E.l.f. Launches Roblox Game Aimed Toward Entrepreneurial Consumers

Noor Lobad
·2 min read

E.l.f. Beauty is expanding its domain, debuting its first Roblox game — called E.l.f. Up! — on Saturday.

Geared toward entrepreneurship-minded consumers, the game features experiences inspired by the brand’s core franchises, such as a “Holy Hydration!” underwater sea life charity and animal rescue; a “Big Mood” recording studio and chocolate shop; the “Power Grip” climbing gym and tech start-up, and a “Halo Glow” art and jewelry gallery.

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“What we’re creating is the Elf-averse,” said Kory Marchisotto, chief marketing officer at E.l.f. Beauty, of the company’s growing virtual universe.

The so-called “Elf-averse” spans TikTok, where E.l.f products like the Power Grip Primer and Halo Glow Liquid Filter are viral mainstays; Twitch, where the brand launched its own branded channel in 2021, and now, the metaverse, with the introduction of E.l.f. Up!

“It was important for us to be able to dimensionalize the promise of each franchise into a world,” Marchisotto said. “When we think about this Gen Alpha cohort — they’re growing up very differently. We wanted to make sure we were creating this world of advanced self-expression, and couple that with skill-building.”

E.l.f. Up!'s "Power Grip" room.
E.l.f. Up!’s “Power Grip” room.

According to a recent WP Engine study, 62 percent of Gen Z are or plan to become entrepreneurs. Simultaneously, the World Economic Forum’s 2023 Future of Jobs Report found that 44 percent of worker skills will likely be disrupted over the next five years, with cognitive and problem-solving skills said to be growing in importance in the workplace.

“We didn’t want to be a makeup company that came into the Roblox experience in a literal makeup way; we’re creating experiences that help with financial literacy and analytical skills, because we know those are super important to the folks in this digital sandbox who are the workforces of the future,” said eGEN Sports cofounder and managing director Brad Timmins, who E.l.f. tapped to support Supersocial’s development of the game.

E.l.f. Up!'s "Holy Hydration" experience.
E.l.f. Up!’s “Holy Hydration” experience.

The company has enlisted a cohort of popular Twitch and YouTube gaming creators to promote the launch, and will give away 1 million UGC prizes — which are coveted on Roblox — for free to E.l.f. Up! users. The game will also add multilingual capabilities and an animal shelter next month, with plans to introduce additional experiences based on user feedback.

“It took us time to figure out how to enter this platform in a way that could be relevant and beneficial to the community,” said Marchisotto, adding that the children of E.l.f’s own employees comprised the “focus group” for the project. “This world is built both to endure — it is a solid foundation upon which we will continue to build — and it’s also built to evolve.”

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