Virtuos rebuild of Oblivion Remastered topped April's sales charts, with Microsoft's PlayStation launches also charting well.Read More

Smitch The Unshakable Resolve of "this guy are sick" Member Apr 21, 2022 4,758 Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) April 2025 U.S. Video Game Market Highlights from Circana - April 2025 total market projected U.S. consumer spending across video game hardware, content and accessories fell 3% when compared to a year ago, to $4.1B. 2025 year-to-date spending was 8% behind 2024’s pace, at $17.8B. bsky.app Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) U.S. Video Game Market April Spending Trend - April video game content spending declined by 2% compared to a year ago, to $3.7B. 18% YoY growth in non-mobile subscription spend and a 16% gain in Console digital premium downloads were offset by declines in other content segments. bsky.app Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) U.S. Video Game Market 13-Month Spending Trend bsky.app View: https://bsky.app/profile/matpiscatella.bsky.social/post/3lpoo44vmwk2e View: https://bsky.app/profile/matpiscatella.bsky.social/post/3lpoo47q3hk2e Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: Remastered was the best-selling game of the month, instantly becoming the 3rd best-selling game of 2025 year-to-date. It was the best-selling title across each of the PlayStation, Xbox and PC platforms. bsky.app Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: Remastered sold more units in Apr 2025 than The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion achieved across its first 15 months in market combined following its March 2006 debut and generated more full game dollar sales than the original’s first 14 months combined. bsky.app Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) Forza Horizon 5 was the 2nd best-selling game of April 2025 following its debut on PlayStation 5. It ranked as the 42nd best-selling title of March. bsky.app Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) Indiana Jones and the Great Circle also launched on PlayStation 5 during April 2025. The game jumped from 118th on the monthly best-selling titles chart a month ago to 6th. bsky.app Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) Four of the top five - and five of the top seven - best-selling games of the month on PlayStation platforms were published by Microsoft. bsky.app Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) Call of Duty HQ led all titles in total US monthly active users across both PlayStation and Xbox platforms during April, according to Circana’s Player Engagement Tracker. Schedule 1 ranked 1st in US total month active users on Steam. bsky.app Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) Two titles saw strong engagement gains on PlayStation following their addition to PS+. RoboCop: Rogue City jumped from 111th in PlayStation total monthly active users in March to 8th, while The Texas Chain Saw Massacre jumped to #10 in April from 375th a month ago. bsky.app Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) April hardware spending fell by 8% when compared to a year ago, to $186M. It was the lowest monthly hardware dollar sales total reached in the US market since July 2020 ($163M). bsky.app Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) PlayStation 5 dollar sales declined 5% in April compared to a year ago, but the platform once again led the hardware market in both dollar and unit sales. Switch hardware spending fell 37% in April vs YA, while Xbox Series grew 8%. bsky.app Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) April spending on accessories fell by 2% when compared to a year ago, to $166 million. The PS5 Dual Sense Wireless Controller Midnight Black was April’s best-selling accessory in both unit and dollar sales. bsky.app   OP OP Smitch The Unshakable Resolve of "this guy are sick" Member Apr 21, 2022 4,758 Maelstrom Member Apr 22, 2025 151 Okay, seems like the same thing as last week. And the week before. And the week before..   Bigkrev Member Oct 25, 2017 13,000 Does Kepler not report information? This should have captured the first ~10 days of Clair Obscur Expedition 33, but it doesn't show up anywhere on these lists, including engagement, which theoretically would have covered if people just gamepass'd the game...   Derbel McDillet ▲ Legend ▲ Member Nov 23, 2022 24,351 Good for Hello Kitty Island Adventure.   jroc74 Member Oct 27, 2017 34,053 Hell of a jump for both Forza and Indians Jones. MLB The Show doing MLB The Show things.  