Train a virtual dragon? Film studios turn to Roblox and other games to reach young fans
Surrounded by virtual cliffs and a cascading waterfall, dragon riders on Roblox's massive online gaming platform immerse themselves in a memorable scene from 'How to Train Your Dragon.'
In the sequence, the young Viking Hiccup reaches out his hand to touch Toothless, the black, green-eyed dragon he once feared.
After players feed Toothless enough digital fish, their avatars reach out to pet the dragon, mimicking the clip from the Universal Pictures movie — a remake of the DreamWorks Animation box office hit. Then they hop on and fly on the dragon to an island where they can watch the trailer.
For 21-year-old Annabelle Barone, training a virtual dragon is an experience she'll remember.
'It just makes me want to see [the new movie] even more,' said Barone, who plans to see the film with friends.
The Southern California college student expressed her excitement for the franchise on social media site X by sharing images of her avatar petting and flying the dragon in Roblox. Barone, known by the name Robuilds online, creates YouTube videos about her Roblox experiences and has amassed a big following across various social media platforms and Roblox.
The game on Roblox, an online platform where people can play and create their own virtual experiences, is just one way film studios such as Universal Pictures, Lionsgate and Warner Bros. are reaching young people such as Barone before a movie hits theaters. By creating immersive experiences and selling movie tickets bundled with exclusive merchandise, studios are tapping into places where teens and young adults hang out online.
The 'How to Train Your Dragon' game on Roblox has more than 28 million visits. Over the weekend, the movie raked in $83.7 million in ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada, surpassing expectations. Globally, the film has grossed $197.8 million.
'You have to combine the tactile, the emotional and the virtual,' said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at entertainment data firm Comscore. 'That's what smart marketing is doing today to make the movie theater as relevant, or more relevant to young people than ever before.'
Film studios and movie theaters have faced hurdles in recent years including the Hollywood strikes, the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. Added to that is the growing amount of consumers' attention taken up by TikTok, YouTube and video games, including from San Mateo, Calif.-based Roblox.
The increasing amount of videos posted online and other entertainment options means it's tougher than ever to grab people's attention.
And yet, Gen Z is driving momentum in the box office and has been a 'critical audience for moviegoing in the past three years,' according to a report from the National Research Group, a market research company.
Roughly 37% of Gen Z have seen more than six movies at the theater during the last year, compared with 29% in 2023, a February survey of more than 3,200 Americans showed. The group defines Gen Z as people between the ages of 12 and 27.
Barone, the Roblox player, is on track to see about 10 movies in theaters this year, she said.
'I have gone alone, but it is more fun to have a friend with you,' she said.
Roughly 51% of the audience for 'How to Train Your Dragon' were family groups, and 27% of moviegoers were younger than 13, according to data from EntTelligence.
Gaming is the 'new center of youth culture,' offering studios a way to immerse fans in films before they're released in the theater, said Todd Lichten, head of entertainment partnerships at Roblox. On average, Roblox users spend 2 1/2 hours on the platform a day. Roblox, a platform popular among kids and teens, has 97.8 million users who visit it daily.
'They're not just looking to create this passive experience that they can re-create in other platforms,' Lichten said. 'They're looking to bring our players together in a way that's going to be authentic to the [intellectual property], but also rally them around something that has a real community goal to it.'
Sawhorse Productions, a creative agency and production company in Los Angeles, has created games for 'How to Train Your Dragon,' 'Wicked,' 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice' and others in Roblox. It also worked on 'Sinners: Survive the Night,' a game within Fortnite, another massive online gaming platform, that's based off of the hit horror movie.
Roblox said it's seen success with reaching young movie fans. The Roblox game based off of 2024's 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,' which included a virtual Fandango box office where players could purchase movie tickets, lifted theater release awareness and intent to visit the theater, a case study from Roblox said.
Nic Hill, co-founder and chief innovation officer at Sawhorse Productions, said developers design games in ways that keep users coming back. In the 'How to Train Your Dragon' Roblox game, new challenges, dragons and virtual items including Viking hats pop up before the movie's release.
'You get that longer engagement and reasons to keep visiting and engaging further than just playing it once,' he said.
Universal Pictures declined to comment.
Days before 'How to Train Your Dragon' hit theaters, the gaming platform Minecraft promoted a virtual experience based on the film too.
PG-rated family flicks have been smash hits this year, fueling box office sales worldwide. 'A Minecraft Movie,' based on the popular video game, has surpassed $951 million at the global box office. Viral moments on social media helped drive fandom for the film. Videos of young moviegoers cheering and throwing popcorn in theaters when the term 'Chicken Jockey' is yelled out in the film racked up millions of views on TikTok.
Film studios are turning to TikTok for marketing purposes. Ahead of the release of 'John Wick' spinoff 'Ballerina,' Lionsgate teamed up with the social media platform to sell tickets to the film on TikTok Shop. Lionsgate bundled movie tickets with posters and Continental coins, promoting sales by livestreaming a 'Ballerina' premiere event on the social media app.
'TikTok is home to a dynamic community of moviegoers and film enthusiasts who discover and engage with new titles and cultural moments,' Reia Davidson, vertical director of media and entertainment at TikTok, said in a statement.
TikTok users are more than 44% more likely to go to movie theaters than nonusers, making it another valuable place for film studios to create buzz around a film, the social media platform said last year.
It's not just new releases film studios are trying to promote across games and social media. Lionsgate worked with Roblox to sell virtual movie merchandise for one of its biggest franchises, 'Twilight.' Roblox users can buy a bundle that includes a code to download the 2008 'Twilight' movie, a digital movie T-shirt and another item, such as a virtual amulet.
Jen Brown, Lionsgate's executive vice president and head of global products and experiences, said young fans want to engage with movies in different ways. Games and social media are where they socialize.
'As we think about how we want to extend our content into the world, it's really important that we're part of that community building process, and we're letting fans have fun with it,' she said.
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