Aquaman Simulator: The Lost Kingdom
View the case- Brand
- Warner Bros.
- Year
- 2023
- Objective
- Product Launch
- Industry
- Entertainment
- Mechanic
- Arcade & Action
- Platform
- In-Game
- Agency
- The Gang
Objective
Warner Bros. Pictures needed to build hype for the theatrical release of "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" and reach audiences outside traditional movie marketing channels — holding onto the franchise's existing millennial fanbase while meeting Gen Z on ground they already occupy, inside Roblox. The studio also wanted the campaign to leave a physical trace: film-themed wearables players would keep in their Roblox inventory long after the movie left theaters.
Solution
Players land in a Roblox recreation of Atlantis and fight off waves of Black Manta's henchmen, earning coins with each kill. Coins buy increasingly powerful tridents, and enough spending unlocks the next of four underwater zones, each capped by a boss encounter. Along the way, players run into Aquaman, Topo, and the sea dragon Storm, and can watch the movie's trailer play inside the world. Hitting specific milestones — first kill, first trident bought, a zone cleared, Black Manta defeated — unlocks free limited-edition gear (a T-shirt, a golden trident, a Black Manta mask, a Storm shoulder pet), each capped at a fixed run and one per player, and a seahorse at the lobby lets players pull a friend into the game with them.
Results
1M+ visits in the first month. 487,256 players defeated their first enemy, 374,986 bought a first trident, and repeat spending ran deep: 128,452 players bought 10+ tridents, 55,061 bought 25+, and 1,597 bought 100+. The zone-progression funnel held at 212,949 (zone 2), 109,647 (zone 3), and 69,738 (zone 4) players, with 66,345 beating the final boss and 53,731 claiming the Trident of Atlan. All 45,000 limited-edition T-shirts and all 40,000 Golden Tridents were claimed out; 31,337 of the 40,000 Black Manta Masks had been claimed as of the last check.
- 1
The player finds the experience on Roblox under a title flagged "[Limited UGC]", with a description promising free limited-edition items and an invitation to save Atlantis from Black Manta across four underwater zones. Tapping Play drops the player straight into the game.
- 2
The avatar spawns in a lobby modeled on the film's version of Atlantis, which serves as the hub connecting to each playable zone. The lobby holds reward display stands and a screen looping the movie's trailer for players to watch in-world.
- 3
The core loop is combat: players strike down waves of NPC enemies working for Black Manta, earning coins for each kill, with the first kill unlocking a badge.
- 4
Coins are spent on increasingly powerful tridents at an in-game shop, starting with a 300-coin bronze trident; stronger tridents kill enemies faster, which generates more coins for the next purchase. Badges track this grind at set milestones — trident counts and total enemies defeated.
- 5
A seahorse NPC near the lobby opens the player's Roblox friends list so they can invite others into the game, functioning as a built-in referral loop. Inviting a friend and playing for at least 20 minutes together unlock a free limited-edition T-shirt.
- 6
Spending enough coins unlocks each of three further zones in sequence — a citadel, a cave system, and a frozen final realm — every one tougher than the last, paying out more coins, and selling its own tier of stronger tridents; each unlock is marked with its own badge.
- 7
In the final zone, players push through a corridor of enemies to reach Black Manta, a boss with 750,000 HP. Landing the finishing hit — ideally before any other player, since a kill triggers a 15-minute respawn — with the strongest available trident defeats him.
- 8
Beating the boss teleports the player back to the starting map to claim a Golden Trident back accessory from a display stand. A separate, much longer side-track — five boss kills plus dozens of zone-four kills and trident purchases — unlocks a Black Manta mask for players who keep grinding.
- 9
A limited-time pet becomes available for a short window tied to the film's release, and franchise characters appear throughout the zones as the player explores. Every unlocked item — T-shirt, trident, mask, and pet — stays equippable in the player's Roblox inventory across other games, extending the film's promotion beyond the experience itself.