Granjinhaa Member Dec 28, 2023 9,627 Bigkrev said: Does Kepler not report information? This should have captured the first ~10 days of Clair Obscur Expedition 33, but it doesn't show up anywhere on these lists, including engagement, which theoretically would have covered if people just gamepass'd the game... Click to expand... Click to shrink... don't think they do   cw_sasuke Member Oct 27, 2017 29,988 Glad to see The Hundred Lines in the Switch charts at least. Switch outsold Xbox ? Seems kinda wild with Switch 2 releasing soon and a kinda stacked release schedule for Xbox and GP. Edit. Clarified a couple posts below. Xbox is 2nd and Switch 3rd for this month.  Last edited: Yesterday at 9:31 AM Gavalanche Prophet of Regret Member Oct 21, 2021 25,917 Bigkrev said: Does Kepler not report information? This should have captured the first ~10 days of Clair Obscur Expedition 33, but it doesn't show up anywhere on these lists, including engagement, which theoretically would have covered if people just gamepass'd the game... Click to expand... Click to shrink... No they do not. They are an indie publisher, most of them don't.  turkoman_ Member Apr 29, 2023 520 I can understand Call of Duty, GTA or Minecraft but Spiderman always there is pretty impressive imo.   Splinky Member Jul 12, 2023 146 Bigkrev said: Does Kepler not report information? This should have captured the first ~10 days of Clair Obscur Expedition 33, but it doesn't show up anywhere on these lists, including engagement, which theoretically would have covered if people just gamepass'd the game... Click to expand... Click to shrink... Pretty sure they don't. Kind of a BG3 situation where an obvious major player is completely missing from Circana's data   Mr Swine The Fallen Oct 26, 2017 6,931 Sweden cw_sasuke said: Glad to see The Hundred Lines in the Switch charts at least. Switch outsold Xbox ? Seems kinda wild with Switch 2 releasing soon and a kinda stacked release schedule for Xbox and GP. Click to expand... Click to shrink... One would think that Xbox would start outselling Switch before Switch 2 hits the market  jroc74 Member Oct 27, 2017 34,053 cw_sasuke said: Glad to see The Hundred Lines in the Switch charts at least. Switch outsold Xbox ? Seems kinda wild with Switch 2 releasing soon and a kinda stacked release schedule for Xbox and GP. Click to expand... Click to shrink... What remains shocking to me is Xbox can sell better, and still come in 3rd.   Granjinhaa Member Dec 28, 2023 9,627 cw_sasuke said: Switch outsold Xbox ? Seems kinda wild with Switch 2 releasing soon and a kinda stacked release schedule for Xbox and GP. Click to expand... Click to shrink... it did? i don't see in the bluesky thread   Threadmarks Xbox #2, Switch#3 New Index Tsunami561 Member Mar 7, 2023 5,359 cw_sasuke said: Switch outsold Xbox ? Seems kinda wild with Switch 2 releasing soon and a kinda stacked release schedule for Xbox and GP. Click to expand... Click to shrink... No View: https://bsky.app/profile/matpiscatella.bsky.social/post/3lpootbqmxh2e  New Index MarcosBrXD Member Aug 28, 2024 1,703 [CITAÇÃO="Sr. Swine, postagem: 140267553, membro: 8340"] Alguém poderia pensar que o Xbox começaria a vender mais que o Switch antes do Switch 2 chegar ao mercado [/CITAR] Principalmente nos EUA  Lant_War Classic Anus Game The Fallen Jul 14, 2018 25,286 Half the top 10 of PS is Microsoft Corp. Crazy   YozoraXV Member Oct 30, 2017 3,799 Real MS domination, interesting how ESO also got a boost from Oblivion.   Fabs Member Aug 22, 2019 2,753 Project Latitude in full effect. Xbox killing it right now. Bad Hardware year for everyone continues. Switch 2 can't come soon enough.  Mr Swine The Fallen Oct 26, 2017 6,931 Sweden Ah I see that it did outsell Switch, well good for Microsoft   FarSight XR-20 Member Jan 4, 2018 9,493 Oblivion Remastered sold more in 8 days than original game in first 15 months. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: Remastered sold more units in Apr 2025 than The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion achieved across its first 15 months in market combined following its March 2006 debut and generated more full game dollar sales than the original's first 14 months combined. Click to expand... Click to shrink...   mrmickfran The Fallen Oct 27, 2017 33,202 Gongaga Holy fuck @ Forza Hundred Line Defense in top 5 Switch titles is something? I guess  Terbinator Member Oct 29, 2017 13,373 XBS(+8%) Click to expand... Click to shrink... All according to keikaku?   UraMallas Member Nov 1, 2017 24,464 United States Xbox HARDWARE up? Well, you love to see that.  Maelstrom Member Apr 22, 2025 151 Lant_War said: Half the top 10 of PS is Microsoft Corp. Crazy Click to expand... Click to shrink... It won't be soon.   Tasman1991 Member Oct 22, 2024 446 Fabs said: Project Latitude in full effect. Xbox killing it right now. Bad Hardware year for everyone continues. Switch 2 can't come soon enough. