While many brands struggle to reach younger audiences on traditional social platforms, a new era of 3D user-generated content is emerging as the next major social frontier.
Matthew Warneford, CEO of Roblox development studio Dubit, explains that this evolution, driven by generative AI, creates a powerful new opportunity for brands.
To authentically engage this audience, brands must build communities, plan for immersive commerce, and strategically partner with existing creators on these platforms.
The history of user-generated content follows a clear pattern: technology unlocks major creative waves by lowering the barrier to entry. First, open-source software enabled a boom in text publishing. Then, smartphones put a high-quality video camera in every pocket. Now, a third technological wave is putting that pattern back in motion, forcing brands to grapple with a new set of questions about the future of social platforms and digital commerce.
To understand the next wave of UGC, we spoke with Matthew Warneford, CEO of Dubit, a company at the forefront of the metaverse that has developed Roblox games with over 100 million plays. His work focuses on in-game commerce and brand experiences within the Roblox platform. As CEO of Metaventures and a board member at XR Games, Warneford is leading the 3D UGC conversation.
He points to clear inflection points, like when the release of the iPhone 4 and 4S caused YouTube's growth to skyrocket. Today, a similar unlock is happening for 3D content. “Open source unlocked UGC text. The iPhone unlocked UGC video. Generative AI will unlock UGC 3D,” he says. This unlock is a strategic priority for platforms like Roblox and, in turn, the advertising industry.
Flywheel of fortune: Warneford emphasizes the underlying economic engine driving this growth as the "creator flywheel." Roblox's 41% year-on-year growth is direct evidence of this model's power, fueled by robust creator monetization programs and consistently strong performance. "More creators means more content. More content attracts more consumers. More consumers means more money, and more money attracts more creators. Roblox has the exact same flywheel as YouTube and other creator platforms."
Déjà vu for doubters: For many industry observers, this growth is prompting a fundamental re-evaluation of what platforms like Roblox truly are. Warneford sees these environments as social platforms foremost, where users connect through shared experiences, whether that means playing dress-up with friends, attending virtual music events, or simply shopping together. "Broadcasters initially dismissed YouTube, arguing it was just low-quality content for kids. But over time, the quality improved, new content types emerged, and people now watch more YouTube than broadcast TV. We're seeing the same pattern with Roblox. It isn't a replacement for AAA computer games, but a new form of social experience pulling people in from spending time elsewhere," he outlines.
Warneford draws a direct parallel between a Roblox community and a Facebook or Instagram follower, making the value immediately tangible for marketers by translating it into a familiar metric. He explains this signifies a shift from a passive audience to an actively engaged community that brands can directly communicate with. "A Roblox community is the new Facebook or Instagram follower. It’s a direct channel where brands can post content to an audience of existing fans who have actively chosen to join."
Experiential goes exponential: Authenticity is paramount in this new environment. Warneford advocates for adding value by integrating into an existing popular game natively or being transparent about building a dedicated brand home within the platform. The value of these communities and creator partnerships is underpinned by a real and Roblox creator economy. "Brand sponsorships must add value to the player. It should be a natural fit for the game, but also offer a reward, like something cool, a fun experience, or new content paid for by the brand. This is experiential marketing at a digital scale," Warneford emphasizes.
From digital to physical: The move toward branded digital spaces, he observes, aligns with the much larger e-commerce trend of immersive shopping. "Immersive commerce will become a very big thing. There will be a billion people on these platforms, already buying billions of dollars in virtual items, and they can now integrate with Shopify or Amazon to buy physical items," he predicts.
So how do you measure success in a virtual world? Because Roblox does not allow outbound links, Warneford looks at brand lift studies rather than traditional ROI metrics. The real, long-term value lies in building a lasting, engaged community that provides a direct line of communication. "If you can acquire a million Gen Z followers in Roblox, you can post content to them, and they are notified via a push notification on their phone. To me, that's hugely valuable. That's reaching the next generation on the social platform they use today," he says.
As time spent in 3D worlds continues to rise, Warneford anticipates ad dollars to follow. To get ahead of the curve, start building community now, as acquiring those followers will only get more expensive. Second, he suggests planning an immersive commerce strategy to create a direct path to measurable ROI. Finally, Warneford notes that partnering with existing, popular games is the safest entry point for guaranteeing reach, offering a practical option for brands not yet ready to build their own dedicated world. "If a brand wants to reach that next generation, that's where they need to be: in Roblox."
