Walmart Jumps into Roblox with 'Walmart Land' and 'Walmart’s Universe of Play'

Hold onto your headsets! Today, Walmart is announcing the launch of two new immersive experiences in the metaverse mega-platform, Roblox. Called Walmart Land and Walmart’s Universe of Play, the spaces offer unique interactive content and entertainment for customers, bringing to life the best of Walmart’s ‘isles’ in a virtual world. 

Developed by Journey and Publicis Groupe’s Power of One Agency, Walmart’s lead creative and media agency, the experiences offer Roblox users the chance to engage and interact with all the top items everybody wants from Walmart - in a virtual way. 

Walmart Land will bring the best fashion, style, beauty and entertainment items directly to the global Roblox community of over 52 million daily users. The retailer will continue to bring the fun with Walmart’s Universe of Play – the ultimate virtual toy destination in Roblox, just in time for those oh-so-real holiday wish lists.  

”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,” said William White, chief marketing officer, Walmart U.S. “Roblox is one of the fastest growing and largest platforms in the metaverse, and we know our customers are spending loads of time there. So, we’re focusing on creating new and innovative experiences that excite them, something we’re already doing in the communities where they live, and now, the virtual worlds where they play.”  

Journey, Cathy Hackl, chief metaverse officer, says: “Our team at Journey was ecstatic to work alongside Walmart to break new ground on Roblox,” said Cathy Hackl, chief metaverse officer, Journey. “As the metaverse continues to evolve, we’re proud to partner with Walmart and build experiences that will help them continue to grow relationships with their customers in places where they are spending so much of their time. We are honored to support Walmart in creating new, innovative, and meaningful ways of connecting with new and existing audiences.” 

Publicis Groupe, Kiser Barnes, senior vice president, experience design, Dept W, says: “We were so excited by the idea of creating a destination on the Roblox platform for a diverse audience of curious, young dreamers to discover their passions,” said Kiser Barnes, SVP, Experience Design, Dept W. “Inspiration starts with play, so we designed our fantasy island in the sky with epic experiences around the exciting brands and products Walmart offers. We're translating that feeling of discovery and community when you're shopping with Walmart into a new dimension.” 

Walmart Land will feature a variety of immersive experiences, including a virtual store of merchandise, or “verch”, for your avatar; a physics-defying Ferris wheel giving users a bird’s-eye glimpse of the world; and unlockable tokens and badges that can be earned in various games and competitions. Walmart Land debuts with three big experiences, specifically with the next generation of customers in mind: 

Electric Island

Inspired by the world’s greatest music festivals, Electric Island includes an interactive piano walkway, a dance challenge, a Netflix trivia experience featuring Noah Schnapp and a DJ booth where users can learn to mix different beats. 

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House of Style

Featuring a virtual dressing room, a strike-a-pose challenge, an oversized cosmetics obstacle course (obby) and a roller-skating rink, House of Style will offer products from af94, UOMA by Sharon C., ITK by Brooklyn & Bailey, Lottie London, Bubble and more. 

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Electric Fest

New in October, users can jump back into Electric Island for ‘Electric Fest’, a motion-capture concert celebration featuring performances from popular artists such as Madison Beer, Kane Brown and YUNGBLUD. 

The year’s best toys will have busted loose and turned up in Walmart’s Universe of Play. The Roblox community can explore different toy worlds to earn coins for cool virtual goods, or complete epic challenges to build a personal trophy case, unlock secret codes and more. Universe of Play includes:  

Immersive games

Users can dive into five new games that offer experiences featuring products and characters from L.O.L. Surprise!, Jurassic World, Paw Patrol, Magic Mixies and Razor Scooters.  

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Sought-after rewards

Users will get the opportunity to try and collect as many virtual toys as they can to earn coins redeemable for their avatar verch. Toys will hang all around, and a Walmart  blimp will regularly drop toys throughout the experience.   

Virtual adventures: Universe of Play will also feature e-mobility  items like hoverboards, which an avatar can use to travel through the universe faster. Users will encounter a Sharper Image drone that helps them discover the hottest toy world of the season.