Walmart’s Roblox venture marks retail giant’s foray into the Metaverse

U.S retail giant Walmart has officially entered the Metaverse with the launch of two new projects on popular gaming platform Roblox.

The two immersive experiences created by Walmart namely, Walmart Land and Walmart’s Universe of Play, will let consumers explore the metaverse and experience what one of the largest platforms in the metaverse has to offer.

William White, the Chief Marketing Officer of Walmart U.S said,

”We’re showing up in a big way – creating community, content, entertainment and games through the launch of Walmart Land and Walmart’s Universe of Play.”

The new venture is aimed at attracting the “next generation of customers” and with Roblox’s growing popularity among Gen Z, this venture is expected to pay off. 

More on the Metaverse experiences

Walmart Land will debut with three major experiences. The first, Electric Island, will focus on music and DJs etc. The House of Style will feature a virtual dressing room and offer products from various brands. Finally, Electric Fest will let users experience “motion-capture concert celebration” and live performances by popular artists.

The Walmart Universe of Play offers different toy worlds that users can explore to earn coins which can be redeemed for virtual merchandise or “verch.” This experience will include immersive games and virtual adventures where users can explore the universe. This project will also feature collectibles in the form of toys and coins that users redeem for goods to customize their avatars with. 

Roblox’s role in metaverse adoption

Walmart’s decision to launch its virtual experiences on Roblox will help them by offering exposure to more than 52 million users that visit Roblox everyday. Roblox boasts impressive statistics like 12 million creators on the platform, 32 million experiences and more than 11 billion engagement hours by users. 

“Roblox is one of the fastest growing and largest platforms in the metaverse, and we know our customers are spending loads of time there,” William White said.

Several industry leading names have chosen Roblox as the preferred platform to launch virtual projects. These names include Nike, Samsung, Spotify etc. 

Companies around the world are taking note of the metaverse’s rising popularity, especially among their future customers. Citi stated in a report published earlier this year that by the end of the decade, the metaverse economy could be worth anywhere between $8 trillion to $13 trillion.

News of Walmart’s foray into the metaverse comes nine months after it filed seven trademark applications that shed light on its plans regarding virtual goods, virtual currency and NFTs.

Walmart is no stranger to blockchain technology. For instance, VeChain, which counts Walmart among its clients, revealed that it had pumped out close to 700,000 transactions for Walmart. It uses VeChain for product traceability among other things.