Gamefam reports record year for branded games on Roblox and Fortnite

Gamefam, the developer known for creating games within platforms like Roblox and Fortnite, today released a new “State of Brands in Metaverse Gaming” report. In said report, it details its results from fiscal year as well as the results of its branded campaigns. Gamefam reports that it saw 35% year-over-year revenue growth, and 7.5 billion gameplay across its portfolio of over 30 games.

According to GameFam, it has three of the Top 10 branded games of 2023 on Roblox, those being Sonic Speed Simulator, Barbie Dreamhouse Tycoon and TMNT Battle Tycoon. The company also hosted two major Roblox concerts: One for Saweetie and one for Bebe Rexha. It branched out into Fortnite in 2023, creating a brand integration for the A24 film Talk to Me in Fortnite Creative.

Joe Ferencz, Gamefam’s CEO and founder, spoke with GamesBeat in an interview on why Gamefam works on so many brand campaigns. “Gamefam, in my opinion, is the leading company in the space for partnering with global brands and IPs. Having the depth of experience to navigate multiple high-touch partners in the same project — that’s a skillset we’ve built over decades of operating in, around and with the world’s best IPs in our careers prior to starting Gamefam.”

Ferencz added that one of the challenges brands face when entering the metaverse is maintaining their identity and integrity alongside a brand-agnostic space. “How do you build a brand statement and integrate your brand into that space in a way that will be authentic and leave players with the right impression of your brand. These are questions that no one has ever had to ask before in the history of media. This is where we’ve been able to provide a huge amount of education, strategy and solution to brands.”

In addition to Gamefam’s success, the company also gave insights into brands’ relationship with the metaverse — particularly Roblox. According to its report, Roblox saw a 20% increase in daily active users in 2023, as well as a 50% increase in brand activations. In total, Roblox’s branded games saw 1.8 billion visits from users.

Ricardo Briceno, Gamefam’s chief business officer, said in a statement, “In 2023, we partnered with leading brands to develop strategies to succeed in the metaverse, informing brand leaders about why every brand needs a metaverse strategy. Now, heading into 2024, brands understand the value of the metaverse and are all in. Building on the success model we created, 2024 will be the year brands don’t just show up but begin to scale their activations, exponentially growing their ROI and impact.”

Ferencz said that strategy in the metaverse is key. “Gamefam’s point of view is that every brand needs a metaverse strategy, but hardly any brands need a metaverse game… What we’ve found is that brands’ budgets are much more effectively deployed on integrating these brands into existing games that have authenticity and community, rather than trying to build a new community from scratch in such a competitive attention economy.”

As an example, Ferencz noted the Nickmas integration, created in collaboration with Nickelodeon and the NFL to coincide with the Nickmas game. Gamefam has integrated Nickmas-related elements into four of its existing Roblox experiences to help drive awareness for the game ahead of the broadcast on December 25. The experiences themselves have a combined 2.5-3 million average visits per day.

Ferencz added in a statement, “The time for metaverse marketing is here and now, and in 2024, competition among brands on Roblox and Fortnite will be greater than ever.”