We’ve teamed up with the Kids Media Club podcast to explore one of the strangest and most viral trends in UGC culture: Italian Brain Rot. Together with Jo, Emily, and Andy, we unpack how a chaotic wave of AI-generated characters and in-jokes became a cultural flashpoint across Roblox and Fortnite, sparking games, fandoms, and serious revenue. In the news: – Bob Ross quietly makes his Fortnite debut – Travis Kelce surprises fans inside Roblox – A Fortnite map sells to a...

Charles Hambro built GEEIQ before Meta even had the name. In this episode, he joins us to talk about what brand success in virtual worlds actually looks like, why Roblox shouldn’t be treated as an “innovation play” anymore, and how campaign-based activations are overtaking persistent worlds. It’s the kind of conversation that is data-backed, no fluff, and long overdue. We also talk about Fortnite's algorithm shift to favor non-shooter creators, Roblox’s IP licensing model and its creative tr...

What platforms make sense for your brand? In this special deep dive episode of Brands In Play, Nic Hill (Sawhorse) and Albane Prioux (GEEIQ) answer the top questions brands keep asking about gaming, virtual worlds, and virtual identity. On this episode they explore the challenges brands are facing with fragmented audiences in gaming and provide insights on how brands can best plan their strategy to only reach audiences that are relevant to them with content that is relevant to each platform....

This week, Nic Hill and Albane Prioux are joined by Joe Pace, VP of ASICS Ventures, to unpack how the legacy fitness brand is building an entirely new virtual sport, from scratch. DISC is now live on MetaQuest, and it's not a one-off campaign, it’s a long-term strategy rooted in movement, community, and real brand equity. We explore what it means to build a branded game with long-term goals: not just awareness, but community, revenue, and cultural credibility. Joe shares how ASICS involved re...

In episode 21 of Brands In Play Albane Prioux & Nic Hill put the spotlight on Nate Spell, founder and CEO of Barrier Four. His team rebuilt the entire Squid Game Season 3 recap video inside Roblox shot-for-shot. Every dorm bunk, every merry-go-round frame, every contestant mask, using the platform’s own animation tools. Nate explains why they insist on filming inside the engine, how DevCam and frame-by-frame motion keep trailers honest, and what happens when you give the Roblox audience s...

In episode 20 of Brands In Play, Nic Hill and Albane Prioux sit down with Gino Roy, Art Director at Sawhorse. He’s behind the visual direction of some of the best-looking branded games on Roblox like Beetlejuice, Wicked, Kung Fu Panda, Tommy Play, and most recently, How to Train Your Dragon. But this conversation goes deeper than art. We get into how to make cinematic worlds that actually run well on Roblox’s engine across all devices, why performance budgets matter more than showy assets, a...

On Episode 19 of Brands In Play, Albane Prioux and Nic Hill speak with Uri Marchand, CEO of Overwolf, discussing how his company serving 100M+ monthly users is being leveraged by brands to engage with notoriously hard-to-reach gaming communities. Founded in 2010, Overwolf's mission is to empower creativity in gaming and help in-game creators make the best games even better through user-generated content. The company provides creators with infrastructure, professional support, and tools acros...

This week, Nic Hill and Albane Prioux take us to AWE 2025, where Nic hosts a live panel about marketing with augmented reality, joined by three standout voices shaping the spatial future: 🔸 Raag Harshavat, AR Developer Relations at Snapchat. Raag works at the intersection of AR technology and creative enablement at Snapchat, helping developers and brands bring their AR ideas to life through Snap’s Lens Studio and AR platform. With Snap logging over 6 billion AR interactions daily, Raag share...

In Episode 17 of Brands in Play, Nic Hill and Albane Prioux sit down with Erik Londré, founder of Karta. His journey? From managing global eSports events at Fnatic to building branded Fortnite maps for Lavazza during the pandemic and eventually launching one of the most creative studios in the space. Topics Covered: Why Roblox’s “3D internet of subcultures” is ideal for experimentation and storytelling “You’re the business you want to achieve something, and you’ve found out there’s an...

In this episode, Nic and Albane continue their conversations with experts at the GamesBeat Summit and unpack this week’s top stories in the industry, and what it means for your brand: Netflix is developing a Clash of Clans animated series, would it be successful? Let us know your thoughts Google revealed new smart eyewear powered by their Android XR platform and Gemini AI? Is OOH going to see a resurgence? We are keen to hear your thoughts Fortnite is returning to iOS following Epic’s court w...

