Gen Z spends more time on Roblox and Fortnite than TikTok and YouTube combined.
That’s why brands from NASCAR to Coach to Logitech are showing up inside the games Gen Z already loves.
How?
Fast, high-impact integrations.
This article covers how you can do the same. Let’s get into it. 👇
What is a gaming integration?
A gaming integration is when a brand activates inside an existing experience on gaming platforms like Roblox or Fortnite for a time-limited period. Think of Versace integrating into Murder Mystery, a popular game on Fortnite.
Sam Harvey has created numerous gaming strategies that feature integrations for brands like Ralph Lauren, Sam’s Club, and LEGO. Here’s what he has to say about integrations:
“The core question behind an integration should be: What unique value can my brand offer this player? The most successful integrations don’t just show a potential customer a product. They embed the brand into a core memory they’re creating in real-time with their friends. An integration should feel native to the world and the player’s journey. The moment an integration breaks the immersion, it becomes a distraction, and your brand is no longer part of the fun.”
Why are gaming integrations so popular with brands?
Integrations are the most popular and fastest-growing activation type for brands in virtual worlds. Brand integrations increased 93% in 2024 vs. 2023.
Here are just a few reasons why gaming integration strategies are so popular:
- They are time-limited activations that require less investment than building a fully owned experience. They’re easier to budget for within short-term, campaign-driven strategies.
- They go live fast, often in a few months, making them ideal for product launches, seasonal campaigns, or reactive moments.
- You get access to large, pre-existing audiences without needing to build your own community from scratch.
- Engagement is more qualified. With tools like GEEIQ, you can integrate into experiences where your target audience is already most active.
- Cost is lower. Compared to the time, resources, and spend required to launch a full branded world, integrations offer a more efficient way to test and scale.
- Like influencer marketing, integrations let you run multiple campaigns across different experiences to see which ones deliver the strongest results.
- They offer a valuable test-and-learn opportunity to trial creative, messaging, and audience targeting in gaming.
- Because players are already spending time in these games, integrations feel native and authentic to the environment, driving higher engagement and more brand love.
How to choose the right game to integrate into
Most brands get stuck at step one: deciding where to show up.
With thousands of games across platforms like Roblox, picking the right one to integrate into the right market can feel like guesswork. That’s where GEEIQ’s Geotargeted Integrations feature comes in.
Instead of wasting budget on the wrong experience, this tool helps you identify the most popular, top-earning, and up-and-coming Roblox experiences across key markets.
Whether you’re launching a product in Brazil or scaling a campaign across APAC, Geotargeted Integrations lets you filter by country, player activity, uniqueness, and more so you can activate where it counts, faster.
Charles Hambro, CEO & Co-Founder of GEEIQ, elaborates on how to find your target audience in gaming. 👇
3 brands reaching Gen Z audiences through gaming integrations
1. Maybelline
In July 2024, Maybelline took over Roblox’s Paradise RP (4.1k average active players) to promote its Sunkisser Blush.
What were the results?
In just two months, the brand achieved:
- Increased product education – 38.5 million impressions and 2.4 million mini-game playthroughs teaching players how to apply the blush.
- High brand interest – 25 million item try-ons, indicating strong interest in Maybelline’s community-focused virtual items.
- High engagement – 42 minutes of average engagement from users who redeemed Maybelline’s virtual items.
By tapping into a space where Gen Z already spends time, Maybelline didn’t just launch a product. It created an interactive experience that drove education, engagement, and affinity at scale.
2. Versace
Versace dropped its Mercury sneaker into Murder Mystery (10.8k average active players), one of Fortnite’s top Creative maps, turning gameplay into product discovery.
Rather than building its own world, Versace used a high-impact integration to meet its audience where they already were.
With GEEIQ’s platform and team of experts, the brand was able to:
- Identify a Fortnite experience that aligned with its fashion-forward audience.
- Validate a Twitch livestream strategy featuring Agent00, whose audience had a 1.35x affinity for fashion and helped the campaign hit 19.9k peak CCV.
- Launch an activation that connected with Gen Z through culture and gameplay, not guesswork.
3. NASCAR
GEEIQ partner NASCAR is building loyalty with the next generation of racing fans on the platforms they actually spend time on.
NASCAR partnered with GEEIQ data partner Voldex to bring real-world cars and exclusive virtual items into Driving Empire on Roblox. This included releasing 24 team liveries and branded vehicle drops in the experience. It only took a month for the experience to see 50 million new visits since the launch of their integration strategy.
By combining integrations in Driving Empire with a broader Fortnite strategy focused on owned experiences, NASCAR is scaling both reach and loyalty among Gen Z and Gen Alpha audiences.
Key takeaways
Gaming integrations aren’t a trend. They’re a proven, performance-driven way to reach Gen Z and Gen Alpha at scale.
Whether you’re dropping into Roblox role-play games, embedding branded challenges inside Fortnite maps, or building loyalty through CRM tie-ins, integrations give you speed, flexibility, and access to communities that already exist.
But success depends on getting one thing right: where you show up.
That’s why brands like essence cosmetics, Coach, and Walmart use GEEIQ to identify where their audiences are most engaged and how to meet them there with impact.
The fastest, most effective way to engage Gen Z today? Show up inside the games they already love.
Ready to make gaming part of your strategy without wasting time or budget? Let’s talk. 👇
