Roblox bets on ecommerce by selling tickets to ‘Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice’

The metaverse hype has majorly died down, with companies like Meta (originally Facebook, renamed to ride the trend) moving away from plans to create Second Life-esque platforms where people can gather–and, crucially, shop–online. One company that hasn’t backed down is Roblox, which continues to partner with brands for activations that blend reality with the web.

It’s teaming up with Warner Bros. and ticketer Fandango to sell tickets to the upcoming Beetlejuice out of a branded virtual theater (pictured above), and hopes the partnership will show whether Gen Z can be tempted to score their tickets through their favorite gaming platform instead of a traditional digital storefront (or, god forbid, at the theater door).

Tickets go on sale today for screenings beginning Sept. 6, and people who buy them also get exclusive Beetlejuice-themed in-game items.

“Our aim is to connect with Gen Z, where creativity thrives,” Cameron Curtis, Warner Bros.’ Executive Vice President of Digital Marketing, told Digiday. “Roblox isn’t just a game; it’s a dynamic community. By introducing Beetlejuice in this innovative way, we’re captivating a new audience and driving excitement for the theater experience.”

Theaters suffered exponentially during the height of the COVID pandemic, and now, with the window between theater premiere and streaming debut ever narrowing, are still struggling to drive traffic–and revenue. Studio executives are clearly hoping that by reaching Gen Z, they can tap into the social media power that made Barbie vs. Oppenheimer one of the biggest pop culture moments of 2023.

As for Roblox, it’s not getting a cut of ticket sales here. Instead, it’s getting something possibly more valuable: data on whether users who spend millions of Robux on virtual in-game items each year (including swank looks from previous brand partners like Paris Hilton

, Gucci, Givenchy, Tommy Hilfiger, and Ralph Lauren) are willing to also shell out dollars for IRL items.

“This pilot for us is focused on testing purchase intent and conversion in a different consumer category–entertainment,” Stephanie Latham, Roblox‘s Vice President of Global Partnerships, told Digiday. “We are offering a novel way to purchase movie tickets while being immersed in the movie-inspired experience with trailers, characters and activities for fans to enjoy with friends.”

While Roblox has been partnering with other brands (hello, early adopter Chipotle) for years, this deal with Warner Bros. and Fandango is only the third of its kind. Most previous Roblox deals only involved virtual destinations and items, but this past April, it partnered with Walmart and e.l.f. Cosmetics to launch digital ecommerce storefronts that sold real items.

We don’t yet have data on sell-through for those first deals, but whatever Roblox has seen is apparently enough to make it bullish on this approach. Nic Hill, Head of Interactive at Sawhorse, the company that built Warner Bros./Fandango’s ticket-selling location within Roblox, said this whole project was approached with the goal of “conversions and driving sales.”

“For any brand that’s selling something, ultimately, to get ROI on these activations, you want to move down the funnel–so it’s not all brand awareness,” Hill said, adding that there was also focus on “making it easy” for users to buy tickets.

If Roblox continues with these partnerships, we could see it pushing into more categories, like food & bev. Imagine a jump from Beetlejuice to burritos where Chipotle team-up where players order their food in a game environment and get it delivered IRL. Maybe one day.