Brands have been engaging with gaming since the 90s, but in recent years there’s been a noticeable rise in the number of brand activations, and the models and opportunities have also evolved significantly. In Episode 15 of Brands in Play, @Nic Hill and @Albane Prioux speak with Dean Takahashi, Editorial Director at GamesBeat. Dean is a long-time expert in the gaming industry, having tracked its evolution since the early days of his career at The Wall Street Journal, where he covered chip comp...

𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆 - 𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝟭𝟰 | 𝗥𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗼𝘅 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗠𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝘁. 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗲 𝗕𝘂𝗿𝗸𝗲 | 𝗥𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗼𝘅 This week on Brands In Play, Nic Hill and Albane Prioux are joined by Winnie Burke, Global Group Director of Fashion & Retail Partnerships at Roblox and someone who's been shaping brand experiences on the platform for nearly a decade. 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲: How Roblox evolved from 2D items to fully immersive brand worlds. Why brands are now thinking beyond virtual replicas and designing digital-first...

𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆 - 𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝟭𝟯 | 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗥𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗼𝘅 𝗳𝘁. 𝗝𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝘆𝗮𝗲𝗿𝘁 | 𝗦𝗸𝘆𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮 This week we unpack what integration looks like: from building persistent, data-driven brand placements in top games like LiveTopia, to understanding when not to launch an owned experience. In episode 13 of Brands In Play, Nic Hill & Albane Prioux sit down with the founder of Skylight Media, one of the influential behind-the-scenes figures in Roblox brand integrations. From roleplay mega-hits to mall...

𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆 - 𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝟭𝟮 | 𝗡𝗔𝗦𝗖𝗔𝗥 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝘁. 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗕𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗸 | 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝘅 In this episode of Brands In Play, Nic Hill and Albane Prioux are joined by Harry Bienenstock, Head of Growth at Voldex, the powerhouse behind some of Roblox’s top games including Driving Empire, NFL Universe, and most recently, Brookhaven, one of the most played games in Roblox history. We unpack Voldex’s unique strategy of acquiring and scaling games rather than building from scratch, and what it mean...

𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗜𝗻 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝟭𝟭 | 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻’𝘀 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝗨𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 | 𝗕𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗮 𝗦𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗚𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝗮𝘁 𝗨𝗯𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘁 What does it take to bring brands into a universe as iconic and narratively rich as Assassin’s Creed, without breaking immersion? In Episode 11 of Brands In Play, Nic Hill and Albane Prioux sit down with Bruna Soares, Director of Global Brand Partnerships at Ubisoft, to unpack the strategy behind Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Ubisoft’s highly anticipated title set in feudal Japan. 𝗜...

How BBH Turned a Childhood Experiment Into a Fortnite Icon | The Fizzooka Campaign with Mentos What happens when a classic science experiment meets the chaotic brilliance of Fortnite? In this episode of Brands In Play, we’re joined by Stu Royall and Phil Holbrook, Creative Directors at BBH London and the minds behind the viral Fizzooka campaign for Mentos. We unpack how the agency transformed the iconic Mentos and Coke reaction into a non-lethal, anti-build Fortnite launcher designed with a...

EPISODE 9 — Tom Emrich: The Next Dimension What if your next marketing edge wasn’t a new channel, but a new dimension? In this episode of Brands In Play, we sit down with Tom Emrich, one of the world’s most respected voices in augmented reality and spatial computing. He’s a journalist, investor, product leader and now the author of The Next Dimension, the definitive guide to using AR for business growth. This isn’t just a conversation about hype cycles or headsets. It’s a masterclass in ho...

𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗜𝗻 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆 – 𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝟴: 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗜𝗻 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝘁. 𝗟𝗮𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗲 𝗞𝗲𝗶𝘁𝗵 (𝗔𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹) In this episode of Brands In Play, Albane Prioux and Nic Hill are joined by Laurie Keith, Senior Vice President of Emerging Media & Technology at the Ad Council – the nonprofit behind some of the most iconic public service campaigns in history, from Smokey Bear to “Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk.” This time, the Ad Council has entered the world of immersive gaming with their Love Your Mind campaign on...

In this episode of Brands In Play, Albane Prioux and Nic Hill are joined by Alvaro G. Velilla, Senior Vice President of New Business at Universal Music Group, the world’s largest music company, to explore UMGs strategy for music in gaming. Alvaro has spent two decades working at the intersection of music, tech, and innovation. Today, he’s helping shape UMG’s immersive, gaming, and blockchain strategies globally. Well, he is here to unpack the ongoing transformation happening in the spa...

What does it mean for a global retailer to go from brick-and-mortar to immersive commerce? In our latest episode of Brands In Play, we sat down with Justin Breton, Director of Brand Experiences & Strategic Partnerships at Walmart, to unpack how one of the world’s largest retailers is pushing into the future of immersive storytelling, platform-native experiences, and what he calls “adaptive retail.” Justin does more than just talk about launching games. He breaks down Walmart’s strategy ...