By: David Kleeman

In Teen Vogue, writer Taylor Lorenz explored a growing number of users congregating in Roblox to protest ICE—the US agency that has been aggressively arresting immigrants of late. The movement, concentrated in one of Roblox’s top life simulation games, Brookhaven, seems to have been triggered by transgressive players harassing others in-game with virtual ICE “raids” and “arrests”.

In response to these Roblox users in simulated Immigration and Customs Enforcement or SWAT uniforms chasing players around the virtual world, online protestors have been using the platform’s creator tools to equip their avatars with Mexican flags and protest signs bearing messages like “No one is illegal”.

We’re well past the debate about the potential of gaming to engender change in the world; the Games for Change festival and organization is more than 20 years old and global in its scope. Whether intentionally or by user hacks, Roblox games have hosted protests around the Ukraine war, Black Lives Matter, climate change, gender violence in gaming and more in recent years.

One might trace the escalation of “real-life” interventions into gaming worlds to the pandemic, when “down on the corner went up on the server”. Young people adopted and adapted every possible platform to serve as virtual, immersive proxies for the wide range of IRL experiences that had been shut off.

Rather than fading post-COVID, however, Gen Z and Alpha have approached their activism as a “yes, and” opportunity. They can act locally in the physical world and take part in global movements online. Those with particular interests can connect with similar-minded peers anywhere in the world.

Brands and IP owners would do well to pay attention and learn these lessons:

1) Gen Z and Alpha are not passive or disinterested citizens. From an early age, they’re paying attention to local, national and global issues, and listening to youth voices urging them to act.

2) Young people will seek spaces that meet their needs—and if they don’t find them, they’ll hack existing ones. Brookhaven didn’t program in the concept of protest gatherings, but users realized that the tools of activism are built into the kit of life sims.

3) As a corollary to point #1, every space can be a space where kids are now. Your content may be entirely irrelevant or even uninteresting to youth; you may maintain safe harbor practices; you may have plausible deniability about under-13 users; but where there’s a will there’s a way. All users deserve safety and civility, and it’s worth the extra effort to ensure your guardrails protect any young people who may be present.

4) Related, how much are you willing to allow those who come to your game or experience to adapt it to their vision of your brand or IP? If a fan-driven “mod” arose, do you have a rubric for deciding whether to shut it down, let it take its own shape, or actively encourage it? You don’t always have to allow what users want, but showing that you are listening to them builds trust.

5) Niche is now. Whatever your cause (or hobby or passion or fandom), you can find your community in user-generated content platforms (games and video). How are you attracting, engaging, connecting and supporting followers with unique interests and deeply held beliefs?

It’s a new era, and “Power to the People” now encompasses “Power to the Players”. Activate your avatar and join the movement!

DAVID KLEEMAN is a strategist, analyst, author and speaker who has worked in children’s media for more than 35 years. He is SVP of global trends at metaverse studio and research consultancy Dubit.

Image courtesy of Dubit.