Walmart has joined the trend of the Metaverse launching Walmart Land and Universe of Play. This Metaverse space is an immersive 3D environment developed by Roblox in alliance with Walmart. And will be available for U.S. customers - free of charge - starting next Monday.
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Following CNBC coverage of this news, users will be able to enjoy multiple games finetuned for immersive virtual 3D experiences like a zeppelin that throws toys, entertainment events like virtual concerts, and music festivals with popular artists, alongside a plethora of online multiplayer games.
Obviously, the endgame and final goal of this Walmart Land multiverse virtual venue is to also be a virtual shopping mall, for very real shopping. Meaning, people inside the virtual environment will be able to actually purchase a selection of Walmart goods.
In this way, Walmart follows in the footsteps of other companies such as Nike, which have bet on virtual worlds in order to capture the attention of younger consumers, while exploring the opportunities offered by new technologies. In fact, Roblox has a community of more than 52 million daily users, many of them young people, a particularly valuable target for companies.
Walmart's chief marketing officer, William White, has indicated that these two new experiences have been designed with the next generation of shoppers - Generation Z - in mind: "How will we drive relevance in the cultural conversation? How will we build community and engagement? That's what we're trying to achieve here."
Each of the experiences is focused on offering different things to users. First, Walmart Land will feature a music festival-inspired environment, with a virtual store where Roblox users can trade badges and coins earned on the platform to purchase accessories for their avatars.
In addition, there will be a wheel of fortune, presenting a panoramic view of the virtual world, as well as tokens and badges that can be unlocked by winning in games and competitions.
