Do Big Studio's CFO on the Jonas Brothers’ 8.4M-Player Concert
Back in July, I asked whether people still care about Roblox concerts. Virtual concerts faded after the pandemic boom because they were expensive to produce and stopped drawing players once the novelty wore off. Then artists began skipping building custom venues and instead opted for performing inside games that already had huge audiences. After three big shows this year in top games, it's clear that concerts are having a renaissance on Roblox, and the formula behind it is becoming clear.
The latest came on Halloween morning, when the Jonas Brothers performed inside Steal an Egg, the biggest game on Roblox over the past couple of months. According to Do Big Studios, which co-owns the game, just over 8.4 million players were in the game at the same time. That fell short of the Guinness World Record of 12,862,161 concurrent viewers Do Big set with Bruno Mars in Steal a Brainrot in January. It was also below Steal an Egg’s own all-time peak of 14,313,917 concurrent players, set in September. Even so, it was about 30% more than the peak for bbno$’s concert in +1 Speed Keyboard Escape this summer.
What Happened at the Jonas Brothers’ Roblox Concert?
The concert was much more than just the band playing on a virtual stage. It was built to make players participants, not just viewers:
An animated cutscene opened the event.
A minigame gave players something to do beyond watching.
Interactive elements let players cheer during the performance.
Band member avatars performed on stage, alongside video the band recorded specifically for this concert.
Messages from the brothers appeared in the global game chat.
A free concert pet went to every attendee.
A sneak peek of a new song called “Rather You Be Lonely.”
Do Big also tied attendance to a cause. Through its Do Good pledge, the studio committed $3,000 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation for every 1 million peak concurrent players, and it announced a $27,000 donation after the show. In my July article, I noted that bbno$ donated his proceeds to the Internet Watch Foundation and predicted we’d see more charity concerts. On a platform where safety determines whether serious brand budgets show up, giving to a cause that helps kids earns goodwill from players, parents, press, and the platform at once.
Why Are Big Artists Performing Inside Roblox Games?
In 2020, Travis Scott’s Astronomical event in Fortnite drew 12.3 million viewers inside a world Epic built from scratch for one show. Many custom concerts followed, and many struggled to find an audience. The novelty wore off, and artists stopped doing in-game concerts.
Bruno Mars, bbno$, and now the Jonas Brothers switched to integrating into existing popular games. Instead of building a venue, they showed up inside games that already had millions of loyal players, and each game’s own updates and rewards gave those players a reason to attend.
It’s also faster and cheaper. Justin Peress, CFO of Do Big Studios, told me the Jonas Brothers show came together in about 14 days, a fraction of the time of a custom build.
My Conversation With Justin Peress of Do Big Studios
I spoke with Justin before the concert. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Max Power Gaming: How did this concert come together?
Justin Peress: We were working closely with the Misfits team [co-owners of Steal an Egg] on live ops. It’s a partnership between us, them, and the original founders. We thought we would take advantage of this massive spike in engagement, and the goal was to do something similar to Bruno and have our marquee event. The gameplay really allowed for something similar in terms of the lobby space. When we reached out to Roblox and banged our heads together, we found that we wanted a partner that was excited about this and willing to move quickly. We found out the Jonas Brothers were excited about this opportunity, so we jumped at it.
MPG: What’s interesting to you about doing concerts?
Justin: Whenever a community of players chooses to play your game on their weekends, it’s important that you deliver immersive content that rewards them for the time they’re spending in your game when they have infinite optionality. We think of this as another piece of content and another exciting event for the community. It’s a chance for players to come together in the place they spend all their time and have come to love, the Steal an Egg lobby, and experience something different. Music is universal.
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MPG: What lessons from the Bruno Mars concert are you bringing into this one?
Justin: Making it something everyone can enjoy. Nothing overly complex, no so-called chase events. We wanted something simple and universally enjoyable for the whole player base, no matter the age, and something enjoyable for the eyes. We want it to be immersive and a spectacle while remaining true to Steal an Egg and its gameplay. Bruno was amazing. That concert brought a lot of notoriety to the production team, and there’s the Guinness record. This one will be a little more immersive than Bruno, and we’re excited to bring a little more of an edge.
MPG: What do the Jonas Brothers get out of this?
Justin: With millennial bands and artists, their relevance on Roblox is not so much about them, but that their fans’ kids play Roblox. It’s their opportunity to reach a different audience. They just announced a massive tour with dozens and dozens of shows, so it’s another piece of promotion for them. But it’s also a cool way to get involved with a community they historically haven’t interacted with a whole lot.
MPG: It reminds me of their Disney Christmas movie, which my kids watched. It’s a play for the whole family.
Justin: Exactly. Think of something like Camp Rock. My 3-year-old loves Camp Rock, and my wife and I loved it too. We grew up as big Jonas Brothers fans, and now our kids get to interact with the music we grew up on. I think it’ll be really fun for the broader Roblox community across all ages.
MPG: What do you look for in a partner, whether it’s an artist or a brand?
Justin: It’s very game-dependent. We look at the geographic base of our games. At a scale like Steal an Egg, you have an extremely broad array of players, stretching almost half of Roblox’s player base. So you want talent that’s universal and somewhat poppy, because that caters to a broader audience. When games get smaller, you dive into what that core community wants, because you can afford to be more niche. The Jonas Brothers are liked by, as far as I’m concerned, everybody. They’ve got a great social presence, they’re funny, they’re relevant. We typically look for what we think the community will respond positively to.
MPG: What advice would you give a brand or artist that wants to partner with a top Roblox game?
Justin: Ask yourself what type of engagement you’re looking for. There’s brand amplification, there’s monetization, there’s general presence, and sometimes it’s just about scratching an itch. Whatever it is, have conversations with the studios that can deliver all of those types of implementations. At Do Big, we take a lot of pride in delivering something native to the talent across a broad portfolio of games. Have those initial conversations, understand the landscape, and find out how you can show up in the way that’s most organic for you.
MPG: What does success look like for this show?
Justin: I don’t think it’s numbers. It’s positive feedback and good, consistent engagement. This is not about grabbing a whole new player base. It’s about putting on something exciting for the players we have, who have been loyal through the last few months, and rewarding them with a solid piece of production. We’ll gauge it based on what the community comes back to us with. We hope they ask for more, so we can deliver more events like this in Steal an Egg and across the Do Big portfolio.
MPG: Anything else you’d like to mention?
Justin: I want to thank Jeff and Ali at UTA, Mike Duffy on the Do Big partnership side, Ben and Hussain from Misfits, and Brock, the executive producer on the game. They pulled the shift to get this done in a 14-day turnaround, which I think is unheard of. It shows that when you have strong teams motivated to get something out, it can be done.
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Stephen Dypiangco is one the world’s leading experts on the topic of Roblox and brands. He has advised global companies on their Roblox strategies, including BBC Studios, Paramount, and Takara Tomy.
With 200+ articles published about Roblox and a following of over 14,000 across LinkedIn and his industry leading Max Power Gaming newsletter, he is widely regarded by gaming industry executives and investors as a trusted resource.
Stephen is building the premiere network of Roblox professionals to help this emerging sector connect and scale through his unique blend of relevant content and community events.
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