Roblox players have been cultivating a thriving fashion industry for some time now, with its young player-base shelling out real dollars for in-game clothing and accessories made by Roblox content creators. Recently, fashion house Gucci brought its 'Gucci Garden Experience' to Roblox, allowing players to wander an artistic garden and purchase in-game Gucci items for their characters, some of which skyrocketed in price thanks to huge demand.
Gucci have used Roblox as a way to promote its brand before, with the Gucci Sneaker Garage event being used to advertise their virtual sneakers, created by designer Alessandro Michele. Roblox is somewhat notorious for its young demographic, with data suggesting that approximately 67% of its users are under the age of 16, and these events are likely a good way to introduce the luxury brand to younger players; especially as Roblox has its own fashion industry bolstered by fan-created content.
Roblox has become incredibly popular over the years with user-created content that is purchasable using the in-game currency 'Robux,' helping to spur it on. Most items sold during the Gucci Garden Experience were relatively cheap by Gucci's standards. For instance, a pair of diamond sunglasses were sold for around 120 Robux ($1.40 USD,) however, these items were only sold for brief periods of time, meaning that players needed to be quick to grab the items before they disappeared.
An item based on a real-life Gucci design, much like Gucci's collaboration with Pokémon and North Face, saw a particularly huge spike in price. The item is a Gucci bag with a large bee print on the front and the Gucci logo patterned across it, and originally sold in-game for $5.50, but after being snapped up by eager fans, it was quickly resold for ridiculous prices. Some Roblox users managed to sell their bags for hundreds of thousands of Robux, with one selling for an incredible 350,000 Robux, which equates to over $4000. Many pointed out that instead of buying a Gucci bag in Roblox, that money could buy you the same Gucci bag in real life.
While the thriving economy of Roblox is often a testament to the creativity of the game's young content creators, this incident is perhaps a concern for parents of young children playing the game, especially if they have access to a guardian's credit card. Having said that, Roblox isn't entirely populated by children, and there is a strong possibility that it was an adult purchasing the in-game bag to make their in-game character the most fashionable on the block. They should perhaps make a note that if they want Gucci products that badly, they could likely spend less money on a real-life Gucci bag in the future.
Roblox is available now on Mobile, PC, Mac, and Xbox One.
Source: Polygon