Roblox – one of the world’s largest user-generated online gaming platform – has partnered with Liverpool Football Club to enable its users to customise their avatars with the team’s 2019/2020 home kit. Available for free from now until July 26th, 2019, the avatar shirts are further customisable by players, enabling them to choose numbers and names from the club’s first team, including players like Mo Salah and Divock Origi.
Players who select an LFC shirt before the end of the promotional period will get to keep it after July 26th and a virtual scarf with the slogan “You’ll Never Walk Alone” is also available for Liverpool FC’s junior fans via a code redeemable at the Roblox website.
“We couldn’t be happier to bring Liverpool FC’s incredible legacy and winning spirit to Roblox, as we both share a strong respect for our community of players and fans,” said Craig Donato, chief business officer at Roblox. “The Roblox community will jump at the chance to show their support for one of the world’s most storied football clubs and step into the shoes of their favourite Liverpool FC player.”
“As we get ready to kick-start the new season, we’re excited to be teaming up with Roblox to inspire our younger fans, bring them closer to the world of football and connect with Liverpool FC through the power of games and play,” added Drew Crisp, senior vice president, Digital, Media and Marketing, Liverpool FC. “This is a great opportunity for young fans to show their support during our pre-season tour in the USA and play in any of the Roblox games as one of their favourite LFC players.”
As of September 2018, Fortnite had 78.3m monthly players, while Minecraft exceeded 90m monthly active users in October 2018. Roblox sits in the middle with 80m players on the platform each month, although that’s now reportedly climbed to 90m in July 2019. Every single game on the platform is created by members of the community, with 10bn hours spent playing Roblox in 2018.
“We’ve always very much been a word of mouth phenomenon,” Donato told MCV last year. “The number one way that kids find out about Roblox is through other kids. And that’s just always how we’ve been. We’re not a flashy company.
“I’d say one of the things that distinguishes Roblox is our mission of bringing the world together through play. And we believe that play, like sleep, is an essential human need. There’s lots of research that shows that play is how we learn to take control of our lives, how to adapt to new challenges, how to collaborate with our peers. And most of all play is also fun, right? It makes them happy. A world at play is better for everyone, not just children. A traditional game has very specific rules, where you have to follow a narrow path, you have to win… That’s not really the experience that you have in Roblox with these wide-open worlds that you can just participate in.”