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Bro PlayStation is down 5% and Microsoft's up 8% how is this bad   Mr Evil 37 Member Mar 7, 2022 27,772 YozoraXV said: interesting how ESO also got a boost from Oblivion. Click to expand... Click to shrink... It also had a showcase and updates and stuff. Don't think it was just Oblivion.   JAY_HORROR Member Sep 27, 2021 15,687 jroc74 Member Oct 27, 2017 34,053 Ok, this is better. Yeah....that price increase is gonna be rough.  Fabs Member Aug 22, 2019 2,753 Tasman1991 said: Bro PlayStation is down 5% and Microsoft's up 8% how is this bad Click to expand... Click to shrink... YOY and last April was bad. Lowest hardware spending since the covid shortages when everything is in stock and expensive.  GalvoAg Member Oct 30, 2017 2,608 Dallas Tasman1991 said: Bro PlayStation is down 5% and Microsoft's up 8% how is this bad Click to expand... Click to shrink... For real seems pretty healthy if anything considering Switch 2 around the corner.   Tasman1991 Member Oct 22, 2024 446 jroc74 said: Ok, this is better. Yeah....that price increase is gonna be rough. Click to expand... Click to shrink... So you're thinking everyone's getting their Xbox before are the price increase hits honestly I'm shocked that PlayStation 5 it's only - 5% down from last year that is insane   Gavalanche Prophet of Regret Member Oct 21, 2021 25,917 It makes sense there would be an increase on xbox consoles, everyone getting in before they increase the price. Maybe it explains why ps5 only dropped 5% as well, as the expectation is that they will also have a price increase.   Killer Member Oct 27, 2017 2,976 Microsoft PlayStation   g-m1n1 Member Oct 27, 2017 2,870 Luxembourg PS5 is Xbox Game Studios main platform. What a twist!  Gavalanche Prophet of Regret Member Oct 21, 2021 25,917 g-m1n1 said: PS5 is Xbox Game Studios main platform. What a twist! Click to expand... Click to shrink... They did release like six games this April, it is pretty expected :P  Tasman1991 Member Oct 22, 2024 446 Fabs said: YOY and last April was bad. Lowest hardware spending since the covid shortages when everything is in stock and expensive. Click to expand... Click to shrink... You do realise April's a quiet month right like you're not going to have constant high sales after it's peak right like you do realize this it will come down I don't want to be mean but it seems as you just go into these form posts and go this is bad and then just leave yet very 5% down from last year is actually very good for PlayStation considering they'd at at 2023 also at least Xbox is up in the Home Country through that could also be because people are getting Xbox is before the price increase   YupiScroopy Member Jun 28, 2023 149 LETS GO HUNDRED LINE!!  Mr Evil 37 Member Mar 7, 2022 27,772 g-m1n1 said: PS5 is Xbox Game Studios main platform. What a twist! Click to expand... Click to shrink... Not really if you look at the Doom numbers lol (or the Forza numbers). Sales might be high on PS but overall playerbase is still higher on Xbox.   mietek Member May 9, 2025 37 Gavalanche said: It makes sense there would be an increase on xbox consoles, everyone getting in before they increase the price. Click to expand... Click to shrink... The price hike was announced effective immediately, let's not revise history.   DamageEX2 Member May 20, 2024 1,247 No Expedition 33?   mietek Member May 9, 2025 37 Killer said: Microsoft PlayStation Click to expand... Click to shrink... Xbox Series P   cw_sasuke Member Oct 27, 2017 29,988 Thanks, this makes much more sense. The title made it seems like Switch was #2.  Miyoshi Member May 4, 2025 32 Lant_War said: Half the top 10 of PS is Microsoft Corp. Crazy Click to expand... Click to shrink... Yes, that's precisely the result of acquiring two major publishers and branding them under your name.   Mr Evil 37 Member Mar 7, 2022 27,772 RPGamer92 Member Oct 25, 2017 5,147 That's very good for FH5 especially as it came out at the end of the month.   g-m1n1 Member Oct 27, 2017 2,870 Luxembourg Mr Evil 37 said: Not really if you look at the Doom numbers lol (or the Forza numbers). Sales might be high on PS but overall playerbase is still higher on Xbox. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Of course talking about direct sales only (XGP don't show up on Circana numbers, except "player engagement"). If someone said this 3 years ago, he would be mocked by the whole forum.  