Voldex acquires Roblox's most visited game, Brookhaven

& Klarna to integrate crypto ahead of IPO + Ramdam's eBook on UGC ads role in game marketing

Author

Joe Condon
February 11, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 14 minutes

Hey all - welcome back to Edition #46 of The SEG3 Report!

Today’s piece delves into a statement acquisition from Voldex, and whether we’ll see more acquisitions as more highly capitalised & experienced games teams move into UGC; an interesting report from Ramdam on UGC’s role in game marketing & lastly Klarna’s openness to integrate crypto, and why we’re seeing interest from fintech businesses.

Let’s get into it!

Contents: Edition #46

Voldex acquires most visited Roblox game, Brookhaven

Voldex last week announced its acquisition of Brookhaven, a leading life simulation game on Roblox. Brookhaven boasts over 60 billion visits and 120 million monthly active players, making it one of the most popular titles on the platform.

The acquisition reportedly takes Voldex's total user base to more than 145 million monthly active players, positioning it as the top Roblox developer by audience size, according to the company's estimates.

Voldex is known for its portfolio of top games on Roblox, such as Driving Empire and NFL Universe Football, both of which have seen significant enhancements under its stewardship.

Why You Should Care

TL;DR: Acquisitions will likely become more frequent over the coming years as smaller UGC game developers reach the limit of what they can achieve, and need to lean on expertise of larger, more experienced operators to realise the full value of the games they have built. With Voldex’s games reportedly monetising at a 4-8x multiple of Brookhaven on average, there is a lot of opportunity for growth, and to further cement the game as a key fixture for players time spent on the platform.

In full: Voldex have been active with acquisitions over the past few years; Driving Empire, acquired in February 2023; Ultimate Football (now NFL Universe Football), acquired in April 2024 - but whilst these were popular games, they were not top of the tree at #1, so this is a big deal (and slight deviation from their previous strategy).

With that in mind, the Brookhaven acquisition presents new opportunities and challenges for Voldex and potentially the wider space…

Opportunity of UGC & the success rate of original experiences

Given the accessibility of UGC gaming, the barriers to entry are much reduced, which creates a tonne of opportunity for developers to potentially build popular games ((like the original Brookhaven developer, Wolfpaq, has) without as much of the heavy lifting.

It does however make it an extremely competitive environment, with millions of experiences/games for players to choose from, discovery and loyalty is a challenge.

This makes experiences like Brookhaven that much more valuable, as they have done a lot of the ‘hard yards’ by building a game with fun mechanics, that has high play times and returning players daily.

So for operators and larger developers like Voldex who have more experienced teams and capital ready to put towards growth, these are the acquisition targets that make sense given the cut-through that Brookhaven achieved even without an extensive games team behind them.

This means despite their success, their was likely a lot being left on the table, so if Voldex are able to monetise those engaged player base more effectively, there could be a tonne of upside. On that note…

Monetisation 

David Taylor, SEG3 LA alumni & Founder of Creator Games, shared a fascinating break down of the commercial rationale behind the acquisition, and to what degree Voldex could grow revenues:

Despite being the top game by engagement, it (Brookhaven) has always lagged in monetisation terms.

Today, Brookhaven is only the # 10 top earner, averaging $50K per day.

That puts their ARPDAU (average revenue per daily active user) around $0.004, and within the 60th percentile of roleplaying games on Roblox - vastly underachieving for the most popular game on the platform.

A sophisticated operator like Voldex has the ability to increase Brookhaven's revenue to $36M, with Voldex's games monetising at a rate 4x - 8x higher than Brookhaven (although they typically focus on mid-core PvP games so there may be a learning curve here).

If they bring Brookhaven monetisation to only 75th percentile, they would achieve a 2x improvement and will have generated an additional $18M in annual revenue.

So even with conservative estimates, the economics of this deal stack up extremely well, even in the short term.

Closing thoughts: Building new games is really hard, with single digit %’s succeeding. Acquiring games that have built engaged communities, but are leaving money on the table is looking like a sweet spot that Voldex wants to fill, and they have some big name VCs backing them to make it a reality, so this almost certainly won’t be the last time we’re talking about Voldex growing their games portfolio.

How to use UGC Ads in Game Marketing

The 22 page report highlights how top gaming brands (like Monopoly GO) are leveraging creator-driven content to connect with players, alongside AI-powered platforms streamlining UGC ad creation for more scalable, high-performing campaigns.

Why you should care?

TL;DR: It would seem traditional ads for games are no longer working for younger audiences, with:

  • UGC ads achieving 4X higher click-through rates compared to traditional branded ads.

  • UGC ads drive 28% more engagement than standard game marketing.

  • UGC-based ads have a 7.5% Day-30 retention rate, outperforming traditional advertising strategies.

  • 26% of consumers prefer to discover new products via social media.

In full: Are consumers happy to sacrifice quality in search of authenticity?

Are brands happy to sacrifice quality in the name of speed and relevancy?

It seems to be a resounding yes according to this report, with their findings being that UGC ads drive an increase in click-through rates, engagement & retention.

And that should be a wake up call to all readers, as this trend isn’t exclusive to just games.

As humans, we know we listen to recommendations from people we trust. It’s human nature and why word-of-mouth is so powerful.

