Walmart returns to Roblox, but this time with a virtual world where players can discover new virtual items and accessories to customize their experience, without searching or purchasing items at Walmart. A year ago, the retailer had launched two Walmart-branded experiences on the gaming platform, but came under fire from consumer advocacy groups who wanted the games audited for stealth marketing to children.
Those two virtual worlds, “Walmart Land” and “Universe of Play,” allow Roblox players to collect new virtual goods, play games with popular toys and characters, win toys with a blimp, attend live concerts, win contests fashion and more. However, both have since retired, Walmart tells TechCrunch.
The retailer insists that neither of the previous two games were removed for non-compliance with the US children’s online privacy law. COPPA, or the guidelines established by the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU), as consumer advocacy groups had alleged. But the fact that they were flagged for potentially not complying with CARU could have put the games on the FTC’s radar.
“The intent of our presence on Roblox is to continually innovate,” Walmart spokesperson Lea Ciskowski told us. “Taking some experiences to work on new ones is part of that innovation. Since first launching on Roblox last September, we’ve created several fun and unique experiences. We saw the success of Walmart Land and Walmart’s Universe of Play, and both experiences were retired after their planned runs ended. Our learnings from both experiences allowed us to create an offering that was even more endemic to the platform with Walmart Discovered,” she added.
In the new “Walmart Discovered” experience released on tuesday, players ages 13 and up can participate in a nomination system where they can vote for the best games, indie experiences, and virtual items. The experience will also highlight more than 300 creators from the Roblox community, from those who design virtual fashion items to Roblox experiences. Voting will take place over the next four months, as Roblox developers and creators monetize their virtual items through sales paid with Roblox’s virtual currency, Robux.
The world itself is divided into different “departments” including sports, pets, racing, beauty, towns and cities, entertainment and trends. In some, players can purchase virtual items for their avatar, while others, like Racing, are gamified experiences inspired by other Roblox racing games.
As users purchase virtual items, they can further personalize the experience through features like My Department and My Cart. The former allows users to save virtual items they’ve discovered to revisit and purchase later, while the cart, inspired by Walmart’s own shopping carts, can be unlocked after they nominate and discover more virtual items.
Walmart says the new experience was designed based on user feedback, where they learned that players were looking for easier ways to discover virtual items and Roblox experiences.
Walmart Discover can be played on all devices, including PC, Mac, iOS, Android, Amazon devices, Xbox consoles, Oculus Rift, and HTC Vive.
