Brands are understandably excited by the prospect of advertising on Roblox – it helps them to engage with hard-to-reach Gen Z audiences, and appears to bring the much-vaunted prospect of metaverse marketing one step closer to reality – but poor-quality ads may compromise the experience that makes Roblox so popular in the first place.

Getting ready for portals

Roblox’s immersive ad formats are known as “portals”. These whisk users away to immersive experiences – such as Vans World, NIKELAND, or Spotify Island – that already exist today. These 3D ads will be easily identifiable, and will be...