Roblox: Where Canadian creators come to play
Looking for a way to connect with kids who may not have phones or consume conventional media? For more and more youth content creators, the Roblox video-game platform is the place to be.
My Carrots Simulator is a game so simple that even very young kids can play. Sitting on small tractors, players collect giant carrots then sell them in the village to upgrade their vehicles, unlock new gardens, or change their appearance. For 200 carrots they can control Mittens or Pants, the main characters from Mittens & Pants, the CBC show aimed at preschoolers, for which the game was built.
“How do you let kids know your show exists? It’s not easy,” says Windy Isle Entertainment president and executive producer Phil McCordic. “But we saw an opportunity to make a game for Mittens & Pants on Roblox.”
- Read more: Rethinking TV for teens
- Read more: Mittens & Pants makes live-action TV magic with real animals
McCordic had a hunch that after playing My Carrots Simulator, kids would want to watch the series on YouTube, CBC, CBC Gem or Tou.tv.
My Carrots Simulator is one of millions of virtual worlds on Roblox. The U.S. platform gets over 110 million visits per day, mainly from children on computers, consoles and smartphones. Players who are at least 13 years old can create their own games or experiences, play those created by others, and switch between worlds by chatting with their friends.
“Roblox is like YouTube for video games,” McCordic says.
With the help of external partners, Windy Isle Entertainment created the game from scratch. Development took eight months and cost $40,000, not including updates. In its first year and a half, the game was played more than 120,000 times.
A short-run Roblox campaign
This past spring, CBC Gem’s tween series Macy Murdoch took a different approach to Roblox. When it launched its second season, Shaftesbury, the show’s production company, partnered with an existing Roblox game, Teamwork Puzzles 2.
For a five-week period, all of the game’s visuals were based on images from Macy Murdoch — puzzles to complete a mission and video content shot exclusively for the campaign.
During those five weeks, the Macy Murdoch version of the game was played for 49,000 hours, and millions of players came into contact with the brand.
For Shaftesbury senior strategic consultant Jay Bennett, results like that wouldn’t have been possible with an experience built from the ground up. Certainly not in the short term.
“I still think it was the best way to do it,” he says. “It’s like a collaboration on YouTube. You could start a YouTube channel from zero, but it will take 12, 18 or 24 months of putting out regular content to get the same result.”
While Shaftesbury won’t disclose the campaign’s exact budget, it was significant.
“It wasn’t a small undertaking. It took a six-month development cycle,” Bennett says. However, the studio gets to keep what was developed for the game, which could simplify producing similar experiences for upcoming seasons.
Participating in a universe near you
Studios with smaller budgets, or without the expertise to develop a Roblox experience on their own, can partner with existing developers. For example, youth content promoter Epic Storyworlds designed the Roblox experience Fracterra as an online destination for games and activities where different youth content brands can coexist.
“We created Fracterra to make it easier for TV and film producers to reach younger audiences,” says Steve Couture, Epic Storyworlds’ co-founder.
Fracterra is a place where players can help the ostrich father from the Cracké series (from Canadian animation studio Squeeze) find his children, lost somewhere in the Fracterra world, while enjoying other brands along the way, including Epic Storyworlds’ own Bubble’s Hotel.
Epic Storyworlds offers producers looking to establish a presence on Fracterra packages starting at $20,000. The company can also develop standalone games.
Roblox is a platform in its own right
In some cases, Roblox can be more than just a gateway.
The game Total Roblox Drama, inspired by Fresh TV’s teen series Total Drama Island, has been played more than 670 million times. Fresh TV sees Roblox as a platform in its own right, not just a way to attract young eyeballs to YouTube or television productions.
“The series itself is showcasing a TV game show, so gaming is in the DNA of Total Drama Island, which helps,” says Tom McGillis, Fresh TV president and the game’s co-creator.
To be successful, update often
No matter which model you choose, launching a Roblox experience is just the beginning for developers.
“YouTube is a great analogy,” says Shaftesbury’s Bennett. “If you just left a channel static, it dies.”
Many developers add content to their games on a regular basis, and some temporarily change their appearance to reflect holidays like Halloween or Christmas. “If you don’t update your game, it won’t get suggested nearly as often,” says Windy Isle’s McCordic.
McCordic says 18 months of My Carrot Simulator updates cost about $30,000. Couture estimates the cost of developing a larger experience at $200,000, with annual maintenance clocking in at around $70,000.
Regardless of the cost, the creators we spoke with are convinced of Roblox's appeal.
“For anyone trying to have a conversation with a younger demo right now, it’s almost like talking about social media or YouTube 10 years ago,” Bennett says. “You should be in Roblox. It’s a fascinating and a powerful storytelling platform.”
