Chipotle enters the metaverse with a Roblox game that lets customers earn burritos ‘IRL’Chipotle enters the metaverse with a Roblox game that lets customers earn burritos ‘IRL’

Joanna Fantozzi

Chipotle Mexican Grill announced on Tuesday its entry into the metaverse with a new limited time game on Roblox that will let customers use their virtual burrito-building skills to earn coupons for free Chipotle food in real life.

The virtual reality experience will challenge players to roll burritos via a ‘90s-themed Chipotle simulation (in a nod to the restaurant’s heritage) to earn Burrito Bucks (Chipotle meal credits) starting on April 7 at 6:30 pm ET. The first 100,000 players to successfully roll a burrito will be able to earn a free entrée that can be used for online or mobile ordering only. Additionally, the top five players on the leader board every day from April 7 through April 13 will receive free burritos for a year. Chipotle claims it is the first national restaurant brand to build an experience in the metaverse that allows customers to earn real-life rewards or experiences.

"We've tapped into play-to-earn, an emerging engagement model in the metaverse, to launch our newest experience on Roblox that celebrates the iconic Chipotle burrito," said Chris Brandt, CMO of Chipotle said in a statement. "We're blending the metaverse and real-world elements of our brand to take the Chipotle fan experience to a whole new level."

This will be Chipotle’s second foray into the Roblox metaverse platform, with the first being the Chipotle Boorito Maze game, which launched last Halloween and let customers earn virtual prizes. In this game, players will earn ‘90s-themed virtual prizes in addition to real-life entrée coupons, like Chipotle Guacman, a foil fanny pack, cheese frosted tips, and a Chipotle pepper tie-dyed shirt.

In celebration of this new virtual reality game, Chipotle is announcing an LTO menu item inspired by the Chipotle Burrito Builder. The limited-time burrito creation will launch on April 7 and be topped with white rice, black beans, chicken, fresh tomato salsa, red-chili salsa, sour cream, cheese, lettuce, and guacamole. Starting the same day, loyalty members will also be able to exchange their loyalty points for a Roblox gift card. A limited number of $5 gift cards will be available.

While Chipotle says it is the first national restaurant chain to connect virtual reality gaming with real-life rewards, other brands have been dipping their toes into the nascent metaverse, like McDonald’s, Burger King, Yum Brands, Inspire Brands and Wingstop, which have all filed trademarks for NFTs and a presence within the metaverse. Most recently, Wendy’s announced that it is teaming up with Meta’s Horizon Worlds to open its first virtual-reality Wendyverse restaurant on April 2, where customers can interact with one another, visit a virtual Wendy’s restaurant and play games.

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