HOLLYWOOD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--“Virtual Vote,” the world's first immersive Generation Z voter awareness campaign, launched a cross platform experience on Roblox today in partnership with HeadCount’s “Good To Vote” campaign, to empower players to check voter registration and use their voice in the upcoming election. Roblox users will find the immersive pop-up experience across the platform, including in Fashion Klossette, Floor is Lava, Race Clicker, Bayside High School, and Livetopia reaching 60 million active users, to check their voter registration status [CHECK STATUS HERE]. “Virtual Vote” has also partnered with HeadCount to provide opportunities for players through headcount.org to enter to win once-in-a-lifetime experiences such as a trip to Los Angeles to meet Jimmy Kimmel on set, a private snowboarding lesson with three-time Olympic medalist Jamie Anderson, and VIP tickets to a Sabrina Carpenter concert in San Francisco. In addition, players can earn coveted, limited-edition avatar merchandise by iconic virtual designer Whosetrade, creator of one of the most luxurious limited-edition items ever bought on Roblox (LINK).
Gen Z is one of America’s largest blocks with 40 million voters, 16 million of which can vote for the first time in a Presidential election this year. However, only 28.4% turned out in 20221. Virtual Vote’s new experiential approach meets Gen Z where they spend the most time, averaging 78 hours per user per month on Roblox2 — more time than on the top three social media platforms combined. Visitors to the Virtual Vote’s game are greeted by Sam the Eagle’s “voting is your voice” and immersed in an interactive map where they can learn about the states and how voting works.
“Virtual Vote,” is a nonpartisan powered initiative of Roblox community creators, developers, digital designers, and agencies that have successfully leveraged the ‘power of play’ within over 300 immersive experiences, driving hundreds of millions of consumer engagements for movies, sports leagues, and fashion, beauty, fitness and retail brands. This powerful collective is now doing the same for America.
“The influence of Generation Z is undeniable — they make brands, build icons, and shape our culture and society — and they can do the same for democracy,” said Justin W. Hochberg, CEO of Virtual Brand Group and Founder of Virtual Vote, “Just as MTV “Rocked the Vote” and Taylor Swift drove 400,000 people towards voter registration, Virtual Vote is meeting Gen Z where they are today. An incredible 57% of players say they discover brands while gaming3 — it’s how global fashion, sports and entertainment brands are connecting with younger generations — now we’re making it work for the world’s biggest brand, America.”
“Virtual Vote believes in a core principle — engagement in a representative democracy is the only way to preserve it. We want to cultivate that lesson in young generations and inspire them to act upon it,” said Matt Edelman, President & Chief Commercial Officer of Super League and a Founding Partner of Virtual Vote. “Capturing Gen Z’s attention in the 3D spaces where they are joyous and focused creates the opportunity to have a profound impact.”
"The most effective way to drive voter registration and turnout is to meet young voters where they are, and make the experience exciting and positive," said Tappan Vickery, Senior Director of Strategy and Programming with HeadCount. "Integrating into experiences on Roblox is an ideal way to engage young people where they are spending their time."
The industry leaders driving “Virtual Vote” include Virtual Brand Group, Super League, Dubit, Think Influence, Skylight Media, GEEIQ and Sawhorse. HeadCount is a veteran youth voter engagement platform that has registered 1.3 million people over 20 years.
To see how Gen Z and Roblox users can check their registration status go to https://links.impactive.io/t/ywtd3z4a.
About Virtual Vote
Virtual Vote empowers and amplifies youth culture’s voice through games to impact the global democratic process. Virtual Vote is a nonpartisan community of leading Roblox developers, creators, games, brands and agencies responsible for over 300 of the most successful and awarded games, media campaigns, and virtual fashion collections engaging over 500MM consumers worldwide. You may not know our names, but the elusive Gen Z and Alpha consumers have likely played our games, cheered our team experiences, seen the movies we promoted, listened to the music we’ve launched or bought the fashion we designed.
- Instagram: @VirtualVote
- TikTok: @VirtualVote
- X/Twitter: @VirtualVoteNow
About HeadCount
HeadCount is a nonpartisan organization that uses the power of music and popular culture to register voters and promote participation in Democracy. We reach young people where they already are to inform and empower. Our goal is long-term, lasting change where participation in Democracy is ingrained in youth culture and high voter turnout is the norm, no matter what's on the ballot. Since 2004, we’ve registered over one million voters through our work with musicians like Ariana Grande, Harry Styles, Lizzo, Dead & Co, Billie Eilish and Alicia Keys; organizations such as Global Citizen; events including Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Pride festivals and RuPaul’s DragCon; plus partnerships with brands like Spotify, Major League Baseball and American Eagle. Our award-winning online campaigns have been seen over a billion times, while our 60,000 volunteers can be seen at more than 3,000 live events each year. We reach young people where they already are — at concerts and online — to inform and empower.
1 Center for Civic Information Learning and Engagement October 2023
2 Data according to Gitnux.org report July 2024
3 Newzoo 2023 global gamer study