Super League acquires metaverse experience developer Melon

Super League has acquired development studio Melon to boost its capabilities as an one-stop solution for brands that want to build communities across gaming metaverse platforms. Melon will serve as an in-house development studio. In turn, these interactive experiences will leverage Super League’s suite of measurement, monetization and player acquisition tools.

Melon’s value add to Super League

Melon specializes in building experiences in Roblox. The studio has worked brands such as Chipotle, Mattel and PacSun to build experiences and grow communities on the platform.

Additionally, Melon has been a pioneer in bringing musicians to Roblox. It was the first independent studio to create an avatar-based music performance for the platform. Since then, Melon has worked with high profile artists such as KSI, Ava Max, Tai Verdes and Zara Larsson.

“We’re thrilled to combine forces with Super League and expand upon an ambitious creative and strategic vision shared by both companies,” said Josh Neuman, cofounder and CEO of Melon. “There is no one size fits all for brands and IP owners entering the space. With Super League and Melon operating as an integrated company, we can provide brands with the full spectrum of crawl, walk, run alternatives designed to achieve targeted business objectives. We now have best-in-class execution capabilities at all levels under one roof, with the infrastructure to scale far beyond what we thought was possible.”

Super League teased is tapping this music expertise right away. The company teased that its first major in-house collaboration with Melon would be a large scale music experience.

Once the acquisition is complete, the combined company will have about 100 employees. According to Super League, there are minimal redundancies in the workforces so major layoffs are not expected.

Future-proofing brands

Together, the Super League and Melon have helped more than 100 brands and consumer-facing businesses build audiences on metaverse gaming platforms. But this is just a starting point. Going forward, Ann Hand, chair and CEO of Super League, told GamesBeat that Super League wants to help companies prepare for the transition to immersive web experiences.

“Together, Melon and Super League have an integrated tech and capability backbone that it applies to Minecraft, Roblox and Fortnite. This backbone is working in other virtual engines too. Because of this backbone, we’re starting to change the conversations we’re having with brands. Instead of just being a marketing solution, we help brands reach their hard to capture audiences. Now, we’re starting to show them how this can apply to their forward digital strategy,” Hand said. “Brands look to Super League’s solutions so they can have a more immersive and engaging relationship with consumers on this new marketing channel.”

Super League and Melon have worked together since 2021. Both companies worked together on Chipotle’s Roblox experience and have collaborated with Mattel over the years.

This shared vision and synergistic capabilities helped the deal close quickly. According to Matt Edelman, president and chief commercial officer of Super League, discussions began when he and Neuman appeared on a conference panel together in February 2023.

“We have helped brands and partners think about how to how to create immersive experiences. Mellon has been in the trenches, building, designing and innovating around them. As a result, when you pull our collective capabilities together, you’ve really got something that’s quite special,” said Edelman. Hand, Edelman and Neuman all emphasized the cultural fit of the companies too.

This acquisition comes just before the company’s next earnings report on May 15, 2023.