Fabs Member Aug 22, 2019 2,753 Tasman1991 said: You do realise April's a quiet month right like you're not going to have constant high sales after it's peak right like you do realize this it will come down I don't want to be mean but it seems as you just go into these form posts and go this is bad and then just leave yet very 5% down from last year is actually very good for PlayStation considering they'd at at 2023 also at least Xbox is up in the Home Country through that could also be because people are getting Xbox is before the price increase Click to expand... Click to shrink... Both things can be true, and you would assume people would try to be purchasing hardware before Tariffs. April is historically bad, but dollars sales is alarming because a 700$ Pro exists. April 2023 was bad and this is worse. The whole year is down and likely to go down further on the big boy consoles with price increases. Switch 2 is needed just to stabilize the market and GTA being a year away is going to be a long wait.  Shopolic Avenger Oct 27, 2017 8,093 Forza Horizon 5! :O Imagine FH6 sales number when it'll be available day one on PS5!  ProdigyZA Member Jun 9, 2024 1,510 g-m1n1 said: PS5 is Xbox Game Studios main platform. What a twist! Click to expand... Click to shrink... This is not true.  

The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered tops April sales, becoming 2025's third-biggest selling game | US Monthly Charts Sales of games, hardware, and accessories all slip YoY, by 2%, 8%, and 2%, respectively Image credit: Bethesda News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on May 21, 2025 The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered topped Circana's charts for US game sales in April 2025 - becoming the third best-selling game of the year to date - while video game spending across games, hardware, and accessories all slipped a little year-on-year, by 2%, 8%, and 2%, respectively. As noted by analysts Circana, The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion: Remastered sold more units in April 2025 than The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion achieved across its first 15 months in market combined. It has also generated more "full game dollar sales" than the original’s first 14 months combined. As detailed by Circana's executive director, Mat Piscatella, Forza Horizon 5 was the second-best-selling game after its PS5 debut, whilst Indiana Jones and the Great Circle - which also jumped to PS5 this month - came in in third position. Four of the top five - and five of the top seven - best-selling PlayStation games were published by Microsoft. In news unlikely to surprise you, Call of Duty HQ led all titles when it comes to monthly active users, but Schedule 1 boasted the biggest active users in April on Steam. Monopoly Go!, Royal Match, and Candy Crush Saga were the biggest games in terms of consumer spending in April. Hardware sales in April fell to $186 million - that's down 8% year-on-year, and the "lowest monthly hardware dollar sales total reached in the US market since July 2020. While both PS5 and Switch hardware sales were down - the latter by a considerable 37% - Xbox bucked the trend by seeing Xbox Series sales increase by 8%. Accessory spending was down 2% YoY. “While April 2025 showed a slight decline in the U.S. mobile games market compared to March, several top games continued to perform strongly,” said Lexi Wei of Sensor Tower. “Gossip Harbor: Merge & Story experienced the most significant ranking improvement this month, climbing five spots to enter the top ten at #9. This surge was driven by a 9.8% increase in consumer spending, largely attributed to the Easter Jamboree event launched on April 10, which introduced new decorative content and gameplay elements.” Here are the top 20 selling games from the period April 6 to May 3, 2025, data courtesy of Circana: Rank Last month rank Title 1 NEW The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion: Remastered 2 42 Forza Horizon 5 3 2 MLB: The Show 25^ 4 11 Minecraft^^ 5 1 Assassin's Creed: Shadows 6 118 Indiana Jones and the Great Circle 7 6 Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 8 4 WWE 2k25 9 8 NBA 2K25 10 7 PGA Tour 2K25 11 3 Monster Hunter: Wilds 12 5 Split Fiction 13 23 The Last of Us: Part 2 14 13 EA Sports FC 25 15 12 Grand Theft Auto 5 16 14 Red Dead Redemption 2 17 29 The Elder Scrolls: Online 18 16 Elden Ring 19 10 Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 20 21 Hogwarts Legacy ^ Digital sales on Nintendo and Xbox platforms not included ^^ Digital sales on Nintendo platforms not included

