Perfetti Van Melle’s lollipop brand, Chupa Chups, in partnership with Wavemaker UK and interactive entertainment and lifestyle company, Misfits Gaming Group, has made its debut on Roblox with a brand-new game, ‘Chupa Chups: Skate & Create.’

The first iteration launched last Thursday and allows users to head out into the city alone or with friends and other players to spread their artistic creativity far and wide with an assortment of street art and tags to choose from. Spray cans scattered across the map allow players to decorate the streets with vibrant paint inspired by Chupa Chups flavours.

As the bright vibes of Chupa Chups are painted across the city over time, new items, areas and activities are unlocked for players to explore via skates or skateboards. Additionally, by stringing together tricks and jumps, and spreading their creativity with street art, players literally and figuratively ‘Grind for Cred’, which can be spent in the Chupa Chups Shop to get the perfect piece of art or to get their hands on new, stylish threads. Whether opting into missions, such as grabbing a water gun for an impromptu water battle or an organic game of tag in the Grind for Cred, Chupa Chups: Skate & Create is designed for play with others and as a space for users to build communities. 

The entry into Roblox comes as the brand looks to build cultural relevance amongst younger, growing audiences. As, according to Deloitte, 98 per cent of UK Gen-Z are gamers of some kind and spend, on average, 4.7 days a week gaming, Wavemaker UK and Perfetti Van Melle settled on Roblox as the environment to build new connections with a younger audience. As well as selecting Roblox, Wavemaker’s insights and research around Gen-Z enabled Chupa Chups to establish the game mission and concept of ‘Creative Empowerment’ or handing over creative freedom for Gen-Z to authentically express themselves through the brand. 

Wavemaker’s Applied Innovation and Sports, Live & Gaming teams were also responsible for developing a test-and-learn gaming roadmap for Chupa Chups, and selecting the build partner, Misfits-owned studio, Pixel Playground. The media agency’s Studio and Innovation teams have worked closely with Pixel Playground, Roblox’s own game studio, to develop the experience. 

While the experience was initially planned as UK-only, due to demand, it will be rolled out to additional markets, and the brand world will continue to develop and expand with subsequent releases. In future, Chupa Chups, Wavemaker and Misfits will also look into further testing, including potential opportunities such as real-life events, seasonal content drops and alignments with licensing.

“Gaming is an area we’ve had our eyes on for a while,” said Kim McMahon, Brand Manager – Chupa Chups, Perfetti Van Melle. “We know it’s a rich territory to connect with younger audiences. But in the rapidly-changing ecosystem that is online gaming, identifying the best place to start testing and learning can be challenging. Working with Wavemaker and their partner Misfits made this process not just simple but really enjoyable. They guided us to unlock the best opportunity spaces for us. This gaming pilot is the first in what we see as a long-term roadmap of gaming investments to connect with our audience to drive growth for the Chupa Chups brand.”