as 90%.4
Whereas this area remains to be new, manufacturers are already studying about what’s working most successfully for them. In 2024, there was a shift in manufacturers constructing integrations relatively than standalone video games.
For all manufacturers, particularly IP that’s non-endemic to gaming, integrations enable them to succeed in communities of hundreds of thousands of gamers within the main video games on Roblox and Fortnite, delivering significant and lively engagement at scale.
This 12 months, 57% of manufacturers constructed integrations, and 43% constructed standalone experiences whereas in 2023, 37% of manufacturers constructed integrations and 63% constructed standalone experiences. The 20 proportion level improve in manufacturers constructing integrations proves entrepreneurs perceive activations inside well-liked video games ship quick worth.
Ricardo Briceno, chief enterprise officer at Gamefam, mentioned in an announcement, “The shift toward integrating into popular games with millions of daily users, rather than building standalone experiences, makes sense because brands are recognizing the value of reaching players where they already hang out. By embedding themselves into these vibrant communities, brands not only create meaningful, authentic engagement but also secure their long-term connection with the generations shaping today’s culture and tomorrow’s discretionary spend.”
Roblox had numerous points this 12 months with dad and mom complaining about youngster security. By November, the corporate up to date its child-safety insurance policies and launched new tech. Ferencz mentioned his firm works to stick to all of Roblox is Phrases of Service and security compliance protocols. However he mentioned Gamefam goes farther than that by serving to the kids’s promoting evaluation unit so it may assist manufacturers perceive security protocols on Roblox. He’s additionally on the board of an area nonprofit in Los Angeles.
“We are doing everything we can, both in collaboration with Roblox and with our brand partners to ensure we are at the highest standards of children’s safety,” he mentioned.
Extra Manufacturers Will Flip to Roblox and Fortnite in 2025
With greater than 1,000 whole model video games and campaigns from 500+ distinctive manufacturers showing on Roblox and Fortnite to this point, expectations for 2025 are increased than they’ve ever been. As entrepreneurs now perceive their audience-building and engagement potential, Gamefam expects to see a much bigger inflow of funding from manufacturers on these platforms.
2025 will provide a breakout alternative for sports activities properties and types which can be non-endemic to gaming throughout areas like client packaged items, meals and beverage, eating places and expertise, amongst others. Early predictions for the remainder of the last decade proceed to be extremely optimistic, with the metaverse as a complete projected to have over 2.6 billion customers by 2030.
The recognition of Roblox and Fortnite with younger demographics imply difficulties for manufacturers in conventional areas. Ferencz mentioned that younger people are actually kind of dwelling in inside these worlds, and so they’re not popping out for streaming movies and issues like that.
“That is the propellant for for the brands here. If they’re not engaging with the new generation, that’s that’s doom for them because their brand will disappear as those people get older. If you’re not gaining relevancy on Roblox and Fornite, you are losing relevancy on Roblox and Fortnite,” he mentioned.
The Roblox and Fortnite generations are essentially taking part in console video games or cellular video games as a lot. That could possibly be a complete technology of followers that multi-generational manufacturers like Disney are lacking out on.
“They’re watching video content on YouTube and TikTok, and they’re in a closed loop of UGC gaming culture. And so we have been passionate about helping the brands and characters and gaming companies that we love start to navigate and capture value in this space,” Ferencz mentioned.
With TMNT, Gamefam made a playable cutscene and the marketing campaign generated 37 million visits. Brawlhalla was built-in with the favored TMNT recreation, permitting Brawlhalla to get much more views/performs (and rewards for gamers) than it in any other case would with a model new recreation.
In a marketing campaign that mixed SpongeBob with the NFL and Paramount within the first quarter of 2024, Gamefam delivered a five-game cross-platform quest that generated 350 million validated model engagements for a billion minutes of face time with Roblox gamers, Ferencz mentioned.
“We won three Golden Cleos just this month for this campaign,” he mentioned.
Expertise search
As for the expertise, Ferencz mentioned the corporate has numerous management from recreation corporations like Digital Arts and Zynga whereas it additionally has numerous Roblox natives who grew up making Roblox video games. There are greater than 100 folks on the firm, however Ferencz doesn’t share the precise quantity.
Gamefam additionally has its new Gamefam Creator Fund that’s investing in indie Roblox improvement groups. The investments from the previous six months have resulted in video games with about 8,000 concurrent gamers to this point, Ferencz mentioned.
“I think we really believe that when it comes to original IP on Roblox, you cannot compete with the Roblox developer community. There are just too many smart, motivated developers working around the world to make things that you would never have thought to make, and that is what powers Roblox,” he mentioned.
And if he can’t beat them, Ferencz will be part of them, typically by buying promising video games and matching them up with a model. Struggle Tycoon is an efficient instance of that, as Gamefam acquired it a number of years in the past and it has grown income round 800% because the deal.
Predictions for 2025
Listed below are Ferencz’s scorching take predictions on how the Roblox and Fortnite will influence the advertising and marketing and media world in addition to broader tradition:
“Roblox will become equally important to YouTube and TikTok for Hollywood movie marketing, specifically as in-game integrations like Fandango start offering a direct purchase funnel with strong measurable impact.”
“2025 will be when in-game advertising on Roblox becomes a must-have piece of the media plan for every Fortune 100 brand looking to reach Gen Z and Gen Alpha consumers.”
“Roblox will break 500 million monthly active users in 2025, on its way to 1+ billion by 2030.”
“In 2025, one or more of the big four US sports leagues (NBA, NHL, MLB, NFL) will use Roblox or Fortnite to break major news about the league, its teams and/or players.”
“By 2026, Fortnite’s Disney platform will become a top three digital entertainment experience for six to 12 year olds.”
“An original IP born from Roblox will become a blockbuster animated film by 2030, alongside apparel, toys and other IRL spinoffs.”
“Marketers are realizing Roblox and Fortnite strategies are necessary to reach new, young audiences in active ways, which is way more effective than the passive marketing we’re used to seeing,” he added. “Metaverse gaming isn’t a fad, and it’s not going to stop with Roblox and Fortnite… we have our eyes on platforms like Everywhere and Horizon Worlds as the next frontier for Gen Z and Alpha engagement. With Gamefam’s expertise and top portfolio in metaverse gaming, we’re in the best position to deliver unique and captivating brand experiences with massive scale and groundbreaking IP collaborations.”