Influencers and creators have built communities around their passion points over long periods of time, so have built trust that allows them to replicate the power of one-to-one recommendations in a way that is one-to-many. This sense of connection and humanity is not easily replicated by a corporate brand.

And so the latest challenge for brands is finding and nurturing creators that understand your brand values, buy-into the story and want to take their communities along for that journey.

Because as much as we all hate to be sold to, we all love to buy, so having creators in your corner than can lend credibility and authenticity to your marketing is an invaluable asset, whether it comes to advertising games, products, services etc.

Closing thoughts: If a more informal, unscripted approach for marketing of your brand, IP or game isn’t in your plans - this report would suggest it probably should be.

Klarna to integrate crypto as they head towards IPO

Klarna, the Swedish fintech giant known for its "Buy Now, Pay Later" services, is set to integrate cryptocurrency into its platform, as announced by CEO and co-founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski.

Klarna has grown to serve 85 million customers and partners with over 500,000 merchants, processing $100 billion in transaction volume—30% of which is debit card spending.

Why you should care

TL;DR: The impact that fintech businesses like Klarna can have on onboarding new users to crypto is fairly substantial. If they can find the right applications, and pair it with the ease of access and product design smarts that has led to so many using Klarna, it could be a powerful driver of crypto into the mainstream.

In full: With Klarna managing payments en masse, stablecoins could well be a solution to a number of their challenges, so we chatted with Harriet Browning, a SEG3 London alumni who is leading stablecoins at Reveel, to get her take on the impact that Klarna & fintechs can have:

A company of Klarna’s scale stepping into crypto is huge, particularly for stablecoin builders, as it reinforces that stablecoins will become more than just a bridge between fiat and crypto. Stablecoins represent a missing infrastructure layer for global finance and a chance to completely reimagine how payments work.

For a Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) company, the opportunity set is particularly interesting.

Stablecoins unlock instant, low-cost settlement, eliminating reliance on traditional banking rails that come with high fees and settlement delays. They create a viable path for cross-border BNPL, where Klarna could expand into new markets without the friction of currency conversion, correspondent banking networks, or legacy financial intermediaries. In regions where credit access is fragmented, integrating blockchain-based identity and reputation systems could unlock new financing options for millions.

Beyond payments, stablecoins could offer Klarna new tools to optimize treasury and liquidity management. With billions in transactions processed, even minor inefficiencies in funding and capital allocation translate into significant costs. Instead of navigating complex banking relationships to move capital across regions, Klarna could leverage stablecoins to operate with a more fluid, globally optimized balance sheet. Stablecoins also open the door for programmable treasury operations, including real-time receivables financing, automated supplier payments, and more efficient capital deployment, including new yield generating opportunities.

None of this comes without challenges however. Not all stablecoins—or blockchains—are created equal. Crypto adoption has exploded, but it’s also seen growing fragmentation, complexity and liquidity silos. For fintechs like Klarna, the challenge would be to make sure any crypto integration enhances the user experience instead of adding friction. If stablecoin payments feel clunky or confusing, adoption will stall.

The next phase of fintech-crypto integration won’t only be about offering stablecoin support, but will require smart, network-agnostic payment solutions that function effortlessly, no matter how funds move in the background.

Klarna’s interest is a signal that stablecoin rails may soon expand beyond checkout payments and fiat on/off ramps, and into new payment offerings. As these new use cases evolve, the divide between fintech and crypto will continue to shrink, shaping a more unified and efficient financial ecosystem that is built on more robust and interoperable rails.

Harriet Browning, Stablecoins - Reveel

Closing thoughts: The lines between fintech and crypto continue to blur, and as with any business, if the technology can deliver a better user experience or has a commercial benefit, it then becomes not only innovative, but also the sensible business decision.

It’ll be interesting to track how Klarna leverages crypto, the impact on their business and the feedback/uptake from their customers.

In other news this week…

  • Anime Park "Nijigen no Mori" to Launch Roblox Game: read here.

  • Roblox part of Active Investigation by SEC: read here.

  • LIV Golf to be broadcast on free-to-air in UK on ITV: read here.

  • ESPN & Major League Rugby announce multi-year media rights deal: read here.

  • FOX plans to launch streaming service by close of 2025: read here.

  • King launches new game, ‘Candy Crush Solitaire’: read here.

  • The State of Play for Meta Immersive Experiences: read here.

  • Legendary Entertainment & Hasbro team up for ‘Magic: The Gathering’ film & TV series: read here.

  • Starbreeze Entertainment & The Gang join forces to publish game, ‘Unseen’: read here.

  • Sports Interactive cancel Football Manager 25: read here.

  • Fulwell 73 & SpringHill Company merger completes to become Fulwell Entertainment: read here.

  • Oreo teams up with Warner Bros Entertainment & Legendary for Minecraft movie campaign: read here.

  • SoftBank commits to spending $3 billion on OpenAI tech: read here.

  • EA Sports joined forces with Xbox & San Francisco 49ers for community event: read here.

Working on anything cool, or have a press release you would like us to cover? Send it in for the chance for it to be covered in next week’s edition!

That’s all for now folks - thanks again for reading the latest edition of The SEG3 Report and we’ll see you next Tuesday for more on the intersection of culture & emerging technology!