Quick take:
- Game has become the latest South African company to join the metaverse race.
- The retailer has launched a virtual hub on Roblox.
- The company joins African banking giant Nedbank and MTN in the metaverse.
Leading South African retailer Game has jumped on the metaverse bandwagon with a virtual experience on Roblox. The company joins a growing list of companies that have launched virtual hubs on the US-based metaverse gaming platform.
The metaverse is a 3D virtual space where people can interact immersively through gaming, trading digital merchandise, and attending virtual concerts and other experiential events.
Game is not the only South African company to join the metaverse race. Local telecommunications giant MTN earlier this year bought 144 plots of digital land on Africarare’s Ubuntuland, the leading metaverse platform in the continent.
In September, Africa’s fifth largest Bank, Nedbank, again headquartered in South Africa, bought a 12X12 virtual plot of land on Ubuntuland, becoming the first African financial institution to foray into the metaverse.
Game’s Roblox experience is timed to perfection for the festive season, which kicks off with Black Friday tomorrow and Cyber Monday next week.
The Game-branded Roblox game launched on November 21 and gives players an opportunity to win their share of over R70,000 in vouchers ahead of the festive period. It is the first South African retailer to foray into the metaverse, as companies continue to explore opportunities of engaging with their fans in 3D virtual spaces.
According to the announcement, “the game mixes South African culture and the fantastical in a challenge to race around a downtown city neighbourhood. Players will use potholes as portals, party at rooftop DJ gigs, and dodge goo from exploding pigeons as they compete to get to the top of the leaderboard,” TechCabal reported.
Players are tasked with finding 8 comet fragments inspired by Game’s Balck Friday ad, with the top player each day receiving an RS5000 voucher, the second RS3000 and the third RS2000.
Although the competition ends on Cyber Monday (November 28), the game will remain on Roblox for players to enjoy, the company said in a statement.
Commenting on her company’s first foray into the metaverse, Game’s vice president of marketing Katherine Madley said: “We are so excited about this launch, as we open up our brand to a new audience…we have seen the incredible growth of the gaming sector globally and heard the call from consumers for brands to be more innovative in their approach.”
The company is not stopping its metaverse campaign with its first game on Roblox. According to Madley, this will be an ongoing project with Game seeing it as an opportunity to continue building its brand in the digital environment.
“We are working to ensure we push this kind of innovation forward in our business, and plan to grow this offering,” added Madley.
****
Sign up to the world’s biggest crypto exchange Binance to buy and sell cryptocurrencies.
Stay up to date:
