MassivelyOP’s Weirdest MMO Stories of 2024: The meatball MMO metaverse

January 5, 2025 4:00 PM

Today we’re closing out our traditional countdown of MassivelyOP’s weirdest MMORPG stories of the year, that year being 2024!

Coming in at #1 on our list is…

Stop trying to make the Roblox metaverse happen

I couldn’t decide between these three stories, but really, they are the same story, as real-world corporations continue to try to muzzle in on Roblox’s marketshare with The Youths, but in the most hamfisted of ways. So cringe, as said Youths would say. Not slapping, not eating, negative rizz. To wit:

The folks behind the Beetlejuice movie made a Roblox minigame that literally runs through Fandango to sell kids (it’s kids who play Roblox) tickets.
Walmart thought it would be a great idea to set up a storefront in Roblox where kids (again, it’s kids who play this game) can buy Walmart things and have these physical objects delivered to their actual houses.
And IKEA thought it would try the same thing by opening a furniture store in Roblox using actual live employees in the UK as showroom vendors, but at least IKEA one-upped Roblox and is actually paying people for this work. “Ten lucky candidates will be selected to work in different sections of the store like the Showroom and Bistro, helping people choose their furniture, serving meatballs, having the chance to win exclusive UGCs and much more” was the company pitch.

I really need this metaverse stuff to finish un-aliving. It’s embarrassing. It’s got the ick. It’s cooked, even.