Barrier 4 has give you a brand new sort of Roblox recreation: An animated present on Netflix that has a playable scene the place the present turns right into a online game. It’s referred to as “playable media.”
It’s like a TV present or film that’s playable, and Barrier 4 is beginning with video games based mostly on the Cobra Kai TV present and the Spellbound film. It’s a type of transmedia that hasn’t actually been completed earlier than. The Cobra Kai recreation, for example, takes place halfway via an animated TV episode, when the entire dojo will get right into a battle.
It’s a brand new sort of recreation from a seasoned Roblox recreation developer, Barrier 4, based mostly in Pendleton, Indiana, mentioned Jonathan Millar, chief advertising and marketing officer of Barrier 4, in an interview with GamesBeat.
“We think of this as a brand new medium,” Millar mentioned. “It’s playable media.”
Barrier 4 and Netflix have joined forces to create new experiences on the Roblox platform, bringing gamers nearer than ever to the worlds of Cobra Kai and Spellbound. In a brand new format, Roblox gamers will have interaction in absolutely interactive, playable scenes straight from each universes.
In these experiences, gamers shall be transported into two distinct worlds inside Netflix’s central hub on Roblox, Nextworld. They’ll first step into a fascinating musical scene from Spellbound, reliving an iconic second from the film.
A couple of weeks later, gamers can immerse themselves in a high-intensity martial arts showdown, embodying Robbie from Cobra Kai as they be part of Miyagi-do teammates in a recreated scene from the present.
Each experiences showcase a seamless fusion of gaming and media, achieved via superior animation and proprietary expertise crafted totally inside Roblox.
A singular format made for Netflix
There are tons of experiences accessible on Roblox — six million of them, in truth. However it is a distinctive alternative for Netflix to make use of the novelty of the “playable media” to capitalize on its place in each video games and video leisure.
It additionally allows Netflix via Nextworld to achieve the 88.9 million each day lively customers on Roblox, which is capturing a era of younger people who find themselves very onerous to achieve in every other manner. Netflix has been creating plenty of cellular recreation experiences, however Barrier 4’s strategy is entering into the territory of enabling Netflix to do one thing that many different corporations can’t do — make fast video games out of streaming reveals for the time being after they’re actually standard.
Cobra Kai expertise
In a never-before-seen format, Roblox gamers will immerse themselves in a completely interactive and playable scene straight from the hit Netflix collection, experiencing the motion and suspense firsthand. The battle scene lasts nearly a minute or so in playable kind, but it surely will get the purpose throughout.
On this progressive expertise, gamers will step into the footwear of Robbie and battle alongside Miyagi-do teammates in one of the adrenaline-pumping scenes from Cobra Kai. This one-to-one recreation mirrors the unique Netflix episode, providing followers an genuine, high-intensity martial arts showdown from inside Nextworld, Netflix’s central hub inside Roblox. By cutting-edge animation and proprietary
expertise, the scene has been tailored and engineered totally inside Roblox, seamlessly mixing the boundaries of gaming and media.
It’s a brief battle scene, however one you may play repeatedly. And it proves the purpose of a seamless transition from animated present to recreation.
“The Cobra Kai scene is like streaming television, fighting a battle that celebrates the IP,” Millar mentioned.
For Barrier 4, collaborating with Netflix on this mission has been a dream, Millar mentioned. Collectively, they’ve been capable of take Cobra Kai to an entire new stage of fan engagement, making ‘Playable Media’ the way forward for go-to-market technique.
On this case, it’s only one second captured in playable kind. However sooner or later, you may think about that an entire bunch of scenes may very well be playable, permitting gamers to go from scene to scene, both in an animated sequence or in a playable sequence.
It’s an experiment to date, however one that might result in extra whether it is profitable.
“From a capability standpoint, we could do a whole movie if we wanted to and put 20 gameplay elements throughout it,” mentioned Millar. “But I think the sweet spot for studios is probably going to be in that anywhere from 30 seconds to five minutes.”
He added, “I think it’s going to be a balance, depending on the IP. How much do you want people watching? How much do you want people playing? And what is the space between each of those elements? Watch enough, play enough. And then you can kind of keep it going.”
Spellbound
Spellbound is an animated musical journey film that stars Rachel Ziegler, John Lithgow, Jennifer Lewis, Nicole Kidman, and Javier Bardem. It debuts on November 22 completely on Netflix. It was directed by Vicky Jenson.
The Pixar-like animated movie is a few younger woman named Ellian from the magic world of Lumbria. She has to interrupt a spell that turned her kingdom into two elements and reworked her mother and father into monsters.
The work took a number of months to do each tasks, the place the duty was to rework one scene right into a playable kind. Within the case of Spellbound, the thought was to take you into the fantasy world of the film and allow you to really feel what it was wish to be there. It’s also possible to play a sort of Guitar Hero-like recreation the place you must click on or faucet to hit the notes as they scroll by at quick speeds.
“What we did here is we did something very similar to Cobra Kai, but it’s a very different experience,” Millar mentioned. “You start in the Nextworld experience from Netflix on Roblox. And then you move into this scene.”
The sport has 100 completely different characters to animate, making it extra complicated than the Cobra Kai expertise, he mentioned.
“This took the project to a different level,” he mentioned. “We are pushing the line with memory management on Roblox” with the extent of realism.
The scene recasts a 30-second second of the film and it yields about 5 minutes of gameplay for the gamers who wish to relive the expertise. You possibly can play it on straightforward, medium or onerous and carry on enjoying to enhance your rating. It’s additionally a type of rewarded gameplay. Whenever you end it, you get a reward of user-generated content material.
“The players are actually rewarded and incentivized through IP-specific UGC. So not only are you
Robloxifying the media, you’re rewarded with IP from the media, and you’re getting getting to kind of sing along and bond with the IP as a whole. So it’s a different vibe than Cobra Kai,” mentioned Millar.
These experiences sign a major shift in media, mixing cinematic storytelling with the hands-on nature of gaming in a manner that’s by no means been completed earlier than. Whereas transmedia collaborations have been gaining momentum—via in-game billboards, video integrations, and branded pop-ups—this collaboration is charting new territory.
For the primary time, scenes from each a film and TV present have been translated right into a playable 1:1 expertise inside Roblox.
This goes past conventional transmedia, by fusing the immersive facets of gaming with the narrative depth of streaming media, Barrier 4 is coining the time period “Playable Media.” This isn’t nearly watching the story unfold—that is about enjoying it.
The way forward for go-to-market technique
As manufacturers proceed to discover new avenues to interact with their audiences, Barrier 4 is setting a brand new precedent.
Millar mentioned this expertise marks the start of a brand new chapter in how audiences work together with media, mixing the very best of each worlds: gaming and cinematic storytelling, creating deeper connections and unforgettable moments for followers.
“This is exciting because this is a go to market strategy for Netflix for both a streaming TV program and for a new movie. So we’re getting two distinct really cool use cases,” Millar mentioned.
Play now
Have a good time the launch of Spellbound and play this first-of-its-kind expertise from inside Netflix’s Nextworld.
Barrier 4 is a cutting-edge animation studio, born on Roblox, that focuses on creating high-performing campaigns on the Roblox platform. With over 150 model companions and a formidable 11 billion recreation visits, the corporate is revolutionizing the business via disruptive options that drive engagement and development.
