Wicked RP
View the case- Brand
- Wicked
- Year
- 2024
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Entertainment
- Mechanic
- Adventure & Quest
- Platform
- In-Game
- Agency
- Sawhorse Productions
Objective
Universal needed Gen Z and Gen Alpha in seats for a film built on a 20-year-old Broadway musical they had no history with. The brief was to turn the story into a living world teens could see themselves in — a place to express identity, friendship, and not fitting in — and to turn that engagement directly into ticket sales ahead of two theatrical releases.
Solution
Players join Wicked RP as a Shiz University student, building an avatar with a name, pronouns, and bio, then dressing it in free costume-inspired items from the film. From campus they attend classes, chat with NPC characters, pick up lore-driven quests, and level up a Best Friends meter with other players, unlocked further by performing a two-player "Secret Handshake" emote face to face. Exploring further unlocks Munchkinland and the Emerald City, with seasonal events like a Sorcery obstacle course, the Ozdust ball, a tulip harvest, and a 24-hour New Year's party. Real movie tickets can be bought straight from the game through an in-experience Fandango link, which also unlocks bonus free items. The world kept expanding for over two years, adding a broomstick-and-bubble-flight update for the sequel before closing with a farewell "Wicked Memories Passport" and final in-game party.
Results
5.4 million unique players and 10.6 million visits by early 2025; grew to 23.5 million+ total visits and a 92% rating across 50,000+ reviews by November 2025. In-experience content generated $226,000 in revenue, reinvested into the game. 31% of young female moviegoers on the film's record opening weekend had previously interacted with Wicked RP. Roblox platform data from August 2026 shows 29,448,119 total visits and 290,598 favorites.
- 1
Players launch Wicked RP, a Roblox roleplay experience built by Sawhorse Productions for NBCUniversal under the verified Wicked Movie Official account, and load into the Shiz University campus; they choose a role from a menu (student, or professor in a later update) and customize a character with a name, pronouns, and bio to roleplay as themselves or an original character.
- 2
New players receive free UGC cosmetic items modeled on the film's costumes, such as Elphaba's glasses and Glinda's wand, letting them assemble an Elphaba or Glinda look or mix pieces into their own.
- 3
Players explore the Shiz University campus freely — its buildings, interiors, library, dining hall, and boating waters were recreated from LiDAR scans of the film's sets and behind-the-scenes material.
- 4
Players follow a class schedule, joining lessons flagged by pulse notifications for rewards and Aura Points, and reserve and decorate their own dorm room.
- 5
Players approach film characters like Glinda, Elphaba, Madame Morrible, and Dr. Dillamond to pick up quests tied to the movie's story, complete them around campus with a confirming sound and reward, and collect emeralds — the in-world currency — scattered through the world.
- 6
Players can tackle the Sorcery Race Obby, a magic-class obstacle course that requires using wand powers to clear it, rewarding emeralds on completion.
- 7
Players socialize through the Secret Handshake emote, performed face-to-face with another player; build a Best Friends meter with a companion to unlock rewards unavailable solo; dance together at the Ozdust Ballroom; and fly across the world on Elphaba's broom or in Glinda's bubble.
- 8
Outside the roleplay, players can watch the film's official trailer without leaving the experience, buy real movie tickets through an in-game Fandango integration for a free UGC reward, and spend on optional cosmetic effects and premium gamepasses like Popular and Oz Royalty.
- 9
The experience expands over time as a live-service world: a Munchkinland update adds a tulip-collecting scavenger hunt with new UGC, a 24-hour New Year's Eve party at the Ozdust Ballroom brings a "swankified" look and holiday quests, an Emerald City update opens new districts, a Wizard meeting, and the "Yellow Brick Roadblock" quest, and further locations — Glinda's apartments, Elphaba's hideout, the Wizard's throne room, and a climbable Defying Gravity tower — are promised.
- 10
In its final chapter, players receive a Wicked Memories Passport and travel to key Oz locations to collect a stamp at each, closing with a live countdown, a shared in-game cutscene, and a commemorative badge at a farewell party.