News The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered Tops US Video Game Sales Charts in April Circana's Mat Piscatella also revealed that it sold more in its debut month than the original did in its first 15 months. Posted By Ravi Sinha | On 21st, May. 2025 If you haven’t heard, The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered is an unequivocal success. After shadow-dropping last month, it crossed 216,000 concurrent players on Steam (despite also being available on PC Game Pass). It would surpass four million players in four days and become the third best-selling game in the United States for 2025. Circana’s latest data for video game spending in the US has since confirmed that it topped sales charts for April 2025. Executive director and analyst Mat Piscatella added that it topped sales across PC, Xbox and PlayStation. But that’s not all. Oblivion Remastered sold more copies in its first month than the original did in its first 15 months combined. Full-game dollar sales are also higher than Oblivion’s first 14 months combined. Considering that the latter launched in March 2006 and sold over three million by January 2007, it’s safe to say that the remaster has beaten that, which is once again impressive considering it’s on Game Pass. Check out our review of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered for more details. Tagged With: Elden Ring: Nightreign Publisher:Bandai Namco Developer:FromSoftware Platforms:PS5, Xbox Series X, PS4, Xbox One, PCView More Borderlands 4 Publisher:2K Developer:Gearbox Entertainment Platforms:PS5, Xbox Series X, PCView More Death Stranding 2: On the Beach Publisher:Sony Developer:Kojima Productions Platforms:PS5View More Amazing Articles You Might Want To Check Out! Silent Hill f is a “Completely New Title, Independent of the Series,” Says Konami The publisher adds that its upcoming survival horror "can also be played by those who have never played the Si... The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered Tops US Video Game Sales Charts in April Circana's Mat Piscatella also revealed that it sold more in its debut month than the original did in its first... Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora Might Get Director’s Cut Re-Release – Rumour While Ubisoft hasn't commented on the matter yet, a Director's Cut release would likely also include both of t... PlayStation Stars Loyalty Program is Being Shut Down on November 2, 2026 No new members for PlayStation Stars will be accepted, and those that decide to end their membership early can... Rayman AAA Game in the Works According to Ubisoft Job Listings – Rumour The job listings for a senior game designer and 3D gameplay animator have since been taken down, but are on In... Samsung is Helping Manufacture Nintendo Switch 2 Chips on 8nm Node – Rumour Nintendo is seemingly ramping up production of the Switch 2 by partnering with Samsung to fabricate more chips... View More

Gen Alpha, the youngest generation of active consumers in the market, are teetering on the onset of teen angst. For many of them, an unavoidable trigger of it will be those pesky hormonal-triggered breakouts. It’s a moment for the skincare industry to once again swoop in and offer tweens and teens a smorgasbord of problem-skin creams, gels, patches and facemasks treatments. That part hasn’t changed for generations of consumers. What’s evolved are the strategies brands are using today to reach the youngest of them. Previous generations of teens, for instance, would see ads for acne brands in glossy magazines, newspaper inserts, on TV during Nickelodeon commercial breaks and on the radio.  None of this will effectively work with Gen Alpha, a fully digitally native cohort. They live and breathe the internet, gaming and social media.  So in March, Switzerland-based Galderma, maker of skincare brand Cetaphil and Differin (a popular over-the-counter acne treatment sold in Walmart, Target, Ulta and on Amazon), for the first time took its acne brand to one of Gen Alpha’s most popular hangouts—the gaming platform Roblox. Roblox has about 98 million active daily users, with 80% of them below the age of 25. On average, users spent a total of 21.7 billion hours on the platform just in its first quarter this year, up 30% from a year ago. “The when, the where and the why of [our] effort is very rooted in data,” says Tara Loftis, global president of dermatological skincare at Galderma. “Acne impacts 85% of people between the ages of 12 and 24. Where are tweens and younger GenZers spending most of their time? The answer is gaming.” Loftis and her team partnered with marketing agency Dentsu and “dreamed up what it would look like for Differin to integrate directly into Roblox.” [Screenshot: Galderma] A novel approach for skincare Walmart, Fenty Beauty, Crocs, H&M, PacSun, Nike and e.l.f. Beauty are among dozens of major brands that have created their presence in the Roblox metaverse. However, Differin’s entry, according to industry experts, makes it one of the first brands in the acne-care category to now be on Roblox. It is a novel approach by skincare brands trying to connect with young consumers, says Larissa Jensen, senior vice president and global beauty industry advisor at market research firm Circana. “Cosmetics brands, such as e.l.f, have been turning to Roblox to reach a very specific younger demographic. That isn’t new. But, for skincare [brands], it’s a little bit more challenging to integrate skincare into a gaming platform,” Jensen says. “With makeup, you can engage with the brand through gameplay where you put makeup on your avatar. It’s harder to interact in the metaverse with skincare. If Galderma has success with this strategy, you can bet that other brands will be paying attention.” The Roblox activation for Differin involves three mini games (for players ages 13 and up) as part of the brand’s “Level Up Lobby.”  [Screenshot: Galderma] In one game called “Foam Blaster,” the challenge is to use a blaster to clean hovering faces with Differin’s 10% benzoyl peroxide maximum strength foaming cleanser. Players in “Power Patch Splat” launch Differin power patches at the right moment to splat pimples. In “Zit Zapper,” the objective is to zap zits as they appear on hovering faces with Differin’s 10% Benzoyl Peroxide spot treatment. The goal with these roblox games, said Loftis, is to create brand awareness and educate “Gen Zalpa” (Gen Alpha and younger GenZers) about skincare through gamifying acne care and integrating Differin into that experience. Although players can’t buy Differin products on Roblox, they are able to upload their receipt for any Differin purchase to unlock virtual rewards in the games. “What we didn’t want to do was to have this look like ad necessarily, in the traditional sense,” says Loftis. “Two reasons for that. We are not able to target anyone under the age of 13, or to target people specifically that have acne. But what we can do is make that assumption about where 80% of acne sufferers are. They are Gen Zalpa and they’re on Roblox. [Screenshot: Galderma] Chasing the Roblox “Gold Rush” Clay Colarusso, head of TeenVoice, a teen market research and insights company, is very familiar with the “Gold Rush” of brands to the Roblox metaverse as they strive to capture the attention of the youngest shoppers and influence their future spending habits. Marketers trying to unlock the tween and teen markets and the billions of household dollars that they’re either influencing their parents to spend, or the dollars they’re spending directly, has been happening for decades, says Colarusso. “I’m a child of the 80s and I distinctly remember the toy and breakfast cereal commercials that would play one after another as I watched Saturday morning cartoons,” says Colarusso. “Kids back then would go to mom and dad and ask them to put the toy on the birthday wishlist.” The difference today, he says, is that the path to purchase is much shorter through digital marketing than it was with traditional media in the 80s. “If I’m on Roblox and I have an opportunity to buy, and maybe even have my parent’s credit card already preloaded in there, I can purchase immediately. Or, I can influence my parents to buy it for me,” Colarusso says. “It’s a marketer’s dream. But where it gets tricky is on the data side.” Brands have to be careful when they target young consumers. The Federal Trade Commission, through its Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA), prohibits companies, websites and online services from collecting personal information of children under 13 without parental approval. “The concern is really less about brands marketing to this demographic, with certain obvious exceptions, and more about data collection and privacy concerns especially when dealing with consumers under 13,” Colarusso says. “This is why folks get really nervous when they think about marketing or how to market to kids, and rightfully so. They need to behave in a judicious and prudent way.”Roblox says on its website that the platform is “compliant with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA) and other international regulatory standards.” For people 13 and older who are eligible to see ads, Roblox said ads “must be clearly and prominently disclosed using simple and understandable language.” “Hate to be sold to” According to Galderma, in less than 30 days after the Differin Roblox games launched, the Differin “Level Up Lobby” campaign (which ends on May 31) has attracted more than three million visits with more than 365,000 mini games and nearly 12,000 hours of brand engagement on the gaming platform. “We know that Gen Zalpha hates being sold to. These are games. If they struggle with acne, we hope to educate them about skincare through gaming that resonates,” says Loftis. “If not, it’s still a fun game.” So far, she says a fairly high number of people playing the games are “playing them completely.” “We went big on our gaming, which means we basically moved away 100% from traditional advertising for Differin,” Loftis says. “Gen Zalpha isn’t going to buy an acne patch because they see an ad. They’re going to buy it because they see a really compelling before and after result that their favorite gamer or TikToker talks about.”